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Q1 2024 Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria 

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    Player acquisition – new player influx

    January 5, 2024
    Last update: January 28, 2025
    5 min read
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    Player acquisition – new player influx

    For iGaming website operators, effective player acquisition is essential for success and growth. To thrive in a competitive market, it’s necessary to attract a steady influx of new players engaging with games and promotions, which directly drives revenue. A solid player acquisition strategy ensures you reach potential players and convert them into loyal, long-term users. By differentiating your brand, crafting engaging promotions, and implementing targeted outreach, you can successfully stand out in the competitive iGaming space.

    Acquiring players in the iGaming industry is a multifaceted process aimed at attracting new users and increasing their engagement. Data shows that new players can constitute up to 30% of a platform’s total user base. Combining effective acquisition methods with strategies to retain players is becoming increasingly critical for business profitability. Below, we outline the essential elements of a comprehensive player acquisition strategy.

    Building a strong foundation for your brand

    When attracting a player to your platform, you are making a promise. You create an expectation, and it’s crucial that the reality matches or exceeds it. A smooth and engaging user experience starts with the basics. Focus on the following technical aspects:

    • monitoring console errors and warnings – players quickly lose trust in platforms plagued by errors, which leads to dissatisfaction and eventual departure,
    • page speed on both desktop and mobile browsers,
    • user interface (UI) design – intuitive and user-friendly navigation,
    • server response time – faster loading times build user trust,
    • network security – ensuring player data is secure is essential,
    • brand monitoring – keeping your brand reputation strong across channels.

    Addressing these aspects enhances your platform’s stability, player acquisition, and retention, while also ensuring long-term business growth.

    Create a memorable experience

    When building your message for players, focus on their emotions and experiences. Players won’t return because of a beautiful logo; they will come back because your platform provided excitement, fun, and the adrenaline they were looking for.

    While creating player profiles, don’t reduce them to just a need for gaming or winning. Research shows that iGaming platform visitors often exhibit the following traits:

    • lower self-esteem,
    • low tolerance for inconveniences,
    • impulsiveness and a tendency to take risks,
    • high curiosity and openness to new experiences.

    By using this knowledge, you can craft a consistent online presence that delivers the emotions and experiences players seek, driving loyalty and increasing their lifetime value (LTV).

    Positioning in search engine results pages (SERPs)

    Once your platform is stable and optimized, the next step is to build your online presence. Digital marketing is a web of interconnected actions, requiring a well-thought-out approach to maximize

    Here’s how we can help:

    • develop SEO strategies to increase your platform’s visibility,
    • use personalized communication to engage players and respond to their emotional needs,
    • design campaigns that combine gamification, personalization, and multichannel outreach,
    • our tailored approach ensures that every touchpoint along the conversion path is optimized for success.

    Key marketing considerations in the cookieless era

    In the cookieless era, it is worth concentrating on the use of 1st party cookies. This entails the necessity to construct original channels and platforms that will directly reach your players. Investing in your own marketing channels will ensure stability and control in the communication with users. The strategy of building your own media outreach – inbound marketing – covers casinos, platforms, emails, social media, thematic groups, blogs, forums and other media over which you have full control. What distinguishes this type of activity? The intention with which you create these entities – the drive to attract players to your brand by delivering specific values, not by “forcing” or “persuading” them to play.

    Here are some of the advantages resulting from the high quality and attractiveness of your own media:

    • full control,
    • cost-effectiveness,
    • wide outreach,
    • access to user data,
    • versatility and durability.

    Types of digital marketing media in iGaming

    Organizing effective player support

    Player support and a quick reaction to their needs are not just costs, but also a profit potential. Positive player experiences in customer service may lead to a positive message transfer about the casino, which will attract new players. Effective customer service is key for every online casino. Too few such establishments use this aspect to generate profit.

    When planning the support department, it is important to remember to correctly prepare its structure. The structure of the department depends on:

    • the method of segmenting players – new players will need different kinds of support than VIPs,
    • the method of classifying types of inquiries (depending on difficulty) – properly determining issues and scaling their difficulty allow for the establishment of action protocols for every line of support and ensure the effectiveness of procedures,
    • the channels of communication with the players – omnichannel support is the answer to different player preferences in terms of the methods of communication. Alongside the multichannel aspect of the support department, there is also its multilingual aspect.

    Support flow

    Affiliate marketing for efficient player acquisition

    Affiliate marketing is a very effective player acquisition strategy in the iGaming industry, highly cost-effective, and easy to use. By partnering with affiliates, including websites and influencers, you promote your platform to new audiences and drive high-value player sign-ups. Being paid on revenue generated from the players referred-in some cases-makes it a performance-based model where you pay for results.

    Key steps to launching an affiliate program:

    • dedicating a network to run your program,
    • setting competitive commission rates,
    • recruiting affiliates whose audiences match your target players,
    • providing marketing assets such as banners, text links, and promotional content,
    • tracking performance to find out which campaigns are most successful and to optimize.

    Pay timely, but also offer top-performing affiliates extra incentives. Run exclusive promotions or contests to motivate your partners and drive traffic. In this way, you can expand your reach by partnering with affiliates, increase sign-ups, and acquire valuable players while keeping the cost in check.

    Cross-promotions with other entities

    By synergizing with other industries, such as 24/7 food suppliers or streaming platforms, you can generate added value for players and increase loyalty towards an online casino. How to enable the right cross-promotion? Get to know your players:

    1. Where do they spend their time?
    2. How do they organize their basic shopping and meals?
    3. What technological solutions do they use?

    Sometimes, abstract cooperations can bring you closer to your player, not just during his activity on your platform, but also in a much wider time window.

    Whisper marketing for organic brand growth

    Satisfied players may become the best brand ambassadors. Build relations with your clients and encourage them to share positive opinions about the casino. Support the formation of a community in which every player ca become an influencer contributing to the improvement of reputation and acquisition of new users.

    Measuring effectiveness

    To assess the success of player acquisition efforts, it’s essential to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs):

    • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) – tracks the total cost of acquiring a new player, including marketing and promotional expenses. A low CAC relative to the player’s LTV indicates a healthy marketing strategy.
    • Lifetime Value (LTV) – measures the total revenue a player generates over their lifetime. A high LTV combined with a low CAC signifies a sustainable business model.
    • Conversion Rate – calculates the percentage of users who register after engaging with your campaigns. A high conversion rate reflects the effectiveness of your message and offer.
    • Player Retention – tracks how many players remain active after specific time periods (e.g., 7 or 30 days). High retention rates indicate satisfied users.
    • Player Activity – monitors active users (e.g., DAU/MAU) to evaluate engagement and regularity.
    • Social Media Reach and Engagement – analyzes user interactions on social platforms to gauge interest and campaign success.

    User Feedback and Reviews – tracks player opinions to identify areas for improvement and highlight strengths.

    Stay close to your players

    Many online platforms forget that their players live offline too. By engaging players in their offline activities—such as shopping, sports matches, or events—you can strengthen brand loyalty. Showing up in the spaces your users frequent creates a seamless connection between their daily lives and your platform.

    Balance is key

    Even the largest marketing budget won’t help if your platform isn’t stable. Similarly, the best-designed platform will fail if no one knows about it. With a balanced approach that combines technical optimization, targeted marketing, and effective communication, your iGaming platform can thrive.

    Are you looking for a talented team? Contact us!

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