7 Lessons about Branding from Online Gambling Empires

But how do you stand out in an industry full of businesses like yours? Learn some lessons about branding from online gambling empires and implement them in your upstart.

• Provide What Your Customers Want

Nearly all successful online casinos have lobbies jam-packed with popular games. They might have a small list of new slots but their primary library is graced by what people out there want to play,

In other words, these businesses follow the rule of supply and demand. If people want to play Megaways—types of slots with up to 117,649 ways to win—these are the games you'll find on 888, Paddy Power and other gambling powerhouses.

The Takeaway: branding begins by offering the right product. Precisely, find a product in demand and build your brand around it. If you excel in pricing, customer service and other areas, people will skip similar products from your competitors to buy from you.

Scale Through Experimentation

Betfair, Bet365, William Hill and Bethard all share on ideology: they are quick adopters. It could be a new service such as in-play betting or a revolutionary innovation such as mobile gaming.

These brands lead the world in adopting new innovations to experiment. And in many cases, being quick adopters has helped iGaming brands make profits while their land-based counterparts record losses.

In case you are wondering, here are some creations top brands were quick to adopt and helped them elevate their businesses tremendously:

• Mobile Gaming
• Blockchain and Bitcoin
• In-play Betting
• Live Casinos
• Sports streaming within betting apps
• Chatbots

The Takeaway: form a habit of experimenting with new ways of running your business. Importantly, embrace inventions that improve your efficiency and customer satisfaction.

• Provide Value Always

Welcome bonuses are most casinos' way of providing value to new customers. They might give out ten no deposit free spins or €10 for every €10 you spend at the casino for a short while.

In truth, only the best performing businesses give you value from bonuses. Top-rated NetEnt casinos, for example, offer you up to €500 in bonuses with 30 or fewer wagering requirements. That way, you'll have an easy time cashing out your profits in case you win extra money through your bonus.

The best brands continue to offer you value-based bonuses even after you become a loyal customer. They could feature weekly and monthly rewards or surprise you with free spins and bets when you least expected.

The Takeaway: one of the best ways to build a brand is to be the company that offers the most value in your industry. You don't have to give out 'free money' like online casinos but something your customers love.

• Taking Risks is Part of the Branding Process

Until a decade ago, it was uncommon for online bookmakers to sponsor sports leagues and team. Then Bet365 partnered with Stoke City and a conglomerate of more brands followed suit.

Many online bookies that sponsor sports even today aren't always sure their partnerships with work. Still, they take the risks hoping they will benefit from the deals.

The same applies to other risks such as introducing bitcoin payments and offering bonuses with zero wagering requirements.

The takeaway: you don't have to risk your money and resources in new ventures. But if you are after branding, taking risks is part of the process. You might have to spend money to sponsor a local sports event or purchase an expensive customer service app. It's all part of the process.

• Invest in Creating Loyal Customers

Bet365, Ladbrokes, Betfair and Skybet have a reason for letting you stream games through their apps. They want you to be a loyal customer. As a result, you can't watch football or rugby on these apps if you haven't been an active bettor for a while.

In the casino space, loyalty is built by providing regular bonuses to customers. These rewards ensure players keep coming back. What's more, some brands also reward loyal players with quicker support, faster withdrawals and other privileges.

The end game of investing in your customers is that they become regulars. And you know what they say about loyal customers? They are the people who drive growth in businesses.

The takeaway: strive to run your business in such a way that people become loyal to you. You'll reduce your marketing costs and grow your company around customers who love what you do.

• Be Patient

Most online casinos make investments with the future in mind. Take mobile gaming as an example. When software developer Microgaming first built the first mobile casino game in 2001, very few people played slots on mobile devices.

But the company kept creating mobile-friendly games for over a decade until the industry matured. Of course, Microgaming was among the first beneficiaries of mobile gaming since few developers had mobile games.

Another example is when some casinos embraced Bitcoin payments when all other industries shunned it. The companies because exceedingly popular among Bitcoin users. However, they had to wait a few more years before they could reap the benefits of adopting crypto.

The takeaway: it takes time before you can reap the benefits of branding. But in the end, the money spent and the risks taken usually justify the process.

• Keep Finding New Markets

Online casinos don't stick to the same games and procedures for long. Instead, they are continuously scouting new markets. For example, they acquire licenses to create Hollywood movie themes slots if there's a market for them.

But when a player's interest switches to sports, developers create football and tennis-themed slots. In the same spirit, these companies keep looking for new countries where they can market their services. And in doing so, they elevate their brands while others stagnate.

The takeaway: strive to elevate your brand by finding new markets, new technologies and innovations that can help you reduce costs or increase sales. It's part of the branding and increasing your market share.