It’s always difficult to launch a new brand, especially in the iGaming industry.
But with the right help, you can start your brand smoothly and efficiently — while keeping costs to a minimum.
Slotegrator, a leading iGaming solution provider and aggregator, shares its top tips in a lightning interview with GBC Time about building and boosting an iGaming brand.
Everyone talks about having a distinctive brand, but what does the process of building a brand actually look like?
Branding is definitely an essential part of every business. You have to communicate who you are — that tells people what they can expect from you. Everyone has their own, individual approach to branding. I’ll lay out the steps we recommend, along with some of the questions you should be asking yourself at each step:
- Identify your target audience
What market are you targeting? What demographics, like age and gender, apply to your target audience? Once your demographics are pinned down, work out a buyer persona. This is an avatar of the typical player you’re hoping to attract to your casino brand. If you can make an educated guess as to what they’re hoping to get from the gaming experience, you can figure out how to give it to them.
- Research your competitors
What brands are already established in your target markets? Look at their brand identities. Do they try to project an aura of refinement and exclusivity, or do they present themselves as an underdog or a rogue? Are they going for a classic feel, something modern, or maybe something futuristic? There’s appeal to each of those answers.
While you’re at it, look at what they offer. Is there anything that the TA is after that’s missing from their game portfolio?
- Determine your brand mission and values
What will set your brand apart from the others? What do you stand for, and what are you trying to accomplish? Lay out your mission statement. Make sure you can clearly communicate who you are and what your vision is.
- Choose your brand identity and voice
Line up your competitors, then look for the gaps between them. What identities, what voices are missing from the market? Once you’ve found an opening, draft a brand identity to fill it.
Then determine your brand voice. If your brand was a person, how would they sound? Remember, your brand’s voice should suit the ears you’re trying to reach — conduct deep research, like spending time on player forums, to find out your target audience talks to each other.
- Communicate your brand to your players
Find the right communication channels to connect with your potential audience. Wherever they are, that’s where you should be.
As an example, consider a market where most of the players will be 18-35 year old, lower-middle income males who probably work in tech. Most of the brands operating in the market go for an air of exclusivity, going for names and designs associated with royal lineage or high-income lifestyles.
You might go an opposite route, picking a name and identity that plays on the legend of Robin Hood. Then, to cement the idea that your brand is on the side of the little guy, you’d make sure you offer the best bonuses on the market, making online gambling accessible for everyone, even those who don’t have tons of cash to spare. You’d also offer bonuses when players are in the middle of a losing streak. Your brand voice would be empathetic in a way that communicates you understand where players are coming from.
What should your main goals be when building a brand, and how can you measure them?
That’s a great question. Setting goals helps you strive towards excellence, and measuring them lets you know how you’re doing.
The primary goals should include understanding player preferences, creating a robust marketing strategy, developing an enticing bonus policy, and establishing an engaging platform for player retention. These can be measured through key performance indicators (KPIs) related to user engagement, bonus uptake, and overall player satisfaction.
You can break down some of your goals like this:
- Create opportunities for new online casino development
- Understand players’ preferences
- Create a strong marketing strategy
- Develop an enticing bonus policy
- Organize an engaging platform where players will want to return.
Also, the technical side of your platform will inevitably become part of your brand, so it’s crucial to make sure everything works on the technical side, such as gameplay, payments, security measures, etc.
You mentioned the importance of appealing to your target audience — how do you define your TA?
Firstly, you need to understand the market, including regulations, cultural attitudes towards betting, local betting habits, game preferences, and more.
We recommended localizing the online casino platform and gaming content to the language of the target audience and offering their clients payment methods that suit their needs and requirements.
To get started on your research, download the new report from Slotegrator with an analysis of the modern iGaming audience. You can learn what modern players want and how, when, and where they want it so you can develop a successful marketing and sales strategy. Read about their preferred devices, currencies, game types, and technologies here.
What kind of groundwork should be done before launching?
The first step is to study player preferences in-depth, considering regional and demographic factors. Player preferences can vary depending on factors such as age, gender, and nationality.
Also, it’s essential to understand the current market situation: who the leaders are, what technologies are in demand, and what permissions and restrictions there are. Slotegrator’s gambling regulations map will help you to know the key details.
It’ll be appropriate to research the actual stats. Slotegrator’s business analysts usually prepare reports for the clients, and combine these results with marketing analysis. After such detailed research and comparison, relevant trends emerge, ensuring the platform’s relevance to the market – and after that there is a moment when it is appropriate to start the online casino project.
Which specialists are absolutely essential for the launch?
We recommend adding business analytics, managers, and specialists from the IT department. Also we invited experts who know trends and tendencies in each country better than anyone. Each part of the team knows their work and does it in time.
Could you give some advice for those who want to start a strong iGaming brand?
We advise everyone who wants to build a powerful iGaming brand to adhere to the following structural plan:
- Make a detailed business plan — define the target market, create a financial plan, identify your area of specialization, learn all about the regulations of the target market, etc.
- Get a license — legislation governing the gambling industry varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and sometimes even varies within the same country. For those who are just starting their way in the world of online casinos, it is recommended to choose the jurisdictions of Anjouan, Curaçao, or Kahnawake; and for those who are seeking to reach the next level of business, the jurisdiction of Malta is popular. These recommendations are based on an analysis of market dynamics and the specifics of obtaining gaming licenses.
- Research the target audience — the more detailed your approach, the easier it will be for your marketing department to create an effective strategy for attracting and engaging players, including which marketing tools to use.
- Get reliable, high-quality software — platform software is the foundation of the business.
- Develop a thoughtful engagement strategy — bonus programs are well-known to increase player retention. The main advantage of this strategy is the typical variety of bonuses you can offer your audience: welcome bonuses, deposit bonuses, free spins, free game chips, free bets, loyalty bonuses or activity bonuses. The list depends on your imagination and the feasibility of certain steps toward attracting players.
- Partner with the right affiliate — affiliate marketing is one of the most effective ways to attract players in the online casino industry. In some markets with high levels of advertising restrictions, affiliate marketing is also one of the only available options.
- Design a great website frontend — developing an appealing design requires careful consideration: color scheme, dominant palette, size of banners and buttons, location of the latter, and many other aspects.
- Offer a variety of games — gaming content should be grouped according to the most sought-after requests, such as the genre or volatility of the games; players shouldn’t have to search too hard to find what they want.
- Offer a variety of payment methods — fast and reliable payment processing is a must-have for an online casino. Similar to gaming content, studying your target market will help you determine the most popular systems and currencies in the region, as well as which are needed to meet the demand of the platform’s international users. Online casinos should employ as many verified payment service providers as possible in order to make sure that players never have a problem making deposits or withdrawals. Essentially, the more payment systems available, the better.
And the last step? Believe in your project and work on it every day. Persistence is the key to success.
