Member Article

Business Pushed to the Edge of Advertising

“Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does.” These wise words come from Steuart Henderson Britt, author of the book “Marketing Management and Administrative Action”. Indeed, no matter how great a product or a service would be, the company offering it will whither without advertising. Marketing becomes even more important in a market where there are more competitors offering similar services to the same customer base. This is one way we can describe the online gambling business: there are currently hundreds of gambling operators with similar services offered on a market limited by policies and regulations. Yet online gambling operators can’t use the traditional methods of advertising, partly because of the above-mentioned policies (gambling is often put in the same category as tobacco), and partly because of the advertising service providers’ internal regulations (Google, the biggest online advertising company, doesn’t accept contracts with companies promoting online or offline gaming services). Online gambling businesses have, in turn, found alternative ways to promote their businesses to the masses online.

Sets of player benefits

Online casinos have several means of attracting new players and maintaining existing ones, respectively. One of the most widespread offers among casinos is the “welcome bonus”, offered to new players making their first deposits. This can be of various percentages and maximum amounts, applied to one or more deposits made by the player. The 7Sultans Casino, for example, offers its new players a deposit match of 100% worth up to $/€500 in bonus funds that they can either redeem on their first deposit or spread out over multiple deposits. All these bonuses come with terms, of course - the bonus is offered as “bonus funds” that become cashable money after completing a set of requirements.

Other methods used by casinos to reward their players are free spins on various games, no-deposit bonuses with conditions similar to deposit matches, and rewards points. The 7Sultans rewards programme, for example, offers players points based on what games they play, and how much they spend. These points are used to rank players, yet they can also be redeemed as cash bonuses when they reach a certain level. The most loyal 7Sultans players can even get a VIP status, with added benefits and exclusive offers.

Letting the world know

With most traditional methods of advertising off limits for them, online casinos have chosen an alternative path: affiliate networks. Affiliate programs work in a way similar to traditional ones run by Amazon and many other companies: affiliates are paid to drive new customers to service providers. Groups like the Fortune Lounge and Digimedia and major gaming businesses like William Hill and Bet365 run their own affiliate programs, and smaller gaming companies often join the networks run by specialised companies to promote their products and services. Without them, their offers and promotions would be much like winking at a girl in the dark.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gagan Chhatwal .