How to account for taste: games lobby personalisation
When it comes to iGaming, what’s the difference between a Norwegian player and a Japanese player? How do their tastes differ? How can you offer each person a list of games to keep them around as a valued customer?
That’s the question constantly at play when it comes to the personalisation of an iGaming lobby.
How do you keep them both safe and engaged?
The answer?
Player behaviour.
This is where you can really capitalise on data and personalisation, to provide an engaging and tailored player experience.
We all know the tastes differ between regions like Japan and Norway. But there are always outliers. And some players on opposite sides of the world will share commonalities.
To avoid blanket assumptions and the trap of generalisation, the only way of truly tailoring your player’s experience is to track their activity. Do so correctly, and you’ll be protecting them, yourself and the bottom line.
Nurturing your players from harmful player behaviour is a necessity. A long lasting customer that trusts your brand and understands you care about their entertainment while also minding their safety will amplify your brand and your business.
Why’s personalisation so important?
The iGaming industry’s predicted worth in 2023 is $45 billion. To put your marker down in this sector and stake a claim for some of that, creating close personal experiences matters.
In fact, it’s estimated the average space for personalisation of an iGaming lobby is approximately 80%.
The other 20%?
That’s saved for headline, standout, big money sponsorship. The games that companies pay large amounts to promote to every player in their reach.
These tailored offers might include tournaments, leaderboards, and other engaging gamification features to drive fun and entertainment.
The rest can, if you do it right, constitute total personalisation based on the playing habits from the beginning of their first session with you. Their entry point, the games they play, the games they don’t, the games they only play once and those they come back to time and time again.
It means they’ll explore your platform more, within the confines of their comfort, and ultimately enjoy longer playing sessions, prolonged custom, greater safety and improved brand loyalty. But it’s not always straightforward to put it into practice.
One in a million
As it stands today, there are approximately 420 games studios in the world. And between those studios, c.300 new games are released every single month.
What does that mean for the average player in iGaming?
Choice.
Lots and lots of choice.
And yet, according to the most up to date research, the best number of possibilities to offer one iGaming player in their lobby page view is 100-120 games.
Take away the 10 or so that pay for their position regardless of the algorithm and you’re left with limited screen equity to engage your player beyond their first click.
This means studios may see high churn on some products, with short life-cycles for those less popular.
Particularly where the ability to personalise the player’s lobby is almost increasingly limitless.
How do you make sure every player gets the choice they crave?
At WKND, we start with a fall back algorithm. It’s likely the player comes from an entry point we can track.
Maybe they took the bonus offer for their first play. Their initial bets fell within a certain range. They chose one slot but quickly abandoned it for another.
These are examples of actions that can be used to determine where their journey continues.
We then utilise AI and a targeted algorithm to give them other symbiotic games, and some which test the limits of their taste.
As I said at the start of this article, it’s not as simple as taking personal data and offering Japanese players Baccarat.
We do know that those in Japan are likely to play and enjoy Baccarat, but the algorithm must be based on their personal playing behaviour.
As soon as they start playing our algorithm picks up their tastes. This makes it a far more powerful operation and more beneficial to everyone involved.
It taps into the inner spirit of the player. Not guesses based on their location, age or personal data.
The AI recommendation capabilities of the studios you use will be hugely important.
Not just because of the importance of keeping the player engaged, but the astronomical number of games entering the market every single month.
It also protects the integrity of the player’s experience, lifetime value and loyalty.
The data
💡 Did you know: Implementing an automated recommendation tool can raise the GGI up 12%, and in some cases as high as 35%.
According to the latest research, the cost of bringing on a new customer outweighs the cost of repeat custom by a multiple of 5. And your ability to upsell to an existing customer is 40% more likely than selling to a new player.
On top of that, it’s estimated a repeat customer will spend 31% more than a new one.
It pays to personalise down to single player level. And keeping them safe is just as critical.
Health and Safety
The long term safety of your players can get sidetracked, if not enough nuance in short and long term profits is considered when you build your games lobby.
Ironically, the two principles are far more intertwined than you’d expect, and it’s far too easy to create player fatigue if you don’t stand close to the breaks and help guide their step.
At WKND, we take extensive measures to make sure players don’t burn out.
The most undesirable situation for you as an operator is an uncategorised, indefinite block on their account that prohibits you from ever engaging again.
This most commonly happens when, you guessed it, a player loses too much too quickly and gets frustrated.
To make sure your players won’t end up here, you have to be responsible. After all, your business is only worth what your customers think of you.
If a player consistently breaks their deposit limits and chases losing profits, it’s a warning sign. But even this data’s nuanced.
We always revert back to the algorithm.
If they’re playing games they enjoy it doesn't necessarily mean they are going to be playing above their capacity or limits.
It all depends on the player’s taste and behaviour. First and foremost content is king. Your content has to be engaging
But, even playing your favourite slots can turn a session sour.
If this happens and their behaviour starts indicating churn you want to consider that you have a plethora of similar game options in your lobby, to guide them while they collect their bearings.
If rash behaviour is detected we can even exchange the lobby with lower volatility and higher RTP through automation and AI.
This means the player will have longer sessions and can cool down organically.
They won’t lose the entertainment factor but we’ll provide them with a safe space that adds to the RG actions we’ve set in place.
With these actions we can increase the lifetime value, the cross-sell from verticals and the loyalty of the players.
Which is every goal of every company who appreciates their customers for who they are and their affection for your brand.