The gambling business is highly regulated, but marketing is still needed to find new customer segments and keep engaged the existing ones. You just need to be more innovative, but how?
Compared to marketing tires, beverages, fashion, and even dish soap, there isn’t much information out there. Google doesn’t have many good case study articles for doing marketing for casinos or gambling in general.
Google brings up some basic blog posts, that guide you to post on a regular basis and use Ads Manager not Boost button for making paid promotions. Well, I think every marketer who has relevant education or previous work experience in social media marketing knows the basics.
The difficult part is to understand how to build up the strategy for content and ads and in a way, that would be effective and would still be playing by gambling advertising rules. This is why I thought about sharing my ideas on how to do social media marketing for gambling businesses.
| Strategy | Description | Impact Area |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Content Variety | Post a mix of content, including behind-the-scenes looks, upcoming events, and jackpot winners, to keep the audience engaged. | Engagement |
| 2. User-Generated Content | Encourage users to share their experiences and stories, creating a community feel and authentic content. | Trust & Community |
| 3. Influencer Partnerships | Collaborate with influencers who align with the brand to reach new audiences and add credibility. | Reach & Credibility |
| 4. Engaging Promotions | Run contests, giveaways, and exclusive promotions to engage followers and drive traffic to the casino or platform. | Engagement & Traffic |
| 5. Educational Content | Share tips, strategies, and fun facts about gambling to inform and entertain your audience, establishing your brand as a knowledgeable source. | Brand Authority |
| 6. Responsible Gambling Messaging | Promote responsible gambling practices and provide resources for help, demonstrating commitment to player welfare. | Responsibility & Trust |
| 7. Event Live Streaming | Broadcast live events, tournaments, and special occasions to create excitement and a sense of inclusion for online followers. | Engagement & Excitement |
| 8. Customer Service via Social Media | Offer prompt customer service through social media channels to address queries and concerns, improving customer satisfaction. | Support & Satisfaction |
| 9. Targeted Advertising | Use social media advertising tools to target specific demographics and interests, ensuring compliance with advertising standards and laws. | Reach & Compliance |
| 10. Visual Storytelling | Use high-quality images, videos, and infographics to tell compelling stories about the casino or gambling experience. | Brand Image & Engagement |
First, let’s talk about the rules and regulations for advertising gambling in social media
Facebook and Instagram have their own regulations for advertising gambling-related content. Meaning you cannot promote certain types of content and even for establishing accounts, you need to pass the verification process.
If you do not want to get blocked with your business pages in Instagram or Facebook, then you need to fill in this form first and get the approval. If you took over the marketing activities of existing accounts, then they might have passed this step already, but it is always good to double-check.
Facebook has really general explanations about the limitations, which is actually good. Also, the content of your ads and targeting is regulated by local authorities, wherever you want to show your ads.
Facebook advertising policy states following: Ads that promote or facilitate online real money gambling, real money games of skill or real money lotteries, including online real money casino, sports books, bingo, or poker, are only allowed with prior written permission. Authorized gambling, games of skill or lottery ads must target people 18 years or older who are in jurisdiction for which permission has been granted.
Examples of forbidden content:
- Portraying or encouraging irresponsible gambling behavior
- Presenting gambling as an income opportunity or employment alternative
- Content using currency symbols unrelated to a specific monetary amount
- That’s all. Everything else you have to figure out on your own.
What kind of content to use for gambling-related social media pages?
What type of content to use if some things as mentioned above are forbidden? The main thing is to understand what is the purpose of the content. What do you want to tell your audience?
The main messaging, in general, should be not only about free spins and direct sales, cause this brings around only free spins hunters and provides no value for the brand in the long run. The goal should be building long-term loyalty for your existing customer base and showing yourself as a fun place for entertainment in the eyes of the public, raising general awareness.
You should want to show that this is a place of transparent and trustworthy place for entertainment, where everyone can come. Avoid making your brand look like a “gambling hell” that just wants to trick you to play and take all of your money.
When it comes to the visual expression on images, then industry trend seems to use heavy design. Social media will cut down reach for this type of visuals. Avoid those.
How to express this messaging visually? It really depends if you have an online or a land-based casino.
In case of land-based casinos it is easy:
- You can make photoshoots showcasing the place itself and people having a good time
- Use social media influencers as models or to make coverage of poker tournaments online.
- Make video clips of different games and explain how they work.
- After movies of tournaments and different events.
- Selfie spots and tagging instructions. Selfie spot isn’t a boring wall in the background, it should be a creative fun place where people want to take photos. Why not make a retro casino corner or an “upside-down room”. Motivate people to tag your brand in the photos and post those in their social media by giving away prizes.
- Showcase your signature cocktails in the bar.
- Sometimes it is good to use designs, but keep it short and simple.
- Showcase numbers – people who win, even impersonal numbers are ok and help to create trust.
- Make different competitions. Usually, the simpler it is, the better. BUT if you have a really cool prize, then you could make treasure hunts or Augmented Reality face filter games. The last ones are currently getting more and more popular. For better visibility (in case your own reach is small) use partners for organizing the competitions. Don’t forget to make some ads, too!
In case of online gambling, here are some other things you could try:
- Use a spokesperson or brand ambassador on images. It can be a real person or an influencer or a virtual character created for you. Then you can create stories around that character.
- Showcase your website from a computer or a phone in different locations. Showcasing where you can play. Be creative. From the toilet to Bahama island, everything works. You can build some humor around it.
- Tell stories about winners personally or impersonally. Just show numbers, that people win and what have they done with the prize money. Any interesting ways of spending it? Of course, you cannot say that someone relieved their financial problems with it.
- Make game tutorials on IGTV or Facebook video, just like in other gaming sectors. Tell how the game works and what tactics to use.
- In case of sports (or any) betting you can use photos of those third parties the bets are made on.
- Make games on your social media channels or use influencers, other companies for it and sponsor them at a desirable price like iPhone or GoPro. The games should be based on predictions and betting.
How to make your content visible with social media advertising?
First, all posts on your page should be advertised to maximize reach and make the best use of the work that has been done for creating posts.
For this, you can target people based on demographics, interests or just the people who have engaged with your content or ads before and their lookalike. This way you can find new customer bases and also keep your current customers up to date with the news.
Secondly, there should be ads inviting people to stop by from your casino or visit your website.
In the case of land-based casinos, you can target people, who happen to be nearby (1km distance) and have a suitable demographic profile.
If you want to drive traffic to your website, then you need to think about rolling out different landing pages, that would be part of your campaign creative. If you just force people to sign up on your front page, then the conversion might be much lower. Make the whole process easy and fun for people.
Once you have people visited your website, then thanks to Facebook Pixel you can also use retargeting methods to drive them back to your site. This helps you to get people visiting your website more often and also raise customer base loyalty. Having a special landing page for the existing customer base isn’t necessary.
How to target new potential clients on Facebook and use their analytics to figure out strategies that work is a long subject and we won’t stop on in this article.
How to make your content visible with social media influencers and is it even possible for gambling businesses?
You should definitely use influencers from the industry and outside of it. Use influencers to have media coverage on bigger events. Or make a tour and teach different games to the influencer and ask them to make a coverage of it in their social channels in order to introduce your brand to their audience. A good way to do it is to offer them to arrange their birthday or other private parties in the casino with a full night program: games, dinner, tickets to club etc. Limitless opportunities. The same advertising rules apply for influencers.
Don’t forget to consider having a front face or two as brand ambassadors. They work well on your advertisements and help to build trust, but also help to make you look prestigious in the eyes of your business partners.
Conclusion
Public social media profiles make your brand look modern, transparent, trustworthy and a cool place of entertainment, where people are happy to spend their time and even invite their friends. Raise your brand recognition in the eyes of the public and build your image and status for your business partners at the same time.