The purpose of this blog is to assist iGaming CRMers, wherever you may be. To do so, we provide you with naughty photos from industry conferences, laugh at Thomas for his poor fighting abilities (or lack of any kind of abilities in this case), review your boring promos and mock acquisition people on your behalf (no need for a link here – pretty much any post would do).

To expand your creative horizons WITHOUT the usage of photos, we bring you from time to time articles from other –far less moral – industries. This time we are going to review Dr. Robert B. Cialdini’s book, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,” as summarized by inc.com. Throughout this post we will try to adopt some of the lingo to online gambling terms and who knows? Those of you who haven’t stopped reading already because there won’t be any photos might even enjoy it.

The article describes six ways to influence a customer to buy without explicitly selling to them.

That alone might be problematic for us, because nearly all iGaming campaigns use an ultra-aggressive call-to-action. Does such an approach stand a chance with our audience (which is known for having the attention level of … well, nothing – they simply can’t pay attention to anything that doesn’t sparkle brightly)?

Moving forward, these are the top takeaways of Cialdini’s work:

1.       Make yourself likeable

Customers are far more likely to say yes if they know and like the person who’s selling to them.

There is a definite need in our industry to adopt a much more personal approach to break this anonymity wall between the brand and the player. Some of the larger brands (bwin, PokerStars) invest tons of cash each year on branding and celebrity sponsorships. A cheaper way would be to stop using alias names when contacting players and actually interact with them on a more personal level. Of course, the downside of this is that they might actually get to really know you, and due to your own social inadequacies, the potential even remotely liking you quickly diminishes. Still, it does suggest that your BRAND should be likeable, even if you and all your company’s employees are total jerks. (Just don’t let your customers know!)

2.       Become a respected authority

People are more likely to buy from you if they see you as having specialized knowledge.

Financial trading websites, such as Binary Options brands, are very good at this: They provide a very comprehensive level of education to their traders which increases conversion and retention levels. Can you do this in an online casino setting, which most likely will decrease your house edge because the player is smarter from your instruction? Actually, it might be a smart move. Bricks-and-mortar casinos teach new players how to play Craps, and they allow usage of Blackjack-Basic-Strategy matrixes next to their tables. Why? Because they know a happy player is a lasting player, and since you are in the business of maximizing Lifetime Value (or at least, this is what you tell your moms you do), you should be in favor of such an approach as well.

3.       Get the customer to owe you a favor

People feel obligated to say yes to people who have already given them something or helped them in some ways.

Well, we do that all the time, so it’s not all bad in RetentionVille, is it?

4.       Position buying as consistent with self-image

Customers say yes more often if the yes is consistent with a prior statement of their identity.

Here is some amazing information: Research firms double the number of participants in their surveys when the first survey question they ask is “Are you a helpful person?” Why? Because those who say they are helpful have committed to a position about their identity and they want to retain that position by being helpful to the person administering the survey.

What can you do with this knowledge? It’s all about the approach. When calling your customers, identify as “XXX with the VIP team” – in most cases, this alone should do the trick. They are looking for an enhanced self-image? It’s your job to provide them with one. Knowing the common profile of the online casino player, nobody else will do it for you… Plus, you might even end up being rewarded with an all-inclusive trip to iCE from your boss after all. (Yeah, as likely to happen as you being at the right place at the right time when that hot secretary drinks too much during the office Christmas party – NOT).

5.       Get endorsed by the customer’s peers

Customers are more likely to buy when they know that people “just like them” are also buying.

Again, “Refer-a-Friend” systems are widely used on our online side of the world, so there is not a lot more to it. You can read again the summary from the last iCE annual CRM & Retention Seminar and learn how this is done right. One observation you might not think of: Social marketing is essentially the same thing as “refer-a-friend”, except without any express request from the business itself, the endorsement is worth a lot more.

6.       Make your offering soon-to-be scarce

Customers value offerings that are rare or dwindling in availability.

All promotional offerings are time-limited, but how about launching special offerings that are really unique? Golden Palace used to do it with all sort of crazy stuff and got tons of media buzz. Just make sure you get rid of that ridiculous thing you call haircut and remove these pimples before being interviewed on national TV. Or even before picking up the phone – yes, it’s ugly enough to affect your voice.

P.S.: Have you read our 2012 “Da Christmas Promothon Trilogy” yet? Well, you should. You have nothing important to do anyway.

P.S.2: See you in London! It’s only few weeks away.