Digital marketing is more of a moving target than ever and Engaged Nation, the digital interactive engagement company, has been making what it calls exciting changes based on client feedback and industry trends.
Engaged Nation creates promotions to help drive casino visits and will showcase what it can offer the industry at G2E.
“We’ve been working on simplifying our focus and messaging,” said Daniel Wood, Chief Customer Success Officer. “We’ve been transitioning from being known as an experiential and emotional digital agency to more of a straightforward identity as an international digital promotions company. This shift helps us clearly communicate who we are and what we do best.”
COO Michael Paulos said Engaged Nation has simplified things down to a common denominator to make it easier for operators and clients to use their tools. It’s about “getting back to blocking and tackling and doing the simplified things, and crawl-walk-run into bigger elaborate programs that we can do for our customers.”
Engaged Nation’s transition of its email clients to a new platform has been a game changer with its ease of use and simplicity, Wood said. There’s also the ability to customize it for casinos.
“This platform not only protects the casino data, but also offers flexibility,” Wood said. “Casinos can self-manage or utilize our managed services, including building out player automation. We’ll be unveiling some cool features at G2E that will help make their lives easier when it comes to email, SMS, and communicating with players outside the property.”
Paulos said their managed services alleviate the stress on the property to get their emails out on time, get them to the right people, retarget, strategize how to target, and decide what types of emails should be sent.
“That flows into our interactive emails with the other side of our business, where we’ve created fun, engaging, and interactive emails in which customers can play a game and get a reward that drives them back to the property,” Paulos said. “It’s another delivery mechanism of a reward or an offer that a casino gives somebody in a more engaging and exciting way that we feel helps drive more redemption. When somebody participates in something, our psychology says, ‘I want to use that a little more.’”
Wood said one new feature is entertainment emails with built-in automations that include a delivered voicemail. That corresponds to direct-mail offers and strategically timing the email in relation to when the direct mail goes out. It’s a way to save money. “The interactive emails are a fantastic way to keep players engaged even when they’re not at the casino. It builds that excitement and anticipation of winning.”
Engaged Nation is currently running its popular insured promotion, Million Dollar Pro Football Frenzy, with two $100,000 prop cards, one of which is for the pro football championship game. “It’s a great way to get players engaged,” Wood said. “They can make their picks at home, then we can drive those to visits on a weekly and monthly basis to the property.”
Engaged Nation also has Million Dollar March Mania for the college basketball tournament. There will also be a more simplified promotion for the 2025 tournament of filling out a bracket where people can participate on a leaderboard.
At G2E, Paulos said Engaged Nation is showing what its programs do that’s interactive. People will be able to play games and see the journey their players will take with the programs and technology.
“What we do is create fun,” Paulos said. “That luster of fun has been left behind a little in the casino industry of always putting a number to something, instead of giving people a fun experience. That’s what gaming was in the 1980s and ’90s. We want to create more fun for their players, especially when they’re not at the casino, and keep the casino top-of-mind when engaging with our programs.”
Engaged Nation will also use the G2E to talk about some of its strategic partnerships with reputable brands to provide more value to the casino industry and clients, Wood said.
