Next week at G2E, Engaged Nation will showcase its new and innovative advancements that drive visits to and boosting revenue for casinos.
The digital-marketing pioneer has established itself as a critical component for the casino industry, according to Jerry Epstein, CEO of the Las Vegas-based company. “This past year alone, we developed and implemented 200-plus campaigns that created more than $100 million in income on the floor and with online casinos. What we’re seeing is that casino properties and other gaming companies now realize the true value and critical need of our digital-engagement programming and the results it produces.
“Engaged Nation is a great partner,” said Craig Fuller, Sr., director of gaming operations for Akwesasne Mohawk Casino in upstate New York. “They continue to drive some of our best-performing casino promotions. We challenged them to generate increased traffic during our worst winter months. They developed and implemented Winner Wonderland, which accounted for two of our best drawing events ever, even producing the third-highest GGR day in our 20-year history.”
That promotion also reactivated thousands of inactive and past-due guests.
At G2E, Engaged Nation will feature its internal-communication “festival” series, email, and complete end-to-end solution with the first interactive digital Player Portal in the marketplace.
“The marketplace has changed significantly,” Epstein said. “Players now expect much more when it comes to digital engagement. Properties understand that they should very carefully evaluate the myriad digital options and determine which ones will have the greatest impact and generate a bottom-line return. Our clients understand that we’re vigilant when it comes to driving a quantifiable result. Over the years, we’ve successfully completed more than 1,000 campaigns that created a quantifiably significant financial return in earned media value based on Google Analytics data and created increased player spend as well. Our ROI averages upwards of 17 times the value of the program. People now see that we’re not a cost center, but a revenue generator.”
One of the keys to Engaged Nation’s success is its strategic use of gamified mechanics that create memorable moments,
“It’s exactly what casinos want to evoke when players are at their online or land-based casino,” Epstein said. “We extend that excitement to their home or work through a fun and rewarding interactive portal that engages players with our client’s brand on a regular basis. It’s like owning their own fun communications channel.
“Our system is multi-dimensional. We’ve successfully implemented new-customer-acquisition campaigns. We also make the most of any operator’s database as we engage active players, help stop the downward trend of decliners, and reactivate dormant customers. Our methodology centers around continuous digital nurturing, delivering memorable interactive experiences that ultimately create brand ambassadors and revenue.”
Epstein said they want to be judged on a quantifiable return.
“The 17X ROI or hundreds of millions in earned media value and incremental revenue have proven to be a significant value-add within and beyond the casino industry,” Epstein said.
Many clients are citing Engaged Nation for helping to create record gross-gaming-revenue days. The company’s versatility can be seen in many areas where they helped their clients achieve success with specific calls to action, from generating a trip to the adoption and usage of a mobile app. It always comes down to each property’s business needs.
“We struggled to gain acceptance for our casino app, as it had little success driving incremental revenue. Engaged Nation designed and implemented a cross-platform promotion that combined traditional marketing with their digital-engagement program that directly drove visits and revenue,” said Steve Nealy, General Manager at Rolling Hills Casino and Resort.
“The results turned me, a skeptic, into a believer as our revenue outpaced previous weeks by a substantial margin,” Nealy said. “Engaged Nation has absolutely earned our business and we have added their product to our toolbox.”
At G2E this year, Engaged Nation is featuring a few different value-added programs.
“For example, we’ve seen a tremendous uptick in internal communications that is proven to help educate team members about what’s critical to our clients – from educating them about player-facing promotions to broader messaging about an operator’s vision and culture with an emphasis on customer service,” Epstein said. “We’re working with several properties and we’re seeing more than 80% engagement from team members who’ve now become advocates and brand ambassadors.”
Engaged Nation’s internal programs feature an online-“edutainment” program — education in an entertaining way. On a monthly basis, they quiz everyone to see the level of message retention.
“We want to make certain it’s quantifiable and we have to see if they’ve learned something through the year that’s of value to the property,” Epstein said. “It’s become a very popular new product in the marketplace.”
Over the past year since G2E 2022, Engaged Nation has promoted its festival series and will do so again this year to show its “impact and power.” It’s a minimum of six months, but clients are signing up for up to two years.
“Engaged Nation’s programmatic themes are developed specifically for each property. With the proliferation of legalized sports betting, we can focus on sports that feature insured events,” Epstein said. “This year we developed a “Running with the Suns” promotion for Gila River Resorts & Casinos in Arizona to capitalize on their sponsorship of the Phoenix Suns NBA team. At Gold Country in northern California, we have a program primarily highlighting slot and casino promotions under the banner of “Golden Rewards.
“Gold Country is now in the second phase of our festival series. In this version, they wanted to appeal to the widest possible audience. We designed a combo pack featuring major sporting events and casino promotions. These ongoing programs have exceeded expectations in a very significant way.”
In all cases, Epstein said they need to understand a client’s priorities and build a program based on the property’s needs. “For example, we’ve designed and implemented successful programs that drove more visitation and play on slower days like Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights. It’s not just about games, it’s strategically using our proprietary system to provide a meaningful outcome.”
Engaged Nation will also be highlighting its complete end-to-end solution at the show, Epstein said.
Specifically, Engaged Nation has conducted considerable research on player portals, where players can access their player club points and monthly offers online.
“Most properties offer a traditional static portal that doesn’t provide something different, as in delivering a fun interactive experience,” Epstein said. “Most portals are essentially a digital version of their direct mail. But they can be so much more. We reinvented the player portal in a new interactive way proven to engage, entertain, enhance our client’s brand, and more important, drive revenue. That’s where we shine.
The complete end-to-end solution starts with player club signups. Engaged Nation provides an interactive tablet that captures a player’s email address that can be verified in real time. It can immediately send a welcome email that puts players onto a continuous engagement journey and, when applicable, includes a bounce-back offer to generate a second visit.
“Most properties struggle with getting players into their outbound communications flow as soon as possible,” Epstein said. “In some cases, they can’t get them into direct mail for anywhere from 30 to 60 days. That’s a missed opportunity. We can turn that into an instantaneous automatic process where we engage with the newly registered player and keep them connected with the brand in a fun way. So in addition to accessing player’s points and offers, our gamified elements transform the portal into a fun marketing tool.”
Engaged Nation has become an extension of clients’ marketing team, developing innovative programs that drive trips and revenue.
“When we tested the interactive-portal concept, there was no doubt about its value. We helped drive more than 64,000 property visits in a year, including 12,000 incremental visits,” Epstein said. “They analyzed the data to determine the program’s return. The final report showed we modified behavior and increased the number of times a player goes to their property. Specifically, if a player had been coming to their property three times a month and came a fourth or fifth time with one of our segmented rewards, they were put into an incremental bucket. Our test program netted an additional $1.24 million in incremental revenue. That program not only generated substantial revenue, but with its “go-paperless” feature, the property also saved more than $200,000 per year in direct-mail costs.”
Epstein explained that the REACH system serves multiple purposes. “We can serve as a very cost-effective awareness and advertising enhancement program that values the time people remain connected to the brand. It’s similar to a Google Ad purchase. In one year, our interactive player portal generated more than $15 million in earned media.
“We’ve done extensive research with one of the largest advertising and marketing firms on a series of Anheuser-Busch new-customer and engagement programs. This firm, Advantage Marketing, verified that when we connect with people on the level we’re talking about, we produce a value of $1.81 per engagement minute. Not only are we able to drive additional visits and revenue, but we can now credibly add the earned media value, which is significant for our clients.”
Engaged Nation will prominently offer email and SMS texting marketing at the show. Epstein cited their partnership with Salesforce and the results of more than 200 annual campaigns make Engaged Nation the proven leader in this area.
Looking ahead, big announcements of initiatives that Engaged Nation is working on with companies will be coming out over the next six months.
“We just signed a deal with Carnival and Princess Cruise Lines and we’ll be reaching out and working with properties to do integrated promotions that will help provide a turnkey program to casinos, proven to drive more property visits and revenue,” Epstein said. “We expect that next year will be smooth and profitable sailing for our company and its rapidly expanding list of satisfied clients.”
Engaged Nation is located in Booth No. 2611 at this year’s G2E conference.
