Experiture’s omni-channel approach featured in Casino Journal

Experiture’s omni-channel approach featured in Casino Journal

In the June issue of Casino Journal, Experiture was highlighted for our modern approach to CRM marketing and how its enabling casino operators paint an all-around view of the player. What follows is an excerpt from the article that includes an interview with Experiture’s CEO Tej Kohli…

QUESTION: What are casino operators looking for in terms of CRM systems, and what is your company doing to meet their demands?

KOHLI: It is truly a challenging and exciting time for today’s casino marketer. With intensely competitive local-markets, a multichannel environment, a changing demographic and higher costs of traditional media, it is more important than ever to leverage the right CRM marketing approach.

Our research has shown that casino marketers today are seeking a CRM marketing system that enables them to unify their marketing activities on a single-platform, while connecting with their players and guests across multiple channels in an efficient manner. Experiture responds to this demand by delivering the only unified marketing management system in the industry that creates and automates the delivery of messages to players and guests across multiple channels such as e-mail, push messaging, SMS, social post, direct mail and more—all from a single platform.

Experiture connects into the casino’s disparate data sources including player tracking systems, hotel management systems, POS systems and data warehouses to create a single golden record for CRM marketing. This enables precision targeting and segmentation by leveraging all the data known about players/guests.

Key considerations of CRM marketers addressed by Experiture include:

• Marketing automation capabilities to trigger real-time messages based on lifecycle events;
• Multi-channel campaigns via direct mail and e-mail, SMS and mobile app push notifications;
• Geofencing and location services for hyper-local targeting of offers;
• Personalized URLs and player portals to foster a one-on-one dialog with every player/guest;
• A single unified platform solution for all marketing needs;
• The ability to seamlessly integrate with multiple IT systems and data sets;
• Consolidated, simple-to-understand and actionable reporting;
• Reduced dependence on developers/IT;
• A system that is easy to implement; and
• Reliable responsive and knowledgeable customer support.

 

QUESTION: Analytics are often used in marketing to target a particular customer demographic… what practices are in place to protect patron’s privacy and how their information is disseminated? 

KOHLI: Best practices in fostering marketing relationships with patrons involves helping them understand how their data is used and providing them control over its use. At Experiture, we take several steps to facilitate this.

• Experiture’s enterprise-class IT infrastructure is built to ensure all user data is stored with the highest-level of privacy and security, exceeding all the established industry compliance standards.
• Strong governance throughout our platform controls messaging cadence and frequency.
• Experiture’s built-in preference center enables players/guests to update their communication preferences, so they control what they receive and how often and on what channel.
• The Experiture team utilizes past data and experience to provide best practices and guidelines to marketers to ensure their communications aren’t so invasive as to turn customers off.
• Built-in compliance for CAN-Spam, TCPA, CCPA, GDPR and other upcoming industry regulations.

 

QUESTION: How are casinos using data collected both on the gaming floor and off to boost foot traffic within their properties?

 

KOHLI: In order for casinos to execute truly effective closed-loop marketing that drives players back into the property, they need to combine player metrics such as visit frequency, length of play, amount wagered, hotel stays, etc., with engagement, behavior and location metrics. Experiture has pioneered the four-legged stool of data analysis to drive marketing decisions by examining:

• Profile—Who they are, player contact information, tiers and so on;
• Transactions—What they played, ADT;
• Behavior—How they have engaged with marketing, e-mail opens, website visits; and
• Location—Where they have been, competitor visits, etc.

 

By unifying all the marketing communications on a single platform, Experiture can track digital, mobile, direct mail and e-mail engagement including helping manage each player’s messaging preferences. Furthermore, Experiture’s location services like geofencing and beacon technology help our clients understand their customers’ movement patterns and reach them when it matters most.

Experiture merges all this real-time marketing data against information collected from a variety of systems within the casino including player tracking systems, kiosks and POS systems to create a unified player and guest view. Unifying information stored in numerous databases can facilitate highly targeted communications at every player lifecycle event. It is well known that delivering the right message or offer at the right time increases property visits, length of play, amounts wagered and overall customer experience.

 

QUESTION: What technologies have played a crucial role in making CRM systems more valuable tools?  How has this changed thru the years?

 

KOHLI: There have been many advancements that have made CRMs more valuable. Some important areas include:

• Advancements in integration technologies such as APIs that have allowed companies to more easily connect their systems. We use these methods to securely integrate with hundreds of different systems including player tracking systems, kiosks, data warehouses, property management and more. This has been key for many CRM-based systems because their effectiveness depends a great deal on the data they can collect.
• Mobile has played a big role in enabling players to stay connected with casino properties through mobile player apps. Mobile technology has also advanced to provide CRM-based systems like Experiture the ability to develop frameworks that make building mobile property apps simple and efficient, not to mention the advances in location-based services that provide additional insight on player movements and messaging opportunities.
• Another big advancement has been cloud-computing technology. This decentralized model has enabled platforms like Experiture to deliver our solutions more cost effectively, without requiring major IT investments for properties. This has also led to increases processing power to enable platforms like Experiture to deliver large volumes of e-mail, SMS and other communications with ease.

 

QUESTION: What do you see future CRM systems being able to offer casino operators?

 

KOHLI: When we speak about the future of CRM-based marketing, innovative solutions providers like Experiture are unifying marketing management, expanding data collection and building relational data models to enhance personalization, all the while enhancing analytics and reporting to help companies focus on the most profitable customers.

Although these are all core features of the Experiture platform today, as a technology provider, it is our responsibility to invest in research and development—and to iterate and deliver the capabilities that enable our customers to elevate their goals and optimize customer experiences.

The future in our ecosystem can be categorized into some specific areas:

• Increased data capture and systems unification: Helping casino operators do more with less. By increasing the ease with which data is integrated into Experiture, we continue to reduce the resources and effort marketing teams require to query and compile data segments, trigger communications and pull actionable reports across all areas.
• Artificial Intelligence: CRMs need to be smarter and require less user input to perform key functions. AI and machine learning can greatly help this process. AI can help CRM/marketing automation platforms more precisely track and assess user behaviors and map them to real-time decision-making processes.
• Ease of use: CRMs like Experiture offer a lot of features and functionality. Making it simple and easy for platform users to manage it all is a key factor for success. Experiture is already designed to be used by non-technical operators. Its intuitive interface, drag-and-drop tools and visual query/segmentation engine make it easy for anyone to use. That said, as new features are added it’s important that usability keeps pace and continues to eliminate dependence on device or IT, giving marketing teams the ability to react quickly and adeptly without depending on other resources.

 

You can find the full article: “A 360 degree view of the casino customer” here.

 

About Experiture:

Experiture is an omni-channel marketing platform designed from the ground up for the casino industry. As one of the industry’s fastest growing marketing automation platforms, Experiture is reportedly proud to have successfully enabled corporate and tribal properties across the U.S. to enhance their member and guest engagement.

Experiture is available as self-service software, but also as a managed turnkey service for casinos that are new to digital and mobile marketing. The Experiture marketing software enables casino marketing teams to create and automate the delivery of messages to players and guests across multiple channels such as e-mail, mobile, social, web, direct mail and more—all from a single platform and without any special skills or training.

At the core of Experiture is the ability for casino marketers to ensure that the right message is delivered to the right players, at the right time, on the right channel. This is accomplished by a comprehensive analytics dashboard that precisely tracks all engagement and enables casino operators to contour their messaging sequence and cadence based on real-time player engagement metrics.

Features of analytics include:

• Consolidated analytics and reporting across all channels, making it simple for marketers to view and interpret how their campaigns are performing in real time.
• Tracking each player’s engagement with every marketing touchpoint, enabling operators to determine which channels are the most meaningful to them;
• Using behavioral analytics to automate the next touchpoint based on player/guest engagement or lack thereof;
• Compelling interactive charts and graphs that can be exported for presentations in the boardroom; and
• Seamless integration with third-party systems such as Tableau for marketers who utilize those platforms.

 

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