Optimove Highlights the Importance of Retention to Sweepstakes

While sweepstakes have experienced rapid growth in the past few years, the sector has faced a wealth of problems due to its gray nature. Regulatory setbacks, however, are not the only challenges to the sweepstakes industry, as customer conversion has proven to be a serious issue.

Optimove’s Laniado Says the First Day Is Decisive

In a guest post for NEXT.io, Jeff Laniado, director of sales at CRM & loyalty marketing specialist Optimove, commented on why customer conversion continues to be a problem for sweepstakes companies.

While Laniado acknowledged the rapid growth of sweepstakes’ player bases, seemingly soaring acquisition, mouth-watering revenue and investor optimism, he noted that conversion is still a pressing challenge. The stark reality of sweepstakes, according to him, is that players who don’t convert within the first 24 hours of registering, are much less likely to do so.

Laniado pointed to an Optimove study that suggested that a staggering 52% of players convert within the first 24 hours. Additionally, most players who become active customers make their first purchase within hours of signing up. Laniado added that players who do not make an earl purchase are statistically much less likely to become regulars.

In short, Laniado said that the first day of a player’s journey is “not just important, but decisive.”

Retention Is More Important Than Acquisition

In his NEXT.io guest post, Laniado spoke against acquisition as a metric. He said that although acquisition is “the sexy metric” that often appears in headlines, retention is what is truly important to a company’s long-term success. And, when retention is dependent on the first few hours of gameplay, operators should make sure that these experiences truly resonate with players.

Laniado compared the importance of players’ first day with a sweepstakes operator to the “first 48” rule in law enforcement. For context, this rule states that the chances of solving a criminal case are overwhelmingly higher in the first two days.

The same is true in sweepstakes casinos. The first 24 hours are the golden window. Players are curious, engaged, and open to making their first deposit. Fail to capture them in that time, and attention quickly shifts elsewhere.

Jeff Laniado, director of sales, Optimove

Laniado added that sweepstakes casino companies have to compete with many other apps, with other media giants vying for users’ attention.

What Can Sweeps Companies Do?

Laniado provided sweepstakes operators with a few tips, encouraging them to build a “strong, dynamic welcome journey.” To that end, he encouraged sweepstakes companies to leverage source data to learn what a player might like and offer it immediately. Additionally, he advised companies to ditch static flows, since they are an outdated concept, and embrace dynamic, real-time player journeys.

Sweepstakes operators should also personalize from the start and communicate with players based on their performance and approach to gaming, embracing their differences.

In short, operators should listen to the players since onboarding should be “a conversation, not a script.”

After the crucial first day, Laniado advised operators to move to relationship mindsets, saying that “without retention, acquisition is little more than a one-night stand.” He proposed various things operators can do, such as to celebrate players’ milestones, implement gamification features, such as missions and leaderboards, and show players they are being valued.