Proper marketing is an essential part of a successful online casino – it’s an axiom. Experienced operators strive to succeed in 2 types of marketing: we call them “attraction” and “retention” marketing. The first is aimed at attracting player traffic, while the second is more about bonuses, loyalty programs, tournaments and other activities. This time we focus on bonuses and their features.

Let’s understand what bonuses are and why they exist.

To answer this question, let’s look around. Google “online casinos” and you’ll instantly get a huge number of results. Every casino relies on SEO, affiliate marketing and other opportunities to get to the top of search queries and gain players’ attention. But what do you do when players finally find your casino to make them stay?

Great design is good, but let’s face it: the growing popularity of online casinos is attracting seasoned professionals to the business. And overall, the level of the iGaming industry has risen noticeably in recent years compared to earlier stages.

The most respected casinos have a similar set of game providers available to players. This is partly due to the conservatism of players who prefer a certain set of games.

The problem is that many casinos have more or less the same game content, and thus the odds of winning. Casino operators need to take serious action to turn casino visitors into loyal players.

The best way to win the loyalty of those who come to try their luck at your casino is to give them what they want as soon as possible.

A bonus is a method of giving a player free money/game options (such as freespins) to use at a particular casino. Everyone loves free stuff, so operators don’t shy away from this method of promotion.

The main types of bonuses are:

• (a) The sign-up bonus is a popular way to welcome players, encourage them to sign up and, most importantly, accept the casino’s policies and share their personal information. After that, you have two things: a registered potential player and the ability to contact them for further marketing. From that point on, all further relationships with the player are either your success or failure. In exchange for the data, the casino credits and/or freespins to players’ accounts so they can get an immediate taste of the game with minimal loss.

Example: Welcome Bonus! Get €500 and 180 freespins for signing up!

• b) Deposit Bonus – The name fits the purpose. The bonus is given out to encourage players to make a deposit with their own money. It is these bonuses are most aggressively promoted by casino operators, as that is the whole point. Usually such a bonus is given out as a % of the deposit amount, sometimes accompanied by a certain amount of freespins.

Example: 100% flesh to 100 € on your first deposit and 180 freespins

• c) Reload bonus – aimed at player retention and involvement of those who have not made a deposit for a certain period of time (week, month, etc.). This is a good way to remind the player about the casino or invite a longtime player to come back to take advantage of the extra bonus. This type of bonus can take many forms, from additional free spins to a percentage of the deposit. To get players to come back sooner, reload bonuses are usually time-limited and have a fixed expiration date. In addition, reload bonuses can also be dedicated to a specific event or used to promote new games.

Example: Get a 50% deposit bonus on Wednesdays! Get 50 freespins for the Casanova slot game using promo code CASANOVA

• d) Cashbacks / freespins if you lose. This is something to consider if you plan to build a long-term relationship with your players. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose – that’s the nature of the game. Typically, players take losing personally, and the last thing we would want is for you to let players leave the casino in a bad mood. Providing a % cashback for losing would certainly soften the blow. Another good option is to provide individual freespins to players who are unlucky that day.

Benefits to your marketing from using the online platform

Above are a few of the most common types of bonuses that are often used at online casinos. However, the key to dominating the iGaming arena is the variety and flexibility of in-house marketing. Online platform is ready to provide our customers with serious support: a bonus system based on DSL language.

In short, this extremely flexible, tool allows operators to “tune” bonuses, which are ideal for narrow segments of players. The platform uses an internal subject oriented language (DSL) created for detailed description of bonuses logic. Which makes almost everything possible: individual and complex bonuses, depending on different conditions and timeframes, targeting specific groups or even individual players.

The structure of each bonus created in DSL is as follows:

1. – Mandatory parameters (define the type of bonus and its general conditions)
2. – Possible parameters (a wide variety of parameters, from timelines to affiliate-related segmentations for exclusive bonuses)
3. – Freespin parameters (customizable games, amounts, conditions, wagering requirements and more)

As you can see from the above, the bonus system is an essential element for encouraging and retaining online casino players. It may seem that it takes effort to understand all the logic of bonuses, but under the clear guidance of SoftSwiss account managers, everything quickly becomes clear.

” – Okay, so far we’ve been talking about free stuff that can bring players real money. Does that mean casinos are giving away money literally for free? Doesn’t that make casino operators charitable organizations?

– It really doesn’t.”

It’s time to talk about the fine print, otherwise known as bonus terms

Online casinos are a high-risk but lucrative business built on mathematics and probability theory. To prevent misuse of bonuses, operators impose additional conditions that must be met before a payout can be made. The trick with wagering requirements is to make the bonuses profitable for the casino. That’s why the wagering requirements usually specify how many times the amount of money deposited must be played before a withdrawal is possible.

That sounds a little strange, so let’s look at an example:

Take the deposit bonus. So, the Player plans to deposit 100 euros, and the Casino offers +100% of that amount. That is, €200 is credited to the player’s account. The betting requirement is x30 (which means that the amount of 200 euros must be played 30 times).

Now it’s up to the math: 200€ (deposit + bonus) x 30 (betting requirement) = 6,000€ (the total amount the Player has to play to be able to withdraw). The average RTP (player’s return on slots is about 97%), so €6,000 x (100-97%) = €180 (3% remain in the casino). Obviously, the €180 that remains in the casino is more than the initial €100 bonus offered to the Player.

* Note that these calculations are based on averages and actual results may vary.

At the same time, bonuses may be cashable or not, tied to specific games, have restrictions on the maximum amount of bets when playing with the bonus, and so on.

To eliminate possible misunderstandings and keep everyone happy, all wagering requirements should be clearly stated in the Terms and Conditions of Use and presented to players before they take advantage of the bonus.

Another question often asked is how many bonuses the casino gives out?

– The answer is short: a lot!

Especially when the casino is young, hungry and has to loudly entice players. At this stage, bonuses can make up a significant portion of the GGR! Later on, when the casino gets good engagement, bonuses can account for 20-30% of GGR to maintain marketing.

Congratulations if you have reached this point!

Let’s summarize all of the above and draw some serious conclusions.

First of all: Bonuses are an important part of the day-to-day operation of a casino, as well as a direct expense, and should be taken very seriously.

Second: It is extremely important to understand that all bonus programs must be double-checked for errors, both mathematical and logical, to avoid abuse by professional “bonus hunters” and misunderstandings by loyal players.

Equally important: The wagering requirements must be reviewed by both sides: the casino and the players, to make sure that all terms and conditions are attractive to both sides.

Be on-trend, innovate and be flexible in your internal marketing, and players will do the rest!