TRAFFIC & STRATEGY
AI and the promised lands of personalisation
Many innovations have been hailed as the next big thing during online gaming ’ s short lifetime . Now , with the rise of data lakes and the AI boom , Mark McGuinness asks : is personalisation the latest fad or the real deal ?
Personalisation within the igaming ecosystem as it relates to players , specifically lifecycle stages in CRM such as onboarding , activation , acquisition and retention has been mooted , touted and lamented for what seems like a generation now .
All companies strive to improve the customer experience and foster relationships with both new and existing customers . They cite personalisation as the holy grail to unlock that value exchange and make customers feel unique , special and loved .
Digital personalisation
As customers increasingly use digital channels , igaming brands must deliver more than a simple “ all or nothing approach ”, which is centred around more linear transactional product-led experiences . By this , I mean everything currently presented on a gambling website is designed to get the player to place their bet quickly or play the next available slot game or tournament .
Let ’ s address the elephant in the room : the current experience of gambling products and how they are presented is perhaps one of encouraging the player to engage beyond their means , which by and large creates a negative experience . In today ’ s social responsibility climate , it is also a rather unfashionable business model across a swathe of society and , of course , the omnipresent gambling regulators .
Personalisation value drivers
Though critical for players to feel valued and understood , there is there is also a compelling business reason for personalisation .
Sharing a common theme with the Pareto principle , within the igaming industry , 80- 90 % of the revenue comes from 10-20 % of the top players . This relationship is more skewed for online casinos , where singledigit player numbers drive the majority of gross gaming revenue .
So , there is a compelling business goal of retaining these top player segments by offering tailored experiences . Without that personalisation , the igaming brand risks losing that player to its competitors .
Scaling personalisation with AI
AI and generative AI are capturing headlines for a couple of reasons . First , depending on the AI models used , it levels the playing field on soft and hard skills within a team and decreases the gap from being a middle-of-the-pack brand to being best in class – if used correctly .
Second , marketing teams are using generative AI for creative , media and data insights . AI ’ s ability to analyse huge data lakes of behavioural and transactional data streams can unlock personalisation and revenue goals .
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