How Mobile Messaging Benefits Casinos and the Gaming Industry

You may have noticed that over the past decade mobile phones have quickly become the primary medium of communication for a majority of Americans. All you need to do is take a look around, regardless of where you may be, and you will see people of all ages and backgrounds looking at their phones, checking their phones, and playing with their phones. If you have a marketing mind, you probably already see the benefits of using these devices to market your cause or company. However, besides the obvious marketing benefits of marketing directly to your customers’ hands in real time, SMS messaging, or mobile messaging, can benefit your company on a number of different levels. In fact, if you are a casino, or are in the gaming industry, mobile messaging can provide a multitude of different benefits outside of the marketing aspect of it.

For starters, one way you can leverage the power of SMS in the favor of your casino or gaming establishment is to improve your customer service. For example, instead of people walking out of your casino and waiting for the valet to fetch their car, they can instead use the casino’s text messaging program to text the valet BEFORE they walk out so their car will be waiting for them once they are ready to come get it. SMS messaging is also sent and received in real time, so there are no delays in communication. The valet would receive the message moments after the customer sent it and the vehicle would be ready for the customer when they walk out the door. No delays, no waiting. Everyone wins.

Another great way to use SMS messaging is to text customers who are waiting for a table in the poker room. Traditionally, customers would walk into the poker room, tell the front desk or Floor Manager that they are waiting for an open seat, and the manager would enter their name into the waiting list which would be flashed up on a screen in the room. Then, once a seat opens up, their name would be announced in the room and the customer would take their seat. In the past, if the customer left the room to get a drink or play tables outside of the poker room, they would not know if their name was called for the open seat while they were gone. However, with an SMS program, customers can enter their name into the waiting list, leave the room, and get a text automatically sent to their phone once a seat at a table opens up, thus eliminating the risk of leaving the poker room while their name is on the waiting list.

Right now, most casinos use a SMTP system, which is a web to phone based texting platform that is used to text their customers and employees. However, since SMTP is web based, it experiences a 60% delivery failure rate and messages can take up to 4 hours to be delivered. You can already see the problems this poses. Instead, it is recommended that casinos and other gaming establishments use SMPP. SMPP is a short code based messaging system that has a much higher delivery rate and is very easily integrated into your current system using a simple API configuration. It speeds up sending and delivery, increases the efficiency of your customer service, and in turn increases the happiness and satisfaction of your customers.

Then, of course, you have the marketing aspect of SMS messaging. Imagine you are having a slow day and you want to drive more traffic through your casino doors. Simply send out a text message blast to your database alerting your customers that they can get 50% off drinks between 2PM-5PM that day. All they need to do is show the text message at the door. This will increase the amount of traffic going through your doors while also delighting your customers who feel special because they are receiving a special deal or discount from you. Customers LOVE promotions, events, giveaways, special offers, and discounts. So periodically shoot out text messages to them with offers like these and you will see a much higher rate of repeat customers coming through your establishment.

This is just scraping the surface of what SMS messaging can do for your casino. There have already been numerous casinos that have leveraged SMS in their favor and are now reaping the rewards of their text messaging program. Don’t let your casino or gaming establishment fall behind your competitors simply because you did not enact an SMS program. Invest in an SMS program today and start raking in your winnings!