6 Ultra Effective Strategies for Referral Marketing

The gaming industry is a brutally competitive space, and only the formidable make it to the top. It's an outstanding achievement if you've successfully attracted a large number of people who play your games. But that is not the case for many, and even if you have initially gained traffic, it is much harder to retain them, let alone acquire more.

Don't worry if your app's download rate or your site's traffic has begun to stagnate or even fall. We have the best strategies to get your games into the hands of new people. Let your existing customers take part in marketing your gaming platform along with you!

When customers begin suggesting your products to their circle of friends and family, it works like magic. Likewise, when your existing players refer their friends to your games, you will be able to convert even skeptics into loyal customers. This article will show you how to integrate a solid referral program into your app/site marketing strategy.

• What is referral marketing?
• Some of the benefits of establishing a solid referral programme for your gaming platform
• 6 Ultra Effective Strategies for Referral Marketing
• How to create a tracking Referral link in OptiKPI

Gaming Operators Growth

15%

increase in Unique Depositors

34%

Decrease in Churn

25%

Gross Gaming Revenue Uplift

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What is referral marketing?

Referral marketing is a marketing approach that encourages your current players to promote your gaming platform to their friends and family. Usually, a referral is in the form of a message that allows players to encourage their friends to try the game. The message consists of a brief description of the gaming experience and a link to the app store where consumers may download the game.

Referral marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach new audiences. This low-cost approach also brings in quality traffic. Hence every gaming operator should include them in their marketing strategy.

OptiKPI is a marketing automation software that helps you maximize your ROI on referral marketing. It is an exclusive platform only available for marketing gaming platforms such as yours. The upcoming sections will elaborate on the advantages of deploying referral programs and how integrating OptiKPI into your marketing channel will boost its effectiveness.

Some of the benefits of establishing a solid referral program for your gaming platform:

• Lower cost per head: As per statistics, it is four times more likely to be bought when a friend recommends a product. It is reported that 92% of customers trust the advice of their friends. When people receive an invite from their close friends, they are more likely to download your app or visit your site. People love to associate themselves with coolness. Hence, develop a high-quality game to easily convince users to participate in your referral program.

• Higher conversion rate: Referral marketing has a greater conversion rate when compared to other marketing strategies. When an existing player invites his friend, the chances of installing and playing your games are very high. Why is the conversion rate so high in referral marketing? There are multiple factors like trust, mutual interest, bonding, and sharing fun. These people have similar gaming likes and inclinations, thus giving you an edge for a better conversion rate. Many of those who receive the invite install your games!

• Drop in churn rate: As previously stated, gamers do not give invites to just anybody; instead, they convey recommendations to others they believe would like your games. In most user acquisition tactics, contacting the proper audience is a difficulty, but this is not the case with referral marketing. This technique of word-of-mouth marketing will help your games become recognized by players who are more inclined to downloading and enjoying them, thus lowering the churn rate.

• Create an acquisition loop: The retention rate improves as the churn rate decreases. A high retention rate indicates that gamers are having fun on your platform. Players are more inclined to suggest your app/site to their friends and family if they appreciate what you offer. Here, your games are shared with like-minded people, sparking discussions that spread to the next person, and so on. This event causes a viral acquisition cycle, which will assist you in attracting further players to your platform. To keep the acquisition loop rolling, work on enhancing your gaming mechanics.

• Track your traffic sources: Most gaming operators struggle to trace their traffic sources. They have no way of knowing who brought in the most installations or which channels are the most efficient at recruiting players. This data is crucial in optimizing acquisition flow. Referral links are one-of-a-kind, allowing operators to identify the most active players.

Following are some of the best methods to employ your referral marketing program.

6 Ultra Effective Strategies for Referral Marketing:

1. Personalized messaging:

The majority of individuals regard simple invitation texts as spamming annoyances. They move on when they receive such messages. If your game's invite message is simple, it might cause a poor conversion rate. Don't worry; OptiKPI has got you covered on this one too!

OptiKPI helps you create personalized messages that go along with the referral link. Attract new participants with exciting and relevant messages. OptiKPI enables you to segment your players based on their behavior. Thus, sending out relevant messages to grab the users' attention becomes effective and sustainable.

2. Make attractive visuals:

When crafting your referral invitation, don't stop at personalized messaging. Include appealing images to grab the attention of new players. If you have a visually appealing, cool-looking game, now is the moment to exhibit it. Tease your players with screenshots of your games.

3. Enable invitations from multiple points:

Allow your players to send invitations at various junctures throughout the game. There are probably many possibilities for distributing invites inside your game. After a player achieves a high score or wins a race, they will be ecstatic and inclined to share their achievements.

OptiKPI has enabled such touchpoints in its marketing channel. Gaming operators can leverage these and take advantage of situations. Please discuss your requirements with our technical team to build your very own customized touchpoints.

4. Provide incentives:

Make your referral program more rewarding. When players know that there is a reward for introducing new players to your gaming platform, your odds considerably improve. The rewards might be in the form of in-app cash or free spins.

OptiKPI lets you create referral links that help you track the performance of the referral programs when someone shares them.

5. Multi-channel promotion:

Don't just use a single channel to promote your referral programs, instead deploy multi-channel communication such as Email, Push notifications, SMS, In-App messages. Find the best-performing channel for different segments of players and deploy them effortlessly with OptiKPI. It also automates all your marketing campaigns in real-time for the best results.

6. Integrate OptiKPI into your Marketing

The gaming operators highly benefit from a solid referral program. But it can be increased multifold when OptiKPI is integrated into your marketing system. OptiKPI takes care of the day-to-day grind and completely automates every marketing task. You can easily create, edit, test, and launch your marketing campaigns (all under one roof and in real-time). Tracking your results is highly simplified with our advanced analytics features in the dashboard.

How to create a tracking Referral link in OptiKPI?

You can create Referral Marketing tracking links in OptiKPI with little to no effort. These links can be attached to your promotional campaigns, such as referral programs, and deployed to target players in real-time.

For example, if you own an Online Casino and want to start a new Referral Program, use this feature to your advantage. Friends can send referral bonus codes to one another and mutually reap the benefits. When a player successfully refers his friend to your casino, he receives incentives. Likewise, the new player to join your casino also gets discounts.

OptiKPI supports Unique Bonus Codes. For example, send Unique Netflix codes to your players. These codes are exclusively valid for these players.

OptiKPI can be easily integrated into a gaming platform as a marketing tool within four weeks. Every campaign can be personalized and automated in real-time. With 24/7 worldwide customer support, OptiKPI delivers uncompromised service.