Keeping Up With the Times is Essential to Growing Your Casino Business

The modern casino is more than just a place to gamble. It’s a multifaceted entertainment venue offering restaurants, bars, luxury hotels and other amenities that appeal to a variety of visitors. But the casino’s true purpose is to make money from gambling activities, and while musical shows, shopping centers, awe-inspiring architecture and dramatic scenery help attract visitors, it’s the games of chance that drive the billions of dollars in profits casinos pull in each year.

Casinos are designed to manufacture a sense of euphoria that encourages you to keep playing. The lights, music and smells all work together to create a manufactured environment that convinces you that your luck is bound to change. In fact, most people walk into a casino and don’t even see a clock — the casino managers want you to lose track of time and spend more money than you intended to.

Aside from a few strategically placed bathrooms, casinos don’t put their restrooms near the entrance. Rather, you have to walk past more opportunities to try your hand at blackjack or roulette to reach them. This strategy is intentional, as it forces you to stop and play a game when you may not have planned on doing so. And once you’re inside, it becomes difficult to walk away.

It’s hard to resist the lure of a jackpot, and many people are convinced that their next big win is just around the corner. Casinos know this, too, and often use near-misses to trigger a feeling of anticipation that keeps players gambling. And of course, the bright flashes and cheers that accompany a big slot machine or table win are also designed to create a false sense of possibility that keeps you coming back for more.

For decades, marketers have relied on demographic information to predict how customers will spend their money in a casino. Age, income and education are all helpful indicators of how much a person is likely to gamble. But knowing this isn’t enough to understand your audience. The people who gamble at a casino today are unlikely to be the same ones five or ten years from now, and the entertainment options they crave will vary greatly.

Keeping up with changing consumer trends is essential to growing your casino business. Consider partnering with e-sports teams to promote your gaming offerings or adding virtual reality and augmented reality to your floor games. Adding a specialized online component to your casino can also be an effective way to reach millennials and Gen Z audiences who are rethinking traditional gaming habits.