One of the things that set online casinos apart from their more traditional, brick-and-mortar counterparts is that sites and apps are not shy in being generous with bonuses. Gamblers love them, and for a good reason. After all, who doesn't want free plays? Free spins? Free credits?
What is the real reason why online casino bonuses are given out? Here are things you should know.
Reason for the Online Casino Bonuses
An offer of a "bonus" or any other form of freebie from an online casino is no different than a smart marketing and advertising technique. As a potentially new member of their website or app, you might think of a bonus offer as a generous "welcome gift" from the casino's owners. It may be positioned that way most of the time, but it is not.
Online casino bonuses are meant for one thing and one thing only: to grab your attention, entice you, and eventually have you sign up for an account. This is why new member bonuses are often positioned with huge amounts of money. For example, it may say something like "up to $1,000 bonus," but the reality is that there are tricky conditions for you to reach this huge bonus amount.
Even after signing up, bonuses still play a huge part in making you play more and more on the casino platform. You may be offered a deposit bonus - where the operator gives you free plays for a specific value depending on how much you deposit into your platform wallet - but that is to make you stay longer and play more. Again, it's about making you spend more money on US online casinos. Even occasional random bonuses are given with this in mind - to entice you to keep on playing and thus, keep on spending money.
Impact of Online Casino Bonuses on Operators
With that being said, you may be asking: sure, these bonuses are meant to trick me into playing more and thus spending more, but isn't that a bad thing for the online casino, too? After all, they are giving away free money to use on their platform. Should that have an impact on the operators, too?
The answer lies in the thing called the wagering requirement. See, most, if not all, of the casino bonuses given come with written terms and conditions to it that a player must agree on before claiming it. Wagering requirements are not only usually hidden in fine print, but they are also strict, making some of the conditions you need to fulfill a real challenge. To withdraw your casino bonus, you need to clear this requirement.
To better understand how this works, consider a bonus worth $100 that you got, say, for signing up at BetMGM. You eventually learn a "30x" wagering requirement for the bonus you received. This means you have to bet using this base amount plus any winnings you may have along the way a total of 30 times before you can unlock any winnings and transfer them to your wallet.
Using the above example, you have to bet a total amount of $3,000 to enjoy whatever is left of that amount. Is it possible to meet this requirement? It's not hard. Also, with enough luck and strategy combined, you can take home a large chunk of the bonus.
Still, the whole point of a wagering requirement is to balance out any factor of bonuses being "free money." This way, online casinos stand to lose very little despite seemingly giving so generously. This is one of the major advantages these operators have against traditional casinos.
How Operators Prevent Online Casino Bonus Abuse
Now, some people might think: if I am given a bonus upon signing up, why can't I just create new accounts all the time? Unfortunately, or anyone who may have thought of this, this is not the key to the fountain of eternal wealth. Online casinos such as Caesars Casino have a way to prevent anyone from abusing the bonuses and freebies they give out, aside from the wagering requirements.
This is where the thing called KYC comes in. The Know Your Customer process is required by law for most territories for online gambling platforms. This policy is a way to deter criminals from using online casinos such as Betway to launder their money. This is in protection mostly of the operations from people who may attempt to exploit the bonus mechanics on their site or app. KYC policies are also a sign that the casino is legitimate and safe.
In KYC, bettors must submit proof of identity for the account they created, usually a government-issued ID bearing their photo. This not only proves that they are a real person, but it also prevents the creation of multiple accounts by the same person, as the system would flag any duplicate in their database of customer profiles.
Another way that online casinos protect themselves from potential abusers is by setting an algorithm that flags multiple accounts that were created with the same IP address. Another more secure way of tracking and preventing multiple accounts is through a device MAC address. IP addresses can be changed easily with a VPN, but MAC addresses are specific to a device.
Marketing Alternatives to Online Casino Bonuses
However, online casinos rely not only on bonuses when t comes to marketing. Here are some other techniques they implement in marketing their site or app.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing, such as the one from , is an easy and often really profitable way of marketing, as it involves virtually zero work on the side of the casino operators. Al they have to do is have affiliates sign up for an affiliate program, give them a special link, and wait for users to sign up using that link.
On the part of the affiliates, they have to promote the online casino and have users sign up using their unique link. In turn, they will get a specific amount as a commission for every successful sign-up that makes their first deposit.
Online betting sites for UK players and their affiliates must comply with very strong advertising standards and refrain from enticing vulnerable players into gambling. These standards are laid out by the and the .
Social Media Marketing
is a good way to entice people who are not yet gamblers or those who are not yet that aware of the existence of online casinos. Social media marketing helps online casino operators find their potential customers where they are - Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and many more. All it takes is a catchy post with catchy content (images or videos), a call-to-action () link, and sign-ups are bound to increase in no time.
Brand Ambassadors
Celebrities and social media influencers have a huge fan base that often looks up to them and imitates whatever they do. This is why having a brand ambassador - preferably with a big fanbase - is always an effective way to attract more new users to an online casino. Cristiano Ronaldo is one popular brand ambassador for certain gambling companies.
Online casino bonuses may look generous, but they are not free money. While requirements and conditions may bind them, they are still freebies and are, therefore, a free chance to make additional profit, no matter how small.
This article was published on July 1, 2022, and last updated on July 5, 2022.