Increase App Sessions: How to Make Vip Gamers Stick to Your App

The concept of VIP gamers a.k.a. the most important group of players, was first conceived in real-world casinos. It was then borrowed by the online Gaming Apps, especially the ones into Real Money Gaming (RMG), for whom, identifying VIPs is an extremely crucial part of their growth strategy.

The basis of this coveted group doesn’t really change much, be it offline or online. Usually, these are:

• The highest paying customers
• The most frequent buyers
• Ones who are most active

Or a combination of the above.

These VIP users — the top 1%, over the longer-term, go on to create comparatively higher value for you (in terms of both revenue and activity) than as much as 50% of your combined user base, making it critical to retain your VIP users.

There are approximately 3.32 billion gamers worldwide. This figure continues to rise over years. And so does the number that accounts to the top 1%.

However, a persistent problem with this VIP group is that it’s not static. You can never have the same set of players categorized into the VIP segment. Once you define your criteria for identifying your VIP gamers, there will be a constant influx and outflux of users from this group, as they continue to meet or unmeet these criteria.

Importance of identifying the VIP segment of gamers for RMGs

Online Gaming is a very volatile business. Only an excruciatingly small group of players stick around for long. It’s important for you to first identify these players, show them your value proposition, and nurture them to ensure a higher Lifetime Value (LTV).

• User Experience

VIPs, courtesy of being the heaviest spenders, you’d want to not only keep them happy but, more importantly, provide a top-notch user experience. This will enable them to continuously show strong revenue growth for you while staying away from the churn. 

• Benchmarks

Growing revenue is most likely an unwavering goal for you. But the problem is growth predictions are never random. You first identify some benchmark behavior and patterns exhibited by specific sets of users, and then you start measuring everyone against these patterns. But how would you identify the standard benchmarks against which you should measure your larger target audience?

This is where your VIPs again come to your rescue. Using their specific behavior and patterns as a benchmark (since they will be the top-ranked in every aspect), you can extract more value from every user and run campaigns to enable more of them to be a part of this coveted segment.

• Guiding Light

Your loyalists are always going to root for your success; that’s an undeniable truth. And the way you can leverage this sentiment is by having them as the first line of defense for your business. These people can be great at pointing out functional irregularities as well as testing new features and updates, in turn, helping with a clear and substantiated product direction.

Wondering how else your VIPs can be helpful to you? The below graph packs some interesting answers.

Identifying the VIP segment of gamers for RMGs

It should now be quite evident that identifying VIP accounts is indeed an essential function — without which, a sustained effort towards your growth aspirations can be devilishly difficult. 

The following are some of the nuances of VIPs for RMGs, which you can use to identify and establish this segment of users.

They,

• are most active on the back of strong addiction to the platform
• display a very high level of loyalty
• watch other players’ gameplay and happy to broadcast their own
• make very frequent and comparatively larger deposits
• actively take part in forum discussions
• are a stimulant in upping your important metrics such as DAU, MAU, Daily app launches & Lifetime value (LTV)
• generate the most revenue for you
• actively seek out new games as well as new challenges
• are your most effective brand advocates (referrals)
• act as your beta testers for new feature launches

Word of caution: Identifying your VIP players can be tricky in the sense that you might end up creating a smaller segment overlooking important traits (and as a result customers exhibiting these traits) or else a substantially larger segment, sending generous offers and promotions to players who aren’t returning enough value for you. The best way to bypass the above conundrum of identifying the right VIP players is through a Tiered VIP Program.

Tiered VIP Program

A Tiered VIP Program differentiates between the most high-profile players basis a points distribution system wherein players are assigned points for every in-game action such as,

• Making deposits
• In-app purchases
• Daily game time
• The number of games played, etc.

Wondering what a Tiered VIP Program looks like?

What is VIP Player Retention?

VIP player retention refers to the strategies and practices incorporated within your online gaming site or gaming app to ensure that your top-most, valued, and most engaged players stay with you for long. VIP player retention strategies may include personalization, exclusive offers, rewards, premium customer support, online and offline gaming community events, etc. Retaining players in your game is essential for creating a sustained income for the long term in the competitive gaming industry.

The significance of VIP player retention

There’s a lot of competition in the gaming industry. Gamers are spoilt for choice, and hence, player retention is difficult. However, high player retention rates can be a game-changer for your business. Here’s why player retention is essential:

1. Revenue generation

VIP players form 20% of the total number of players but generate 70% of revenue for businesses. As these players spend more time on your site and spend more, your business generates revenue. The high spending and consistent engagement from VIP players make them a valuable segment for gaming businesses.

2. Revenue predictability

The more VIP players you retain, the more predictable your revenue can be. New players may come and go and may not convert to paying players. On the contrary, VIP players are highly interested and engaged players who end up spending more on your gaming platform. This means more predictable revenue for your business.

3. Word-of-mouth marketing

77% of consumers are more likely to buy something their friends recommend. Your most loyal customers, VIP players, will function as influencers, providing word-of-mouth marketing to your brand. This will help you broaden and expand your gamer community. When VIP customers are happy and engaged with your gaming platform, they will recommend you to others in their networks.

Factors to consider for player retention

With high competition in the gaming industry, it’s easy for your VIP players to lose interest and choose another gaming app. That’s why there are some factors you must consider and address in your gaming app. Here are some:

1. Saturation

At some point, you will find retaining your VIP users hard because they may feel burnt out because they are playing too many games too soon. Moreover, your games might seem saturated to players once they get used to the games. Hence, keeping the games exciting, fresh, new, and updated with new experiences is essential.

2. High competition

Another obvious factor is the high level of competition. Your VIP users are going to be targeted by your competitors. How are you going to address that problem? How will you ensure you stay ahead of your competitors? Some things you could do are to keep your VIP players engaged, integrate player retention strategies, keep an eye on what your competitors are doing, ensure a seamless gaming experience, and ensure consistency.

3. Personalization

Personalization is not only important for retaining players in your game, but it’s an essential factor to consider for your gaming business. Gamers, too, expect personalization, just like other customers in other industries. For instance, personalized game recommendations, rewards, and experiences. When you meet these expectations using data and analytics, you can improve your VIP player retention rates.

Channeling the VIPs  – What makes this segment of players stick?

Given that VIPs generate the most amount of revenue for you, it’s important to understand what keeps these players addicted to the platform, what keeps them going, and what is it that stimulates them to keep coming back. This understanding helps you run campaigns around these elements to keep the interest levels of your VIPs always soaring high. 

1. Tournaments and Contests

At the end of the day, everybody wants to win. But gaming psychology is such that you make it easy for people to win, and they’ll soon lose interest; make it comparatively harder, and they will stop trying, ultimately getting churned. And it’s very herculean to identify that sweet spot. 

To fight this, you can keep coming up with lots of tournaments and contests, with varying levels of difficulty, to meet the different proficiency and interest levels of every user type and persona segmentation. Tournaments are also helpful in injecting liquidity into the system and boosting Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).

Campaign Examples:

• Exclusive or Highly-Anticipated Rewards
• Weekly/ Monthly Tournaments
  

2. Special access to high-stakes tables

Everybody loves a unique treatment. And more often than not, the ones who deserve it, they know it as well. Hence, your highest spenders need to be caressed constantly in the form of unique propositions to have them enjoy a differentiated experience on the platform. How to do that?

High-stakes tables could be a great differentiator. Having high entry barriers specific to your VIPs will give them a perception of being a part of this elite group that enjoys offerings much different from others on the platform.

Campaign Examples:

• Exclusive Prize Pots
  
• Special Occasion Tables
  

3. Bonus Wins

Bonus Wins is another great tactic to stimulate your VIP gamers. But similar to the high-stakes table context, even this needs to be built around exclusivity. As neither it’d be financially viable nor would it have the charm if everyone starts claiming bonus wins. 

These could be applied to player wins and losses to recuperate some of the lost money as well as push for new deposits. For example, in case of a loss, your message could say, “to win back 50% of your lost bet, deposit a commensurate amount of money now and continue to play.” 

Campaign Examples:

• Time Bonded Bonus Deals
• Exclusive Deposit for Bonus Deals
  

4. Gamification 

While gamification techniques aren’t exclusive to your most valued players only, they are indeed an important mechanism to keep them interested. Things such as leaderboards, spin the wheel, mini-games (slot machines), reward points, etc. can keep your VIP gamers perpetually interested through competitiveness, rewards, or mere gratification.

Campaign Examples:

• Spin the Wheel
  
• Surprise Windfalls
  

The above examples do not include elements like hyper-personalization, and cross-platform communication, which should be an absolute no-brainer, in case you’re using a multi-channel marketing strategy for your gamers. 

The WebEngage Gaming Solutions

WebEngage Gaming Solutions is a collection of the most important engagement and retention use cases that WebEngage helps Online Gaming businesses – both Real Money & Ad-supported, solve. 

These use cases form part of larger categories such as Player Engagement, Metrics that Matter, Deposits, In-app Purchases, etc., and how we solve them for our clients.

And finally, we’ve put together a Gaming Masterpack – a collection of 4 eBooks addressing important concepts for Online Gaming businesses, that will help you understand your own business challenges and get an idea of the efficacy of WebEngage, as a marketing automation tool.

FAQs

How to increase retention in gaming?

To increase retention in gaming, implement player retention strategies, consistently monitor and analyze the outcome of your strategies, optimize and adapt to new trends and strategies to keep an edge over your competition.

How to increase players in a game?

To increase players in a game, you must not only focus on acquiring new users for your gaming app but also work on retaining players in your game. Retaining old VIP players is much more beneficial from a business perspective.

How do you retain players in games?

To retain your VIP players in games, incorporate tools that help you collect data, analyze data, monitor player behavior and patterns. Create personalized targeted retention strategies to ensure players remain engaged and stay for longer on your gaming app.

How to improve retention in games?

Use different strategies and tactics to improve player retention rates in games. For instance, personalized game recommendations, online gamer community events, rewards and loyalty points, and keep abreast with the latest trends in the gaming industry.

Why is player retention important?

The gaming industry is highly competitive and gamers have many options for gaming apps. If you do not implement VIP player retention strategies, you may lose players forever and it can damage your business growth.