Building a community to attract and retain customers in poker

Today, online poker operators face many challenges in attracting and retaining players. While some innovative features can make the game more engaging, sometimes the traditional route works best: experience shows that players like to feel a part of a group and appreciate social interactions while playing. This is the reason why operators should invest in community-centric features to boost moth game experience and player loyalty.

Player engagement in poker

The key engagement factors in online poker are entertainment and learning. Players appreciate having a range of games to choose from: different game formats of cash games, tournaments, and sit-n-go’s to suit the player’s experience, budget and time limits. Interacting and competing with other players tick both boxes, as it makes a player a part of a community and allows learning new poker strategies from others. Another engagement feature — bonuses and loyalty programmes, present players with tangible benefits to ensure they continue playing. According to a study on player engagement in digital games, the motivation to start playing can come from game-related motivations (e.g. a new, interesting game) or through personal motives (e.g. wanting to find new online friends).

In this framework, player engagement is a process where players pursue different objectives, either imposed by the gameplay (e.g., win the race) or self-invented (e.g., get to the next level), and perform various activities such as socialising, exploring, and experiencing the story and character. As a result of these actions, players get the feeling of a positive or negative experience. Positive experience helps carry the player into the next engagement cycle with new objectives, while negative experience usually means that the game is not balanced enough, e.g., boring, not logical, too simple, or unforgiving. This can lead to game abandonment or, in some cases, motivate the player to overcome the negative emotions and play some more, however, it is less common.

Players benefit from tailored game recommendations, interactive tutorials, and clear progression paths. Community features such as integrated chat systems, friend networks, and team tournaments create a social fabric that keeps players connected and engaged.

Importance of building a community

Building a good community around your poker store has several advantages. Firstly, it helps to build the players’ trust and to increase the number of repeat visits. Players who feel that they are part of a community often continue playing even during the worst of times. This increased retention will in turn lead to a higher player lifetime value and, therefore, propel the store’s long-term revenue.

Organic promotion

A healthy community also generates tremendous organic marketing through word-of-mouth. Happy customers are more likely to refer friends and other poker lovers to the store, hence lowering the acquisition costs. Furthermore, an active community is always ready to give feedback on your product and services, which means that you will be improving your product and services all the time.

Building trust

Social media and messaging platforms make it easy for community members to connect and interact in real time. Built-in chat systems and forums play a key role in sharing community values and goals with members. Handling disagreements and sorting out disputes is also crucial for building a strong community. Good communication between players and platform managers helps to:

• Set clear ground rules and expectations
• Keep everyone up to date
• Build trust all round
• Make members feel part of something bigger

Getting feedback from members and acting on it is another important part of good communication. This can be done through regular surveys, community polls, detailed feedback forms, or group discussions. Taking this approach shows members that the platform cares about making things better. It helps people feel valued and gives useful insights for improvements.

Conflict resolution

When issues come up, dealing with them quickly and professionally is essential because it stops small problems from getting bigger, keeps the community positive, and shows members they can trust the platform’s management.

Brand recognition

In a market where it is sometimes hard to differentiate one poker room from another, a strong community is a good selling point. It builds an emotional bond that makes your operation unique compared to others. Lastly, a strong community improves the gaming experience, making the poker room not only a place to play but also a place to be.

Community building in online poker

Establishing a community in the online poker world is not an easy task. It is important to make the players feel comfortable and welcome, regardless of their level of play and the sum of deposits. This can be achieved through offering a learning environment that will help the users improve their skills.

It is important to support the interaction between the players. Integrate chat capabilities, discussion boards, or even social aspects within the game itself to let players interact and build relationships. Community events and tournaments are another great source of fun and shared experience for the players.

Networking in the poker world allows players to learn from more experienced counterparts. Seasoned players often hold a wealth of knowledge and insights that can help newcomers to better their performance at the poker table. Engaging in conversations, asking questions, and actively listening in chat groups or communities, players gain valuable tips and strategies. By building strong relationships within the poker community, platforms enhance the overall poker experience and help create a more balanced player base.

Loyalty programmes can play a major role in community building. They provide an incentive for regular players and also give them a feeling of advancement and accomplishment. Promoting user-generated content on the platform, for example, strategy guides or tournament recaps, can help develop the feeling of expertise among the community.

Features for a community-centric poker store

Gamification of the poker experience means integrating mechanics and systems that are not strictly necessary for the game of poker as such, but enhance the experience, change the player behaviour, and add more "fun element" to the process. Gamification, thus, has two big halves: reward and fun. Rewards come in various shapes and sizes from points and badges to level-up and unique opportunities. The fun element, studies suggest, often derives from the idea of competition and social connection. Combined, fun and rewards make the overall gaming experience more engaging and motivate players to play more.

A community-focused poker store requires suitable features, such as user levels, loyalty programmes, and VIP status to give the players a taste of achievement or special treatment. This approach is well illustrated by EvenBet’s new VIP card system that provides a flexible set of tools for rewarding loyal players.

The VIP Cards are customisable and can be tailored to include any set of benefits at the operator’s discretion. The VIP status can bring a wide variety of bonuses, privileges, and special offers that make players feel valued, while also providing a goal to work towards. When a player gains access to advanced tournaments and special events, it marks a milestone of achievement and also opens the doors to the "group of special players". Psychologically speaking, this is another level of community-building — a group within a group. Dividing the players into levels based on their skills, experience, or level of participation adds an extra level to the gaming experience and makes the poker store more attractive.

Beyond the established VIP card systems, several other gamification features can significantly enhance the poker experience:

Achievement missions system — a dynamic mission-based system that challenges players with daily, weekly, and monthly objectives:

• Daily quests like playing certain combinations of hands or winning with certain poker
• Weekly challenges to participate in a tournament or achieve a cash game goal
• Monthly missions that reward consistent play and skill development
• Special seasonal events with special rewards and badges
• Visual feedback on mission progress tracking
• Completion rewards

Player journey map — an interactive visual representation of the player's poker career:

• Personalised poker "story" tracking major milestones
• Engaging timeline of notable achievements
• Highlights of memorable hands and significant wins
• Visualised skill progression
• Unlockable player titles based on achievements
• Social media integration via shareable highlights

Community leagues and seasons — a competitive framework that groups players into leagues with seasonal resets:

• Bronze to Diamond leagues (division-based system
• Tournaments and tables for each league
• Final rankings based on end-of-season rewards
• Leagues with team-based competitions
• Special recognition on seasonal leaderboards

The combination of these features with the VIP card system allows for multiple ways to engage players, covering short-term and long-term goals, and ensuring healthy competition. By joining forces, these features produce a slew of visible rewards that fit a diverse range of players' preferences and generate a poker ecosystem based on achievements that retain the user's attention and boost the closeness of the poker community.

How community features increase poker store monetisation

The community-building features not only add value to the player experience but also greatly improve the poker store monetisation. These features create a feeling of belonging among the players, thus promoting loyalty, and boosting player retention and the store’s revenues in the long run. VIP programmes and loyalty systems are effective upselling tools which compel players to play more and advance to the next level to enjoy better rewards. In addition, having various game formats within a community-oriented poker room helps in cross-selling, since players are exposed to more types of games. This variety makes the gaming experience more diverse and entertaining.

Some content and features can be directly monetised, for instance, VIP-only tournaments or premium strategy guides. When players feel that they are part of a community, they are more likely to spend on these extras as they consider them a part of their poker experience, rather than merely spending money.

Most importantly, the word-of-mouth created by a strong community can dramatically decrease the cost of acquiring players. Happy players become your organic promoters and attract more players. This can both cut the costs of advertising and pull in the players who are likely to be loyal because of the store’s reputation with other players.

Creating a loyal following for your poker is not just a bonus — it is a necessity in today’s highly saturated online gaming market. Implementing features such as VIP cards and player levels presented in the EvenBet Gaming In-Store would be a wise step in your community-building strategy. With the help of such tools and by concentrating on the development of an active and loyal player base, poker stores can become real aces in the world of online poker.

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