A Conferencing We Shall Go

The Casino Marketing & Technology Conference has been one of my favorite shows to attend for the past few years. It provides an excellent atmosphere to demo some of the newest marketing technologies, evaluate trends, attend panel discussions and presentations, conduct needs assessments, and network with casino operators and vendors to discuss what's working in other markets. Some of my strongest relationships in the casino marketing industry have been sparked at this show.

My first experience at this conference had me feeling like a farm-boy visiting the big city for the first time... there were so many things to look at and I wanted to work with everyone and buy all the cool new gadgets. However, we were still in the early phases of developing our digital marketing infrastructure at the property and many of the new technologies required a more robust digital marketing strategy.

At that time we were actively evaluating our marketing spending and moving away from out-dated print advertising solutions (goodbye phone book ads). We were waiting on budget approval to update our website to a more modern mobile-first responsive website design. We were building new creative content and engaging with our players for the first time on social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Efforts to build a much stronger organic email marketing loyalty program were underway. We focused on building a digital marketing culture throughout the organization and added tools as we could handle them operationally and financially. Eventually, we would capitalize on many of the technologies we found at this and other conferences.

Here are a few questions we would ask before investing in a new product:

• Why should we invest in this new technology?
• Does this improve the guest experience?
• What does this look like, operationally?
• Are we positioned to make this worth the investment?
• Who will be implementing, managing, and evaluating this at the property?
• How does this work with our loyalty program?

This year I'm attending the conference in a much different capacity than previous years as a casino operator -- I'll be on the other side of the aisle, as [shudders] a vendor. My services are for sale. Services which are born from my experience and the need for casino properties to cultivate stronger digital marketing cultures. My goal is to partner with properties to expand, enhance, and help make their digital marketing efforts more effective.

Shank Marketing Services partners with tribal enterprises, local businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups to develop marketing, training, and strategy programs proven to drive revenue. We provide a trusted resource as an extension of your team to tackle project management, evaluate digital marketing, implement social gaming and technology solutions, create promotions and video projects, along with website and social media enhancements. Available for project management, contract work, or a set monthly retainer rate.

We partner with many of the agencies and vendors you'll find at the show in order to help you find the best solutions for your property. See you at the show!

Looking to connect? Send me an email at [email protected].