Smarter CRM in iGaming: Key Takeaways from the Gaming Leaders' Summit Roundtable

Moving Beyond Bonus-Led CRM

For years, bonuses have been the cornerstone of player retention and reactivation strategies. However, tightening regulation, growing affordability requirements and increasing pressure on margins are forcing operators to rethink this approach.

The consensus was clear: the future of CRM will rely less on promotional spend and more on creating meaningful player experiences.

Operators shared a range of alternative engagement strategies already delivering results, including:

• Loyalty programmes and tiered rewards that build long-term engagement through points, status levels and non-monetary benefits.
• Gamification, using missions, achievements, tournaments and challenges to encourage ongoing participation without relying on financial incentives.
• Personalised game recommendations, driven by player behaviour and preferences to increase engagement naturally.
• Cashback initiatives, viewed by many as a value-return mechanism that can sit differently within the regulatory landscape than traditional bonus offers.
• VIP and experiential rewards, including exclusive events, early access to new games and enhanced account management.
• Smarter communication strategies, focusing on delivering the right message through the right channel at the right time, reducing fatigue while improving engagement.
• Responsible gambling-focused engagement, with proactive wellbeing communications and personalised player support helping to build trust alongside long-term retention.

Rather than asking whether operators should move beyond bonus-led CRM, the discussion centred on how quickly businesses can develop commercially effective alternatives that also satisfy growing regulatory expectations.

Smarter Segmentation Before Smarter AI

Artificial intelligence and machine learning generated significant interest, but only a small number of operators have progressed to deploying advanced predictive models.

Those leading the way described ambitions to replace manually configured CRM journeys with dynamic, model-driven decision making powered by predictive churn scores, lifetime value forecasting and next-best-action recommendations.

However, they were equally transparent about the challenges. High-quality data, robust historical datasets, legacy platform integration and regulatory explainability all remain significant hurdles before AI can be fully operationalised.

For most operators, the immediate opportunity lies in improving segmentation.

Discussions highlighted a clear shift away from broad Recency, Frequency and Monetary (RFM) models towards richer behavioural segmentation, including:

• Grouping players by game preferences, session behaviour and device usage.
• Creating lifecycle journeys for new, active, disengaging, lapsed and reactivated players.
• Building dedicated responsible gambling segments that route higher-risk players into support-focused journeys rather than promotional campaigns.
• Optimising communications around individual channel preferences, recognising that email, SMS and push notifications each perform differently depending on the player.
• Using predicted lifetime value to better prioritise CRM investment across the player base.

One challenge repeatedly surfaced throughout the discussion: fragmented data.

Many operators continue to manage player behaviour, payment information and CRM activity across disconnected systems, limiting their ability to create truly personalised experiences regardless of how sophisticated their segmentation ambitions may be.

CRM in a More Regulated Environment

Regulation formed the backdrop to almost every conversation.

As safer gambling obligations continue to expand, CRM is increasingly becoming a cross-functional responsibility involving marketing, compliance and responsible gambling teams.

Participants noted that campaign approval processes are becoming more collaborative, with compliance playing a larger role in CRM planning than ever before.

This evolution is also changing how success is measured.

Traditional performance metrics such as bonus redemption and short-term revenue uplift are gradually giving way to broader indicators that better reflect sustainable player relationships. Increasing attention is being paid to retention quality, customer lifetime value, deposit behaviour over time and responsible gambling interaction rates.

While many operators acknowledged they are still developing the frameworks to measure these outcomes effectively, there was broad agreement that future CRM strategies will need to balance commercial performance with demonstrable player care.

Looking Ahead

Perhaps the strongest takeaway from the session was that CRM is entering a new phase of maturity.

Operators are moving beyond transactional marketing towards more personalised, data-led and responsible engagement strategies. While AI and predictive modelling represent the longer-term vision, most businesses see immediate gains through better segmentation, stronger data integration and more relevant communications.

As regulation continues to evolve, the operators best positioned for long-term success are likely to be those that can combine commercial effectiveness with genuine player-centric engagement- creating CRM programmes that deliver value for both the business and the customer.

 

Author: Neil Dillon, Solas Compliance