Read time 5 minutes
Make loyalty something they want to play
Why it matters:
Most retention calendars answer a dip in activity with another bonus, and those bonuses keep getting more expensive. This case shows how one operator tested a lighter mechanic, kept it tied to deposits and turnover, and built it into both verticals without adding to its bonus exposure.
Key takeaways:
A European online casino and sports betting operator runs CRM campaigns across its Casino and Sports verticals, for retail players and VIP high rollers alike. Before committing to gamification, its CRM team wanted evidence that it could change player behavior.
So the team started by hand. It ran scratch-to-reveal mechanics for select VIP segments, below the line. Players who received the gamified touch opened, clicked, and deposited at noticeably higher rates than players who got a standard campaign.
Turning that signal into a company-wide standard was harder. The operator was still migrating to Optimove's own communication channels, so campaigns sent through Playtech and in-app messages carried a bare URL instead of a native experience. With no opt-in mechanism, participation could never get close to 100%.
To scale, the team had to prove two things within those limits:
The operator's CRM team works Positionlessly. The same marketers design, test, and scale mechanics across verticals, with no handoffs between specialists. Using Optimove Minigames, the gamification module inside Optimove Gamify, that team turned the VIP pilot into a permanent part of the CRM calendar.
Here is how they built it:
The clearest result came from VIP. Each minigame iteration was measured against equivalent days without a campaign, and turnover and deposits rose every time. Participation reached as high as 73%, and turnover increases ranged from roughly €233K to €1.48M per iteration.
Across the wider base, players who engaged with Minigames outperformed non-participants on every metric the operator tracked:
These figures compare active participants with active players from the same period who declined the offer or weren't yet eligible, with VIP excluded. Participation was voluntary and, outside VIP, gated behind a deposit and turnover, so they show how engaged players behave rather than isolate the effect of the mechanic on its own.
The operator's next step is churned players. Once Optimove Email and real-time triggers are in place, the team plans to target lapsed players with Minigames.
The logic is cost. Reactivation budgets often go to players who will never return, so a low-bonus-cost mechanic fits the segment where spend needs the most discipline. For more on deciding where bonus investment pays off, see The Generosity Gap: Why Half Your Bonus Budget May Be Working Against You.
This is Positionless Marketing in practice. One team designed, tested, and scaled Minigames from a single VIP segment into a daily Casino fixture and a Sports strategy timed to the event calendar, all while still migrating onto Optimove's own channels. By keeping every iteration tied to deposits, turnover, or controlled VIP bonus spend, they kept engagement commercially aligned from the first pilot onward.
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FAQ
Casino minigames are short, branded games such as Plinko, scratchcards, or a prize wheel that operators run inside their CRM campaigns. Players play for a reward, which gives the operator a reason to bring them back that isn't a standard bonus.
Sportsbooks can run minigames on quieter event days ahead of a major occasion, like the build-up to a final or the start of a tournament knockout round. This keeps players engaged in the gaps between the events they care most about.
By gating eligibility. In this case, players outside VIP had to make a qualifying deposit and meet a turnover requirement before they could play, and VIP rewards gave the team tighter control over bonus distribution.
Compare against a fair baseline and be clear about what it shows. Measuring campaign days against equivalent days with no campaign gives the strongest read, while participant versus non-participant comparisons show how engaged players behave rather than proving cause.
