Average deposit value is one of key metrics crucial to profitability of every gambling operator.
In this short and straight to the point article we will introduce you to 3 psychological concepts that when implemented right can result in massive improvements without having to commit a lot of resources to development.
As usual we will start with the lowest hanging fruit.
#1 Understand the Power of Defaults
One of the easiest AB tests you can run to increase average deposit value is simply suggesting a higher default value to your customers.
At this point you might be asking yourself – is this that great CRO advice they promised me? I’m just supposed to change the default value displayed on the deposit screen?
This test sounds almost too easy to implement yet I’ve seen it deliver great results in the past.
If you don’t trust my word for it I totally get it! Here is a wikipedia article on it, medical study showing correct defaults can double the number of organ donors and a research from McKinsey & Company supporting the power of defaults. 123
How come a change so small can deliver results so big?
It all comes down to a principle of cognitive load. 4
Cognitive load is basically a measure of how much mental effort we need to put into completing a certain task.
Unclear UI, mental math, a lot of new information and especially decision making weighs in on our cognitive strain when trying to complete any process.
The reason human brain is so compelled to go with the defaults is the fact that changing that value will require the user to go through the whole decision making process again, including weighing pros and cons, checking the minimum and maximum deposit amounts and even typing the numbers to the deposit box from scratch.
It seems like those decisions are so miniscule that they should make no noticeable change to the outcome of the deposit process yet we can never underestimate how reluctant our brain is to add any additional cognitive strain at any given time.
#2 Get Rid of Objections by Adding Onboarding
While in most cases you will hear me recommending to keep the amount of registration fields to minimum, occasionally adding more steps might be beneficial.
That is especially true when you’re dealing with ‘cold’ traffic that either landed on your website without contact with any pre-sale materials like affiliate reviews or landing pages.
Onboarding process can be implemented in myriad of different ways, starting from adding a simple screen during the registration flow (like in our wireframe), email series, virtual walk-through, videos or in best scenario a mix of all the above.
What are the objectives of onboarding?
Normally when faced with creating an onboarding sequence you would think about familiarising the user with all the features of the platform.
While that’s completely good path to follow you can make a better use of onboarding session than just features introduction by entwining it with the deposit funnel early on.
Early stages of registartion process are an excelent opportunity to focus on removing objections. Some examples of common objections within igaming industry include:
- fear of being scammed
- fear of games being rigged
- fear of gambling addiction
You can find out more about your customers objections by running user surveys, polls, user tests or by talking to your customer support agents.
By reassuring the user about the security of your platform, validity of your games and your commitment to responsible gaming in the early stages of the funnel you remove objections that would normally surface during the key moments of the deposit process and could cost you that conversion.
#3 Sell Your Value Proposition
As a gambling operator it might be quite hard for you to define what is you value proposition.
When your customer lands on the deposit page with the money in hand, what is he actually buying from you?
In a lot of cases it will be as simple as promise of good time.
It might be a chance of becoming a millionaire.
Or an ability to finally progress to the next level of the loyalty program.
Value proposition is one of the biggest differentiators between operators and should be closely nurtured by each brand.
Make it crystal clear what the user is getting in return for making a deposit.
If your value proposition is not clearly defined yet you can start by finding out what motivates your current customers to play with you.
Just like in the the previous step you can get those insights by running user surveys, polls, user tests or by talking to the CS agents.
Are the results guaranteed?
Each product is different so is every funnel, every segment and every user.
Even though there is no question about credibility of techniques mentioned in this article the implementation of them is going to vary greatly.
There is a myriad of variables that can ultimately affect your average deposit values that’s why it’s important to AB test each possible variant based on the aformentioned principles.
Let me now about your results in the comments below!
Where can I get more actionable insights like this?
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Default_effect[↩]
- https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/mygsb/faculty/research/pubfiles/1275/Johnson_Defaults.pdf[↩]
- https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/a-marketers-guide-to-behavioral-economics[↩]
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123876911000028[↩]