Marketing Superstars: Casino Del Sol CMO Bets Big On Direct Marketing

Steve Neely’s jackpot tactic for enticing customers, especially millennials? Text messaging. “I dare anyone to put their phone down, get a text message, and wait two minutes to pick it up and read it,” he said. Neely discusses his strategy in this week’s marketing podcast.

“Every 10 months the average age of my customer increases by a year.”

So said Steve Neely, CMO of Casino Del Sol Resort. The result of this strange aging process? As the traditionally older crowd at Casino Del Sol—and casinos at large—departs, a gap is left. And its one millennials are ripe to fill.

The jackpot tactic? Text messaging. “We have to be very cutting-edge with our marketing, and we have to stay fresh,” Neely said. “The challenge I have is I have to earn someone’s business every day. Text messaging is one tool that helps me to that.”

In this episode of Marketing Superstars, Neely talks about that strategy. “You can’t be everything to everyone, but you can be something to most everyone,” he acknowledged.

Other interview highlights include:

• The evolution of tribal casinos (1:50)
• Marketing to the everyday crowd (5:00)
• How direct marketing has changed for the casino (7:50)
• The magic of text marketing for millennials (12:25)
• Measuring success on direct marketing efforts (16:35)
• The importance of millennials (21:30)

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