How iGaming Operators Can Turn Regular Players into Brand Advocates.

We all know that player acquisition is essential for iGaming operators and that retention is even more valuable. So, in this article, we’re going to take it one step further: what if regular players started recommending your brand, sharing their experiences, and helping bring new clients to your platform?

That’s what brand advocates do. When players have positive experiences and develop trust in a brand, they can become trusted supporters of it. In this article, we’ll explore why brand advocacy matters and how iGaming operators can turn regular players into loyal customers who help drive organic growth.

Why Brand Advocates Matter.

As iGaming operators know, retaining players creates a lot of value. According to Harvard Business Review, acquiring a new customer can cost five to 25 times more than retaining an existing one, while research from Bain & Company found that increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits by 25% to 95%. But when players become advocates, they help generate organic growth by recommending the brand to friends, family, and other potential players.

The value of advocacy is linked to the quality of the overall customer experience. Bain & Company also found that loyal customers tend to buy more, stay longer, refer their friends, and cost less to serve, while its research into consumer brands found that nearly 70% of promoters had recommended a brand to friends or colleagues. So why stop at keeping players active when you can make them want to talk about your brand and recommend it to others? Here’s how you can turn players into advocates, from the moment they first discover your brand to long after they become loyal customers.

Give Players a Reason to Choose Your Brand.

In the iGaming market, operators need to give potential customers a reason to choose their brand over the competition. That reason can come from many places, including the quality of the offering, convenience, service, reputation, and the overall experience. In fact, 73% of consumers say the experience is an important factor in their purchasing decisions, according to PwC, while 80% say speed, convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service are the most important elements of a positive customer experience. This means differentiation shouldn't be limited to bonuses or the number of games and betting markets available. The experience surrounding those products is just as important in convincing players to choose your brand.

Trust is another major part of that decision. Nielsen found that 88% of global respondents trust recommendations from people they know more than any other advertising channel, highlighting the power that personal recommendations have on consumer decisions. While new players may not have personal recommendations from existing customers yet, operators can start building the same foundations of trust through a strong reputation, transparent communication, reliable services, and a brand experience that delivers on its promises. The goal is to give players more than a reason to sign up once; it is to give them a reason to believe they have made the right choice and, eventually, a reason to tell others about it.

Build a First Impression That Keeps Players Coming Back.

Once a player chooses your brand, the next challenge is proving they made the right decision. Registration, onboarding, the first deposit and first few interactions shape how players perceive an operator long before they have had a chance to develop loyalty. Research from Baymard Institute puts average online cart abandonment at 70.22%, while 17% of US online shoppers say they have abandoned an order because the checkout process was too long or complicated. Although these figures come from e-commerce rather than iGaming, they highlight a broader lesson for digital platforms: when the path from interest to action is complicated, potential customers leave before the relationship begins. Smooth registration process, intuitive navigation, fast deposits, and convenient payment options help turn that first interaction into a positive one.

But a good first impression is about more than removing friction. It’s also about building confidence. PwC's 2024 Voice of the Consumer Survey, which gathered responses from more than 20,000 consumers across 31 countries, found that trust and reliability are important factors in how consumers interact with brands. That means players should see that the brand can deliver on its promises: the platform should be reliable, transactions should feel straightforward, information should be clear, and the overall experience should work as expected. A strong first impression doesn't turn someone into a loyal player overnight, but it gives them the confidence to take the next step, and start building the relationship that can eventually lead to advocacy.

Turn First-Time Players into Regulars.

Strong first experiences can convince players to stay, but lasting retention requires giving them reasons to keep coming back. One of the most effective ways to do that is personalization. According to McKinsey, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, while 76% become frustrated when they don't receive them. This means recommending relevant sports, games, promotions, or content based on a player's interests and behavior rather than treating every customer the same. The goal isn't to overwhelm players with offers, but to make each interaction feel relevant and useful.

Consistency matters just as much. Players need to know that the experience they enjoyed when they first joined will still be there the next time they return, whether they're placing a bet during a major sporting event, playing a casino game, or accessing the platform from a different device. McKinsey's research found that 78% of consumers said personalized communications made them more likely to repurchase, while its broader research links personalization with stronger customer loyalty and repeat engagement. Retention therefore isn't just about offering bonus or promotion. It's about delivering reliable and relevant experiences that gives players reasons to choose the same brand again and again.

From Loyalty to Advocacy: Give Players a Reason to Recommend Your Brand.

Retention is valuable because it means players continue choosing your brand, but advocacy takes that relationship one step further. When players are satisfied and emotionally connected to a brand, they are more likely to recommend it to others. Recent research from Ipsos found that a satisfied customer recommends a brand an average of 8.7 times per year, while customers who feel emotionally connected to a brand show stronger loyalty, with an 82% retention rate compared with 68% among those who are only functionally satisfied. This highlights an important distinction: keeping players satisfied encourages them to return, but creating experiences that build a genuine connection gives them a reason to talk about the brand as well.

So, how can operators encourage that transition from loyalty to advocacy? The answer starts with delivering experiences that players value. The Qualtrics XM Institute's 2024 research, based on responses from 10,000 U.S. consumers, found that customer experience factors such as emotional connection, effort, and whether customers achieve what they set out to do all influence loyalty behaviors, including the likelihood of recommending a brand. That means advocacy cannot be treated as a final-stage marketing tactic. It is the result of getting the player journey right: making the platform easy to use, delivering reliable experiences, understanding what players value, and giving them reasons to feel confident in the brand. When those elements come together, regular players have something worth sharing and recommending.

InPlaySoft: Helping Operators Turn Players into Advocates.

Turning regular players into brand advocates requires more than a strong acquisition strategy. Operators need platforms that can support a consistent, personalized, and reliable experience throughout the entire player journey. InPlaySoft gives operators the flexibility to build and manage sportsbook, casino, and esports experiences while providing the tools needed to understand players, improve engagement, and support long-term retention. With fast performance, scalable infrastructure, flexible configuration, and features designed to help operators adapt to changing player expectations, InPlaySoft provides the foundation for experiences that give players reasons to stay and, ultimately, reasons to recommend the brand.

At the heart of this approach is Kairos, InPlaySoft’s AI-powered solution designed to give operators greater control over how their iGaming experience evolves. With Kairos, operators can describe the changes they want in their own words, while AI agents can build, test, and deploy those changes, with compliance checks and an audit trail built into the process. By bringing sportsbook, casino, and other iGaming capabilities together in a unified environment, Kairos helps operators respond faster to player needs and continuously improve the experience they offer. Because turning players into advocates isn't about one great interaction, it’s about giving them reasons to choose, trust, and recommend your brand.