Challenge

In the highly competitive world of online gaming, retaining customers is a constant challenge. The gaming platform was initially using a broad, unfocused approach to distribute promotions, aiming to make their platform more appealing to consumers. However, this strategy was costly, and the retention team sought a more efficient way to optimally distribute promotions to maximise the lifetime value of their players.

Our Approach

Leveraging the extensive data available on the platform, we developed a multi-faceted solution:

• Predictive Modelling: We built machine learning models to predict which players were most likely to leave the platform in the near future. This involved sophisticated feature selection and engineering techniques to assign a probability score to each player, indicating their likelihood of churn.

• Player Value Estimation: Each player was assigned a dollar value estimate, complete with a 95% confidence interval. This allowed the platform to understand the financial impact of retaining individual players.

• Targeted Promotion Recommendations: We integrated a recommendation engine that suggested the most effective promotions for retaining each player. This targeted approach ensured that the right incentives were offered to the right players at the right time.

The solution was seamlessly integrated into the client’s existing infrastructure, providing actionable insights through intuitively designed dashboards.

Outcomes

• Optimized Promotion Strategy: The recommendation engine enabled the team to select only the most impactful promotions for each player, allowing them to run multiple targeted campaigns over a 7-day period rather than relying on less frequent, blanket campaigns.

• Improved Player Retention: The prediction engine enabled the team to prioritize players with a high likelihood of churn, achieving an accuracy rate of 84%.

• Enhanced ROI: The ROI for each promotional campaign was optimized, allowing the client to reduce their promotional spend by 30% while still retaining the same number of players.

• Key Insights on Retention Drivers: A detailed feature set was provided, highlighting the variables most crucial to player retention on the platform.