There’s a certain kind of guest coveted by many of Southern California’s casinos, one who gets special access to the gaming floor, first dibs at a new restaurant or complimentary spa treatments and hotel stays.
But these perks aren’t being showered on just high rollers anymore; they’re increasingly being provided to social media influencers, whose currency is measured in views and followers rather than credit lines or stacks of cash.
As the role of social media continues to increase in society, casinos have increasingly embraced influencers — people who promote products or experiences for their niche but relatively large audiences on social media — hoping that their posts and videos will translate to more visitors walking through the casino doors.
Casinos such as San Manuel Casino near Highland, Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa near Cabazon and Harrah’s Resort Southern California in Northern San Diego County have brought influencers in for visits to expand their marketing reach, sometimes sharing new amenities or promotions at the properties and other times capitalizing on an idea from the influencer.
This shouldn’t be a surprise: Influencers have come into their own as marketing forces in the last few years in a range of industries, and so it’s unsurprising that casinos would want in on the action.
It’s a marked change from the early 2000s when people were often bothered by the idea that a blogger was being paid or doing product placement in their writing, said Heather Honea, chair of the marketing department at the Fowler College of Business at San Diego State University. However, with today’s social media influencers, people accept that the job is basically product placement — as long as the products endorsed fit the influencer’s brand.
According to guidelines issued by the Federal Trade Commission, influencers have to disclose when they’ve been paid or received something of significant value in exchange for their endorsement. However, if they receive a product for free with the expectation that they’ll promote or discuss the product, they don’t have to disclose that.
To attract influencers, casinos might promise lavish experiences or grant the influencer early access to a new amenity.
At Harrah’s Resort Southern California, time is spent getting to know influencers and what it is they’re looking to promote before they’re brought on the property so that a specialized itinerary can be put together to capitalize on the partnership, said Amber Lussier, Harrah’s director of resort marketing.
At Harrah’s, part of the marketing is telling the story of its own city, “Funner,” which has included honorary celebrity mayors such as David Hasselhoff and Rob Riggle. The swearing-in of the new mayor of Funner is one of the biggest influencer events at the resort.
“We really roll out the red the carpet and we customize everything that we do for them so when they show up, they’re going to walk out to a cabana that’s fully decked out with maybe a foot bath and their favorite beer in a bucket of ice and some balloons and decorations,” Lussier said.
San Manuel Casino has worked with influencers for almost five years, said General Manager Peter Arceo, and they have become an important part of the casino’s marketing strategy, particularly when the complex opens a new venue or amenity.
Fitting the brand
Some casinos are more selective in their approach to influencers.
Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa only does two or three engagements with influencers a year, according to Executive Director of Marketing Simon Farmer.
He said that the casino looks at a variety of factors beyond how many followers an influencer may have. Casino officials will consider the influencer’s content, how they represent themselves, what demographics they’re speaking to and where their audience is located. He said that if an influencer does not draw in an audience that’s traditionally apt to gamble or visit a casino, or if that audience is in a different geographic area, then they may not be the best choice to work with.
“It’s not simply reach or exposure for the sake of exposure that we’re looking for; we’re looking for effective exposure,” Farmer said.
Honea said that having a small audience isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.
“It can be really valuable to get a little more niche where they have a really committed set of loyal followers,” she said.
Michael Felci, public relations manager for Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, said Fantasy Springs doesn’t currently work with influencers. He said getting people in to play on the gaming floor is the most important thing and that Fantasy Springs’ research indicated there wasn’t enough of a crossover between their gaming customer base and social influencers.
“We haven’t seen enough data on that to make it a relevant thing for us at this point,” he said.
Casinos get influencer-friendly
Brian Christopher is a well-known YouTube influencer whose channel, Brian Christopher Slots, has amassed an audience of nearly 300,000 loyal fans.
He frequently visits casino floors in Southern California and elsewhere in the country to film videos of himself checking out the newest and most popular slot games. His channel and videos have grown more sophisticated over time, and now he also livestreams from gaming floors.
“We’re always trying to go the next step and see what else we can do that’s new and different and exciting,” he said.
Filming slots may not seem that groundbreaking when everyone has a video camera on their phone, but what Christopher is doing was — and still is — taboo. Many casinos still shy away from filming on the gaming floor, but some are warming up to it.
Arceo said Christopher was the first influencer San Manuel worked with after loosening the policy on taking photos and videos of slot play nearly 5 years ago.
Since that time, because of Christopher’s popularity, and San Manuel’s easy-going policy, the casino has seen more influencers putting together similar content — and they seem to be getting results.
“When we see people coming in within a day or two, or sometimes hours after a broadcast, then we know it works because it’s stimulated someone to get out of their house or wherever they’re at, walk in the door and search for the game that they just saw someone playing online,” he said.
The impact of the pandemic
Some casinos have even utilized influencers to help with their communication during the coronavirus pandemic.
When San Manuel reopened after a months-long closure on June 15, they invited Christopher and several other influencers to spread the word about the reopening and the casino’s safety precautions.
“We just said, ‘Look, when you come here, feel free to tell your followers what the difference is’,” Arceo said.
In his video, Christopher shared details about San Manuel doing two temperature checks and said he thought it was smart that staff had been professionally trained to ask COVID screening questions. Another YouTuber was quick to point out the thermal cameras and plexiglass.
And having someone else share that made all the difference, Arceo said.
“We can say it all day long, but I think when people see real people talking about it then it’s received better that way,” he said.
Lussier said she saw the number of influencers visiting Harrah’s decrease after it reopened from its coronavirus closure in May, which she attributed that to people being cautious about traveling and staying in hotels.
“We’ve seen a steady increase throughout the year, and now I feel like we’re cranking,” Lussier said. ” We’re almost back to where we were pre-COVID.”
Arceo anticipates that social media influencing will continue to rise in prominence and more people will adopt it as part of their strategy.
“I think most people don’t understand it,” he said. “They shy away from it because they don’t understand how it works, but I think just like anything else, once people get the hang of it and see how successful others have been with it, I think they’ll follow suit.”
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