marketing training manual

Training Manual GIMO - NetBet Poker Marketing Executive This document outlines my way of working. It includes established systems and the support available to you. Rules and guidelines are established. A clear distinction is made between established rules (that you must follow) and guidelines (suggestions that you can use your own judgement to adopt or adapt) Nick Van de Weyer @vandewnj January 2016

Marketing Training Manual

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NetBet Poker Marketing Exec

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Contents Organisational Structure ......................................................................................................................... 4

Planning and Reporting ........................................................................................................................... 5

Tangible Outputs of each stage .......................................................................................................... 5

Monthly Calendar ................................................................................................................................... 6

Drafting ................................................................................................................................................... 8

Web pages and Offer Landing Pages .................................................................................................. 8

Emails ................................................................................................................................................ 10

Banners and In-Client Communication ............................................................................................. 12

Design and Localisation......................................................................................................................... 14

Content ............................................................................................................................................. 14

Design ................................................................................................................................................ 15

Development..................................................................................................................................... 15

Deployment to Market ......................................................................................................................... 16

Request Emails .................................................................................................................................. 16

Content Management (CMS) ............................................................................................................ 18

Other Content Locations ................................................................................................................... 18

Analysis ................................................................................................................................................. 20

Beehive.............................................................................................................................................. 20

Playtech Reporting ............................................................................................................................ 20

Current Strategy ................................................................................................................................ 20

Bonus Systems .................................................................................................................................. 22


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Organisational Structure Your direct supervisor is the Head of Poker.

Stakeholders are listed in a hierarchy based for illustration of the flow of marketing tasks only

Gimo is setup to support promotion based marketing and the primary communication used is email.

Marketing Executives and Marketing Assistants

It’s important to appreciate that you are a marketing executive where many at Gimo are assistants

what does this mean?

Responsible and accountable for all marketing activity for the brand

Work proactively and in a self directed manner

Have influence over marketing strategy rather than just working to instruction

Manage resources and stakeholders across the organisation to achieve marketing objectives

Performance assessment tied to business performance KPIs

Directors (Strategic

Leadership)

Head of Poker (Product

Manager)

You (Marketing)

QA.Poker.Netbet (Quality

Assurance)

Content Team (Translation)

Designers

Acqusition Team (Advertising,

Affiliates) Project Manager

Web Development


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Planning and Reporting We work on a monthly planning cycle, whilst a degree of flexibility maybe required to deal issues as

they arise most of the day to day work should conform to this cycle.

Tangible Outputs of each stage 1. Monthly Promotion and Email calendar

Internal Email Newsletter

Internal Presentation Brief

2. Web Pages (CMS)

Email Templates (HTML)

3. DESIGN Web Images and Banners, Images for use in communications

LOCALISATION Proofed and Translated communications

4. Offer setup requests

Email send requests

5. Assessment of activity effect on KPIs

Discussion with Head of Poker regarding successes and failures

Communication channel performance (Open Rate, Engagement, Conversion)

1. Monthly Plan

2. Drafting

3. Design and Localisation

4. Deployment to Market

5. Analysis


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Monthly Calendar Create and distribute a calendar each month that outlines the key promotions and communications

Seek approval from Head of Poker – particularly for promotions with cost implications or changes in

strategy or targeting

Explore in detail the plan with QA (those who will execute it) whilst drafting. Discuss managing

workload with Design/Content if there are unusual additions.

Learning Exercise

Review previous communication calendar and familiarises yourself with the promotions as listed on

the website. Include ongoing promotions such as welcome offers and freerolls.

1. What was the target audience for each promotion?

2. What was the intended change in customer behaviour?

3. How would we measure the success of each promotion?

4. What conditions were put in place to stop abuse?

5. What are the weaknesses of each promotion are there any things you would recommend to

improve them?

Rules

Approved by Head of Poker prior to

distribution.

Conform to best practise as laid out by

communication channel managers and

compliance department

Distribute the calendar and internal

newsletter in a timely manner

Tips and Guidelines

Use the previous month as a guide

Start with the promotions dictated to us by

the iPoker network

Focus on the key target segments…

1. Active Players (retention)

2. Revival (reactivation)

3. Side Game players (key product)


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Figure 1 - Monthly INTERNAL Newsletter

Figure 2 - Example Monthly Calendar


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Drafting

Web pages and Offer Landing Pages All promotions open to all players should have a promotion page on the website as a central point

for information and listing of the terms and conditions.

Offers for a limited audience may have an unlisted webpage that is only accessible through direct url

but not listed on the site navigation – make sure to list in the terms that any offer is only available to

those customers who receive the link.

eg https://poker.netbet.com/en/casino_games?offer=RSG

An offer landing page offers a quick and easy method to present the offer and terms and conditions

if a full webpage is not required (eg. Offer limited to email recipients)

Step by Step

1. Draft the promotion information page in Dreamweaver

a. Stress the hook (Title, Subtitle and Introduction)

b. Why should I care? (Key features list)

c. Basic “How to” for player understanding (1-2-3 illustration element)

d. Use placeholder images only at the drafting stage

e. Tournament Schedule (where applicable)

f. Call to Action buttons

g. Offer landing page required?

2. Upload to the CMS

3. Send to Head of Poker for final approval

4. Send to QA for technical setup and review

Learning Exercise

Take a local backup of the source code of all the promotions from the CMS.

Review the the code in Dreamweaver – how are the key elements listed above coded?

How are the promotions designed to cope with future rendering in a responsive site width?

Rules

Promotion mechanics may come from iPoker

or be internally created.

Ensure that HTML conforms to established

formatting and styles.

Make sure to approve offers with the Head of

Poker, give cost/impact assessments where

possible.

Give QA good notice and time to assess and

setup new promotions

Tips and Guidelines

Use a previous promotion page as a starting

point and reuse elements as much as possible

Use the elements listed above to enrich the

promotion and boost effectiveness

Avoid creating new elements that will require

web development support unless essential or

requested by management


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Figure 3 - Example Promotion Webpage

Figure 4 - Offer Landing Page (Displays Over Site)


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Emails Drafting the emails to raise awareness of the promotions is the primary communication channel

employed and forms the main part of your job.

It is essential to work continually to improve the effectiveness of your emails. We have three

primary templates:

Single Offer – focused on one message and action

Multiple Offer – newsletter format giving a choice of currently active promotions

Simple Reminder – optimised for delivery only (no images, minimal linking)

Step by Step

1. Draft the email in Dreamweaver

2. Select the most effective template for the task

3. Focus on clarity of message and call to action

4. Devote time to drafting the Subject Line and Preview line

5. Include personalisation as much as you can - %%firstname%% at a minimum.

6. Don’t forget that image alt text is important for mobile users

7. T&Cs link to the promotion page or a landing page

8. Once you are happy submit for design and translation

Rules

Ensure your message is compliant with the

CAP code

Include unsubscribe, T&Cs and regulation info

in ALL marketing communications

Use identity and promotion branding

consistent with other communication

channels.

Give content and design good time and as

much help/guidance as possible.

Tips and Guidelines

Use a previous email as a template and reuse

elements as much as possible

Focus on as simple a message as possible –

you have a matter of seconds

Review the effectiveness of your

communications once deployed and feedback

lessons

Consider A/B testing at least once a month.

Need Help?

You should consult with the Email Manager with any problems or concerns.

They can help you with advice and provide testing in tools such as Litmus.


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Figure 6 - Simple Reminder Email Template

Figure 7 - Single Offer Email Template Figure 5 - Multiple Offer Email Template


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Banners and In-Client Communication Communicating with the players through the client is of primary importance as you tap directly into

the experience of new players and active players. Bear in mind that a new client design is coming

soon.

1. Pop-Ins - an ideal way to highlight a key offer to players and maximise their playing

enjoyment in the current session

UPDATE WEEKLY

2. Pop-Outs – targeted at players who are ending their session (losers?) an ideal place to cross-

sell, engage players with unusual offers that might tempt them back

3. Bottom Banner Carousel

ENSURE ALL CURRENT PROMOTIONS ARE LISTED

4. Login Page – a great place to encourage players to make a deposit – so good to highlight the

welcome offer (for new players) and current headline missions (100k-free)

5. Client Landing page (home page) – highlight the product line

UPDATE WITH HOT AND NEW CASINO GAMES. Poker offering rarely updated.

6. Casino Games gallery

7. Inbox messages

8. Table messages

Figure 8 - NetBet Poker Lobby

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5


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Figure 9 - Login Page Banner

Figure 10 - Pop-In Banner

Figure 11 - Pop-Out Banner


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Design and Localisation The agile project management tool Taiga is used to manage

workflow.

Effective briefing of Design and Content tasks will have a big

impact on your productivity and effectiveness.

Content

Step by Step

1. Create a NEW User Story in the CONTENT project for each task

2. Subject Line should contain all the key information

a. Product Name (NetBet Poker)

b. Task Descriptior (“100k-free” Email)

c. Required languages (EN, DE, FR, GR, RO, RU)

d. Deadline – provide a time if required otherwise it will be assumed to be the end of

that day (DD.MM.YY 00:00)

3. Always add tags to aid with filtering and tracking of tasks

a. Product (poker.netbet.com)

b. Language codes – the team will remove these as they work providing a quick and

easy progress check

c. DO NOT include the deadline here

4. Description / Brief – give as much information on what is required as possible

a. What the expected outcome is

b. Numbered Check List for each translator

c. Screengrab illustrations for tricky steps

d. Links to related tasks (use #345 to link directly within the project)

e. Links to original version or source promotion for reference

5. Attach source files to the task: make translators lives easier and remove the possibility for

errors by providing your draft files to download and work on.

6. Once complete assign to the Content Team leader who will process the task

Rules

Use a new task for each job, amending old

tasks leads to confusion.

You get what you put in – take the time to get

your brief right.

Monitor and respond to comments that may

ask for information/guidance.

Tips and Guidelines

Insert EN text into templates where possible

(especially emails) – if there is already a

translation PROVIDE IT

For updates – list the changes or used a

tracked word or google document

Use a shared google document for

simultaneous group working.

Need Help?

Speak to the Content Team leader with any concerns you might have and with urgent tasks.

Speak to the Project Manager with Taiga or procedural concerns.


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Design

Step by Step

1. Create an NEW Issue in the project Netbet.com for each design task

2. Subject to contain the key pieces of information

a. Must begin with the text [DESIGN]

b. Product (NetBet Poker)

c. Task Descrption (100k Email Images)

d. Deadline (DD.MM.YY)

3. Change from default type Bug > Design. Assign priority if relevant.

4. Always add tags to aid with filtering of tasks

a. Product (poker.netbet.com)

b. Task type (banner, email, web, product)

5. Description / Brief – give as much information on what is required as possible

a. Links to related tasks (use #345 to link directly to previous issues)

b. Asset Name and Specification

c. Required languages

d. Composition input (what you expect to see)

e. Copy (text)

6. Attach any source files and templates for reference

7. Assign to your designer for work to start.

8. Provide translations in a comment

Rules

Always list the number of required images

and translations as explicitly as possible.

Provide the source files yourself rather than

relying on the designer – this allows you to

have more input into what is required.

Try to keep revisions to a minimum – error

corrections only.

Tips and Guidelines

Be as descriptive as you can – if you don’t

have a clear idea say so but give your starting

thoughts.

Assign the task even before translations are

ready – work can start without them in most

cases.

Try to keep localisation of compositional

elements (imagery) to a minimum.

Development Development tasks should only be created with the authorisation of the Product Manager and

managed by the Project Manager.

Acceptable inputs into the process from you may be:

Technical specification

o Current behaviour/systems

o Data Sources

o Required Features

o Optional Features

o Expected Results

CMS customisations

Design Mockups

QA tools and procedures

Testing


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Deployment to Market Actually getting your work to the customers is done with the assistance of the QA department in

Romania. View them as your technical team who will setup and check your work whilst being 24/7

central point of contact for all stakeholders including third parties and customer service.

Request Emails The primary method of requesting tasks of QA is to email them. Make sure you CC the product

manager so they can keep an eye on your work. Give as much lead time as possible.

In the case of scheduled emails the QA agent will setup your email communication on IBM

Marketing Cloud then on the send date export the customer data manually and upload it to the

system.

Figure 12 - Example Setup Request

REMEMBER!

Make sure to list any bonuses offered in the

communication as a reminder that they must

be configured or tested


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Step by Step

1. Email your setup request to yourself and PROOF thoroughly before submitting to QA

2. Your email subject line should contain all the relevant information…

a. Product name (NetBet Poker)

b. Task description (PokerNews Email)

c. Task type (Email to Send)

d. Scheduled Date

3. Include the Target (as specified in the target document maintained by the Mailing

Department)

4. List all bonuses included in the communication – especially highlight those that require

setup tasks before it can be sent.

For Each Email Version

5. Message name

NBPKR_POKERNEWS_ALL_EN_251156

Product_EmailCategory_TargetSegment_Language_DateOfSend

6. Subject line – check personalisation is included and correctly formatted for the email system

(eg. %%firstname%%)

7. Link to the completed email template uploaded to the CMS archive

Once you have proofed your work

8. Submit to QA and CC the Email Manager, Product Manager and other stakeholders

9. Check test mails on receipt (can be a delay until QA has time)

Pay particular attention to features specific to the email system such as personalisation and

view online links

10. Provide any amendments with QA and approve once corrected tests have been received

11. You will receive confirmation from QA when the email sends listing the target sizes at the

time of send.

Tasks Managed by Request

Scheduled Emails (see above)

Pop-ins and Pop-outs

In-Box Messages

Poker Tournament Setup (submitted to Playtech/iPoker)


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Content Management (CMS) You have direct control of the web content so it is particularly important to check your work and

have the content team make changes where possible so that there is the opportunity for proofing

and testing.

In most cases you need to logout and login again for each language version (the exception is

managing promotions where there is a quick change feature). Also be aware that the CMS is tricky to

use/unfinished in some places.

Website Content Plugins

Promotions – the promotion pages and their appearance

Manage Offer landing page – landing pages for specific offers/emails

Carousel Management – schedule and target homepage carousel slides

Manage VIP – VIP club section

Manage Academy – academy section

Winners – edit details published automatically daily for recent winners

Client Content Plugins

Banner Images – the banners that appear in the poker software

Client Landing Page – the “homepage” shown to all players by default in the software

App Banner Images – banners for the NEW poker software (in development)

Email Template and Image Archive

Store your completed images and templates on the website for security and delivery

Images Uploader

Email Images Manager

Other Content Locations There are other places where there is content that we can control but do not have direct access. For

changes here we request them from other teams:

Help Centre and Cashier – these pages are in a different CMS

Content Translation System – where “keys” for commonly used translation terms are kept

for use on the website..

Fixed Web Content and Design – changes by request with development through the Project

Manager


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Figure 13 - CMS (Promotion Plugin)

Figure 14 - NetBet Help Centre Window


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Analysis The goal is to be data-driven. Your activity should be rooted in reporting and assessed through

metrics.

Beehive Your way to get insight into the business and assess the

effectiveness of campaigns.

Business Intel

Daily KPI Monitoring and Reporting

Top Performing Games

Top Players

Alerts

CRM

Campaign Manager and Labs

Playtech Reporting You should be able to get everything you need from Beehive but if you want specific details you can

go direct to the source…

Poker Admin – reporting on games

IMS – player information

Current Strategy

Situation

Looking at Beehive and the KPI's for November/December I feel we can make a few assertions:

High Churn - you might say DUH! (because it's gaming and we know this) but I think it's

crucial to remember that we constantly need to be focused on acquisition conversion

Reactivated Players aren't worth it - once you have lost them, it's very hard and costly to

bring them back, they also don't bring much revenue even if they do come back. Instead we

should be focusing on maximising revenue and retention of ACTIVE players

Be smart about Bonus Cost - we know players love free cash but the advent calendar in

December proved that even if you are super generous... they just take the money and

run. We need to be focused on rewarding and retaining the valuable players not bonus

hunters.

Acquisition Is Crucial – Director’s have clearly outlined that working with costly affiliates is

not sustainable.

We need to be clear that in regulated markets we can and must do a better job ourselves.

This is a case of working with the Acquisition Team to ensure we are pushing players into the

below conversion funnel in a cost effective manner. I feel we need to agree targets.


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Focus on Conversion and Activity

The opportunities are manifold and you have everything in place to make a big impact. I have

mapped them out in terms of an acquisition conversion funnel to illustrate...

Resulting Campaigns and Promotions

1. Mobile / New Website Launch

We need to make sure that Nathan's team are primed to capitalise on this and it is

promoted right to the player base.

2. New Welcome Offers and CRM Program

You need to update the welcome offer (bonus game, include side games: golden chips?) and

deploy a conversion/welcome campaign for new players.

3. March Poker Missions

The 100k-free offer usually does this job for us but without it we need a weekly mission to

reward active players.Use golden chips/dedicated promotions for Side Games.

4. Side Game Promotion

Use golden chips to reward side game play for active players

5. MTT Tournament Token Packages

Trial offering discounted packages of tokens for players to buy for an upcoming festival

(discount offset by non-redeemers or bonus cost). Based on performance consider offering

as part of the welcome campaign.

Aqusition

•Player Segment = RND/FUN

•KPI Metric: +Registrations

Conversion

•Player Segment = RND/FUN > NEW

•KPI Metrics: +FD (First Deposit) +Revenue

Monetization

•Player Segment = ACTIVE

•KPI Metric: +Revenue +LTV (Life Time Value)

REMEMBER!

You need to

keep the Bonus

Cost / Revenue

Ratio within

acceptable

limits


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Bonus Systems We strive to provide a seamless experience for players when it comes to offers, promotions and

bonuses. In order to create effective campaigns it is important to appreciate the limitations and

framework promotions must adhere…

Bonus Types

Tournament Entry Tokens – can be limited to a specific target tournament or set of

tournaments.

Must be used for stated value – tokens cannot be combined or split by the players

Cash – it goes without saying that we need to make sure that there are strong controls

against abuse here. The players want every bonus given as cash of course!

Reload Bonus Credit – bonus money that is released to cash as players earn loyalty points.

We set the rate at which it unlocks. Players have started to get wise to this and find it

frustrating.

Casino Free Play – cash that can only be used on side games. We specify a playthrough

(typically 50) and that only winnings can be withdrawn.

Free Spins – free spins for designated slots games.

Golden Chips – a new bonus type in development

NetPoints – loyalty points that players can spend in the VIP shop

Physical Gifts – can lead to eye-catching engaging campaigns but as an online operation we

try not to do them. The player always want the cash in their account anyway.

Award Systems

Playtech Remote ID – a play related bonus is credited by Playtech when triggered by us.

NetBet Cashier – a cash/balance related bonus is credited by the cashier system

Bonus Games – in reality they trigger a remote ID or cashier bonus. They are important to

list here as they provide unique opportunities.

Trigger

• EBS Missions

• CustomBonus Code

• Manual

• Cashier

• Beehive

Award System

• Playtech Remote Bonus ID

• NetBet Cashier

• Bonus Game (Snap Win, Advent Calendar)

Bonus Credited

• Token

• Cash

• "Reload" Bonus Credit

• Casino Free Play

• Golden Chips

• NetPoints

• Physical Gifts


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Trigger Sources

Manual Credit by QA – this kind of mass credit is time consuming and is best limited to “one-

off” offers

Example: Credit all REV players a €1 Twister Poker token when sending them an email

Cashier – hardcoded into the cashier. Automatic but challenging to update

Example: Welcome Bonuses

CustomBonus – our own tool that is capable of interpreting Playtech reporting to award

bonuses to any target

eg. Enter code ILOVEIPOPS and play three qualifiers. Receive a free token.

EBS Missions – Playtech’s system for rewarding players based on their POKER play. Side

Games are not included. We can setup our own missions.

eg. Get dealt AA in cash and receive a freeroll token

Beehive – our CRM system receives a daily dump of all the data from the game servers. Will

a little integration with the account system it should be able to email players based on their

behaviour and trigger a Playtech Remote ID

eg. Send all players who have over €100 in side game income a €10 in freeplay

Bonus System Notes

EBS Missions are by far the best way to raise awareness of an offer as they are listed in the

client and offer ways to trigger bonuses based on play.

Side Game play cannot be included in the Missions and so CustomBonus is best used for this

and deposit bonuses too

CustomBonus offers the ability to control cost by setting limits and by the fact that player

must opt-in and then redeem their bonus (redemption rates vary)

Custom Bonus Notes

1. Players enter a code to Opt-In in the Cashier > Bonus

2. Behaviour is tracked from Playtech reporting (can be a small delay)

3. Player can redeem their bonus that is immediately credited

4. Can choose from Tokens, Reload Bonus, Cash or assign a prize Randomly from a pool

(lottery)

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