Recognised as the Safer Gambling Operator of the Year in 2020, PartyCasino, part of Entain, were experiencing a challenging six months of scaling performance with increasingly high growth targets across highly competitive markets. Looking to transform their digital marketing strategy and media mix, they called on RocketMill.

Operating across seven regions and active on three channels (search, social and programmatic), PartyCasino’s user experience was complex and needed optimisation. Media executions were fragmented and the audience strategy was siloed, resulting in a disjointed user experience and missed opportunities to effectively differentiate the brand within the saturated market.

We worked at speed to improve all aspects of their digital ecosystem and evolve their media accounts whilst scaling new channels and launching new markets. In just three months, we were able to unlock the volume of data existing within their platforms and discover insights from which to build the new strategy.

Social

With a player base of heavy internet users, easily reached by social media, Meta was at the cornerstone of the strategy, forming a foundation for our test and learn initiatives. We started with streamlining the campaigns by reducing the number of ad sets in Meta and Snap and utilising interest targeting stacks, first party and lookalike audiences.

This saw performance quickly improve, and we were soon able to scale as the consolidated campaigns quickly achieved increased conversion volumes enabling us to exit the learning phase quicker with improved performance metrics and a reduction in performance fluctuation.

With campaign performance stabilised, we then tested creative, targeting, and formats by implementing an always-on testing campaign to provide a reliable environment for new products and games to deliver against the target audience. We also utilised PartyCasino’s conversion data to A/B test differences between asset variations at scale, and quickly established their direct impact on business revenue (looking at which games secured the highest first-time deposits (FTDs)), passing feedback to the production team to make in-flight asset adjustments. Turning our attention to Snap, we scaled app engagement by using story ads, which emerged as a high-performing asset. With social activity scaling to new volumes at record-low cost per acquisitions, the focus turned to driving efficiency at the bottom of the funnel.

Campaign assets for Meta (left) and Snap (right)

Search

We restructured PartyCasino’s search accounts in line with Google’s best practices, removing over 1,000 redundant keywords and testing broad keyword match types with Auction Time Bidding (ATB) strategies focused on FTDs. The ATB and simplified account structures allowed the algorithm and the environment to thrive, reducing platform CPAs by 23% following a 22% drop in CPC and a 2% increase in CVR.

Our transformation of the accounts drove increased revenue, customer acquisitions, and media investment for 2023:

• Revenue increased by 101% year-on-year
• New player acquisition up 23% year-on-year
• Cost per new player down by 54% year-on-year
• Media investment up 130% year-on-year

“It’s rare to find an agency who integrates so well with your internal marketers that they truly feel like one team, but that’s what we have with RocketMill. They have been instrumental in revitalising PartyCasino’s digital marketing – restructuring advertising accounts across the board, providing UX and creative feedback and building out a reporting suite which allows us to monitor performance and react quickly to any changes. In a fast-paced business with ambitious campaign plans, the team are organisationally brilliant and provide a rigorous approach to campaign execution which always delivers above expectation.

Their proactive approach to optimisation, matched with willingness on both sides to innovate and test new approaches, has delivered improved results across every single market and channel. With new structures in place, we are confidently able to scale spends, and the impact has been transformational – CPAs are down, volumes are up and the value delivered to the business is clear to see.”