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With the sheer number of operators, new markets emerging thanks to the trend towards legalisation of the industry and powerful AI-based marketing tools, competition in iGaming has become relentless in 2025. In a market that - according to Polaris Market Research - will exceed $205 billion in revenue by 2030, each operator is spending a lot of money and effort to grab its share. However, with the industry moving at such a fast pace, traditional marketing with its long campaigns and million-dollar budgets can't always keep up with the speed of iGaming.
This is where growth hacking comes in, a methodology based on data, experimentation and point solutions enabling businesses to grow faster and smarter. If you want not just to retain players, but to grow your user base, increase deposit volumes and successfully cooperate with B2B companies, this growth hacking guide is for you. Below, you will find out what it is, how it differs from conventional growth marketing and how to apply it in iGaming so that results show for themselves.
What is Growth Hacking?
A game-changing approach - especially in dynamic niches such as iGaming - growth hacking is a clever methodology that breaks the mould for those who are used to dealing only with classic marketing strategies. It's a technique where every metric, including registrations and retention rate, directly affects the revenue of your business.
Growth Hacking Definition and Essence of the Approach
If you haven't dealt with growth hacking before, it's a strategy for accelerating growth through rapid - and sometimes very bold - experimentation, careful data analysis and out-of-the-box ideas. Having helped startups with minimal resources take off, Sean Ellis coined the term in 2010. According to Ellis, a growth hacker is an expert who combines analytics, creativity and technical skills to find growth points where others can't see them.
Looking at iGaming, the launch of a unique promotion that doubles the number of deposits on the platform in just one week is an example of a growth hacking approach. Another example is a sales funnel set up in such a way that most users don't leave after the first visit. Instead of investing huge amounts of money in standardised campaigns, the growth hacker works with what's available to make the most of every opportunity (in most cases, far from obvious). At the heart of the approach is constant testing of ideas and hypotheses so that you can quickly abandon something that doesn't work and switch to a more promising one.
Growth Hacking vs Growth Marketing
Many business owners think that growth hacking and growth marketing are roughly the same thing, but they're not. Addressing different challenges - and suited to different situations - these approaches are worthy of comparative analysis.
Differences Between the Approaches
Let's first find the answer to the question ‘what is growth marketing?’. Using long-term strategies including SEO, content, brand and loyalty, growth marketing is a systematic approach. As for Growth hacking marketing, it is about taking short and intensive actions to achieve quick results.
For example, running a blog with sports betting guides or online casino reviews to reach the top of the search engine after 12 months - that's a growth marketing strategy. On the other hand, testing a new welcome bonus option and raising conversions by 15% is growth hacking.
The choice between growth marketing and growth hacking depends primarily on the goals you have set. For example, if you need to dramatically grow your user base before launching a new slot, growth hacking strategies will help you with that. However, if your goal is to consistently build a brand that players and iGaming companies trust, then growth marketing is your best choice. By using the two approaches in combination to start quickly and gradually strengthen your position, you will be able to achieve even more outstanding results in the highly competitive iGaming environment.
How the Growth Hacking Process Works in iGaming
As a coherent algorithm, the growth hacking process enables you to find growth points and scale them, which is especially important in iGaming with its complex funnel. To bring in new customers and motivate them to stay on the platform, you need to keep their attention at every step - from the first click on a banner or advert to regular deposits.
Growth Hacking Step-by-Step
Helping small companies and startups to successfully compete with the big players even in oversaturated markets, growth hacking is built on a cycle of analysis, hypothesis, testing and scaling. Let's look at how this works in the iGaming environment:
1. Information gathering, meaning you find the points where you are losing users. For example, using analytical tools, marketers of some iGaming platforms concluded that a long sign-up form results in 50% abandonment.
2. Hypothesis building. This is the stage where you propose a solution to the problem you have found. For example, in the case of a bad registration form, you should remove unnecessary fields and offer 10 free spins as a welcome gift.
3. Test the hypothesis on a small segment of the audience. At this stage, offer a simplified registration form for 10-20% of the audience and measure key metrics such as time to complete the registration on the platform and the percentage of successful signups.
4. Analyse the resulting data. For example, if the conversion rate doubled, then your idea is working. Otherwise, try a different one, such as quick signups through social media.
5. Scaling. If your test showed successful results, then test the idea across your entire traffic (or user base) while continuing to track results.
Here's a practical example of how this process works. Let's say an operator has noticed that over 50% of players do not return to the platform after making their first deposit. Upon seeing this, the growth hacking team launches a push notification offering 10% cashback on funds lost on bets. This can lead to significant retention growth in a short period, for example, in just a week. So, speed is a key advantage of effective digital growth hacking techniques, as you don't have to wait months to see if your idea works.
Key Growth Hacking Strategies for iGaming
Due to limitations and low trust from potential customers, standard advertising in iGaming has long been ineffective. Operators want value here and now, and growth hacking strategies provide it through intelligent techniques adaptable to almost any stage of the marketing funnel.
Hacking Growth Tactics Shown to be Effective in Practice
Since in iGaming every conversion has a direct impact on revenue, growth hacking for business can be a critical success factor for you. Here is a list of proven growth hack ideas that will help you grow:
· Referral programs. Allow your existing users to refer friends and acquaintances by providing a bonus for each referred user. This works well in iGaming as trust between friends is higher than in advertising gambling/betting offers.
· Gamification tools that can turn an ordinary gaming experience into something bigger. By adding tournaments with leaderboards and prize pools or just missions with prizes for completed tasks, you will increase your users' engagement and retention rate accordingly.
· Personalised approach. Collect and analyse player data such as GEO, betting history, gaming preferences and more to send them more accurate offers. Such growth hacking techniques work because people see exactly what they are interested in.
· Content that has real value and solves problems for your audience. For example, you can publish guides on how to pick table casino games with low house advantage or stream recent releases on Twitch with promo codes to attract organic traffic.
· Simplify onboarding to make the first step as easy as possible, even for beginners. Make registration, linking a payment method and making a deposit as simple and intuitive as possible to reduce new customer churn.
· Conduct A/B testing to find what works best. For example, create two different banners - such as a 200% bonus on first deposit and 20 free spins for registration and test them on equal groups of visitors. After a short time frame, such as 5 days, the data will show you which option works better.
A good example of a clever technique in growth hacking is viral cycles, where the operator rewards users for referrals and data sharing, which usually results in exponential growth. However, you still need to gather information and test different ideas to eventually integrate into campaigns what really works.
How Growth Hacking is Changing the Funnel in iGaming
The modern marketing funnel - especially in a competitive environment such as iGaming - is a complex system, not just a user journey from first click to deposit. The main advantage of growth hacking is that it helps to find weaknesses in the funnel and strengthen them through targeted solutions. In simple words, the growth hacking process is about turning casual visitors into active players and one-time customers into those willing to return to the platform again and again. Below, you'll find a table showing how this approach effectively combats problems at each stage of the funnel.
Keep in mind that your ideas are just kind of starting points that need to be thoroughly tested. So, analyse the results you get and scale only those things that really work.
Email Marketing as a Key Part of Growth Strategy
A highly underrated - but still powerful marketing channel - email is a low-cost tool that is well suited for iGaming. Its major advantage is that it allows you to reach your audience at all stages of the funnel with minimal effort. For example, just one bonus-reminder email to a player who has registered - but not deposited - can significantly increase the likelihood of conversion.
By setting up a series of personalised emails with information about the welcome bonus, free spins for subsequent deposits and an invitation to join a tournament, you can significantly increase ROI. Instead of using expensive and often very ineffective paid advertising, with email marketing, you can bring back players who have almost forgotten you by spending a fraction of your budget. However, to ensure that each email hits the target, try to personalise it as much as possible based on important factors such as geography, behavioural characteristics, game preferences, etc.
Closing Thoughts
So, growth hacking is a structured approach, with each hypothesis supported by data. Working in iGaming, an industry with 22,000+ companies serving the sports betting market alone, growth hacking marketing may be the only way for you to stand out, especially if you have a limited budget. However, before you test - much less implement - any idea, make sure you're acting legally and ethically. Although growth hacking is about bold ideas, don't take shortcuts without considering the possible risks that your business will not benefit from in the long run.
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