Want to Become the Best Gaming BSP for the Gamers on Your Network? Leverage data.
PCMag recently took the time to rank the “Best Gaming ISPs for 2023” throughout the United States. In the article, 28 Calix-partnered broadband service providers were recognized for providing gamers the high speed and low latency and jitter they need to compete. NextLight, who has Partnered with Calix for more than nine years to build on early speed advantages, secured the number one spot in the country for best Gaming Quality Index score.
Calix has always understood the needs of gamers. We’ve partnered with BSPs across the country to provide the reliability and simplicity required for your subscribers to compete in multi-player fantasy epics or hit the virtual pitch for an international soccer match. With the nationwide increase in online gaming, BSPs now have the opportunity to create marketing campaigns that show some of their most sophisticated internet users that your organization understands their needs.
So how do you not only deliver what gamers want but market specifically to this cohort? It all begins with data. With Calix Marketing Cloud (Marketing Cloud)* you can create personalized campaigns that speak directly to gamers while making sure they have the speed, service, and consistency they need. Here’s how to get started
Finding the Gamers
Do you know the gamers on your network? Answering this question requires visibility into applications, devices, and network data as well as the analytics to parse out a streamer from a gamer. Gamers may be your heaviest users. They’re also the ones most likely to switch providers if latency is high, stability is low, or they simply don’t have enough bandwidth to compete on their terms, not the network’s.
Marketing Cloud* uses machine learning and flow data to lift the veil on who is gaming and what percentage of your subscribers are logging into a console. With a better sense of the who, you can then move onto the how. How can I maintain the high expectations of some of my most sophisticated subscribers? How do I plan campaigns and communications to make sure they never run into the problems that can make gamers think twice come renewal time?
Tacking Service Tier Limits
Imagine if you could segment all your subscribers by their specific needs and pro-actively manage any subpar Wi-Fi experiences based on their exact usage data? The marketers at Panhandle Telephone Cooperative (PTCI) did just that. They used subscriber insights In Calix Marketing Cloud (Marketing Cloud)* to identify which subscribers’ usage rates could result in negative network performance factors. They then ran a marketing campaign to offer upgrades based on that usage, which led to a 25% lift in average revenue per customer (ARPU) and more than 165 service tier upgrades.
Marketing campaigns such as the one Panhandle Telephone successfully deployed using Marketing Cloud have positive downstream effects as well. Frustrated high-usage subscribers are likely the ones calling into customer support to complain about speed, latency, or jitter. Oftentimes these simple tier upgrades resolve any frustrations before gamers can experience them, creating more satisfied customers and less lift for your customer support team. If you can identify who may be impacted by network performance factors and offer ways to circumnavigate these issues, your insights could be seen as a positive approach to the subscriber’s experience.
Growing Your Subscriber Base
Marketing Cloud* doesn’t stop at the water’s edge of existing customer retention. You can also use powerful demographic and psychographic data to target gamers that are not yet subscribers*. Using data-driven insights, you can create personalized acquisition campaigns that prove to the gamers that aren’t yet on your network that you have what they need to win. You can execute precise campaigns with messages, themes, and offers that resonate to this unique group.
PTCI used Marketing Cloud* to speak directly to the gamers on their network and the numbers speak for themselves. They even took it a step further, launching a campaign that built excitement and generated attendance for their first Gigaverse eSports Tournament. The integration between Marketing Cloud* and Mailchimp made marketing outreach easy and cost-effective. As a result, the campaign drove tournament participation with an average email open rate of 49 percent—more than twice the telecommunications industry average. In the end, PTCI secured the participation of 32 teams against a goal of 10, contributing to a successful tournament that will become an annual community event.
PTCI Marketing Manager said it best: “Marketing Cloud* helped us find new ways to improve our subscribers’ experiences, leading to increased ARPU. It’s a win-win. We look forward to the continued business success generated by our partnership with Calix.”
To learn more about the power of data to provide the best gaming experience, read the eBook: How to Unlock Data-Driven Insights to Improve Acquisition, Strengthen Subscriber Loyalty, and Grow Your Business.
*As of November 2023, Calix Marketing Cloud has been renamed to Calix Engagement Cloud. Learn more.
