Promotions at Full Tilt Poker to Boost Traffic in 2013
Full Tilt Poker saw a 14% increase in traffic due to its recent Rush Poker promotion, solidifying the online poker room’s position as the second largest in the industry, under PokerStars. In the waning weeks of 2012, Full Tilt’s traffic had dropped significantly, but the site’s marketing managers are banking on a continuous flow of promotions to keep the traffic flowing in 2013.
The initial drop in traffic, shortly after re-launch, was no surprise to anyone. When Full Tilt opened its virtual doors on November 6, 2012, the online poker room was averaging more than 8,000 at any given time over a 7-day period, which would appear to be a huge success. However, the initial traffic flow was coming from a mass of players whose funds had been tied up in the brand for more than 15 months; specifically from April 15, 2011 ““ aka Black Friday”“ when the US Department of Justice seized control of Full Tilt and several other major online poker brands.
Once the bulk of withdrawing players had requested payouts, the traffic numbers dropped significantly to about half the initial rate. Again, this was fully expected, but Full Tilt never dropped low enough to lose its 2nd place ranking in the industry.
Once the re-launch was deemed realistically successful, and the mass of payouts were processed, Full Tilt Poker focused its energies on a full-throttle marketing campaign. It began with the immediate reinstatement of the popular FTOPS series, guaranteed to pay out millions in tournament prizes. The traffic rose notably, reflecting a copious interest in the event’s 21st seasonal appearance, but once more, when FTOPS XXI concluded, the numbers fell off.
The marketing team took to the drawing board with renewed vigor, introducing the Rush Week promotion, a 7-day relay of speed poker that promised up to $250 in cash bonuses to all participants who earned enough player points through the site’s fast-paced Rush Poker portal. In addition, any player who won a Rush Poker MTT or SNG tournament during Rush Week, slated for January 28 thru February 3, would be instantly awarded with a seat in FTP’s exclusive $25k Rush Week Freeroll.
The results were phenomenal, driving an additional 14% in traffic to the online poker room last week, drawing in a 7-day average of 4,650 players at any given time. And while the Rush Week promo might be over, Full Tilt’s marketing managers made sure to keep the players coming back with the instant installment of a new Edge Up promotion.
Full Tilt Poker’s loyalty program is a progressive powerhouse for dedicated members. According to the Edge Up promo, any player who earned “at least a fraction of a Full Tilt Point during the month of January”?, is awarded the benefits of Silver VIP status for the entire month of February. All players with Silver status in February can take advantage of the Edge Rewards cash payments program while gaining access to exclusive tournaments and freerolls on a daily and weekly basis. Although the chances of Full Tilt, or any competitor for that matter, overtaking the #1 position held by PokerStars is unlikely, FTP does have its leading rival to thank for its current success. PokerStars bought out Full Tilt’s debts, paid off the US DOJ and took over ownership of FTP last year; thus PokerStars has to be dealt some credit for the renewed success of the former online poker giant.