The Marketing Budget Breakdown: Where to Spend Your Chips

How to allocate your iGaming marketing budget, a complete guide for online casinos. This is part one of six in how to build your online casino marketing department.

In this article, we’re discussing where to place your chips when it comes to spending your iGaming marketing budget.

In short, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. You have to consider your brand maturity, market positioning and business objectives. If you are launching a brand, your budget will gear towards acquisition and top-of-funnel activities, closer to 55-60% of your budget.

As your brand shifts from launch into growth and beyond, your budget will reflect this shift. Below you will find a framework showing how your spending can differ depending on your brand’s objectives. You will perfect the correct spending mix after you have tested, measured, and optimised your activities.

Where Should Online Casinos Spend Their Marketing Budget?

Acquisition Channels (45-60%)

For new brands entering the online casino market, you should focus a higher proportion of your spend on player acquisition channels (45-60% of total spend) such as:

1. Affiliates & Partners (20-30%) – Casino comparison sites, tipster networks, streaming partnerships
2. Paid Search (10-15%) – Google Ads, Bing Ads, high-intent keywords
3. Paid Social (10-12%) – Meta, TikTok, X for targeted campaigns
4. Programmatic and Display (5-10%) – Retargeting and sports content network placements

Brand Building (20-30% of Total Budget)

As we move through the funnel into our branding spend, we should allocate 20-30% of our budget here, working to build a strong brand presence and cutting through the noise in the competitive iGaming landscape through visible recognition, brand meaning, and footprint, connecting players to your brand.

Key brand-building activities for online casinos include:

1. Sponsorships (10-15%) – Sports teams, leagues, stadium partnerships
2. TV & Streaming (5-10%) – Linear TV, streaming platforms, podcast sponsorships
3. Out-of-Home (3-5%) – Digital billboards, transit advertising
4. Guerrilla Marketing (3-5%) – Experiential campaigns, viral activations

Retention & CRM (20-25% of Budget)

Leading on from a strong brand presence, we find ourselves in the realm of player retention and loyalty programmes within CRM with 20-25% of the budget being allocated here. For a new brand in the industry, this stage of the funnel will focus on new player retention and driving key player behaviours to encourage brand advocates.

CRM and retention spend opportunities:

1. Lifecycle Marketing (10-15%) – Email/SMS campaigns, push notifications, personalized offers
2. Loyalty & VIP Programmes (5-10%) – Tiered rewards, exclusive experiences
3. Bonusing & Promotions (5-10%) – Welcome bonuses, reload offers, free spins

Content & Owned Media (5-10% of Budget)

The final stage of our online casino marketing budget comes down to content & owned media channels, contributing 5-10% of the total budget. Budgets across these channels will vary based on channel performance and business objectives.

Recommended content spend split:

1. SEO & Organic Content (3-5%) – Casino guides, game reviews, betting tips
2. Social Media Management (2-3%) – Community engagement, organic posting
3. Video Content (1-2%) – YouTube tutorials, live streams, brand storytelling

New Brand vs. Mature Brand: Marketing Budget Comparison

This is a snapshot view of how your marketing spend split is reflected when looking at a new casino vs maturing online casino brand.

New iGaming Brand (Year 1):

• Acquisition: 45%
• Brand Building: 25%
• Retention & CRM: 15%
• Content & Owned Media: 5%

Mature Online Casino (Year 3+):

• Acquisition: 40%
• Brand Building: 20%
• Retention & CRM: 30%
• Content & Owned Media: 10%

Key Takeaways for iGaming Marketers

The optimal casino marketing budget allocation depends on your market position, regulatory environment, and growth objectives. New online casinos should prioritise acquisition and brand awareness, while established operators benefit from shifting budget toward retention and customer lifetime value optimisation.

Remember: Test, measure, and optimize continuously. Your perfect marketing mix will evolve as your brand matures and market conditions change.

Part two on how to build a marketing department for an online casino is to follow, stay tuned.