You get more second deposits by finding the new players who are likely to come back, reaching them at the right moment with an offer that fits, and leaving alone the ones who will return without help. The second deposit is the step from a one-time depositor to a returning player, and I think it is the point where a well-timed offer matters most. It is also the point where bonus money is easiest to waste. Here is how I would approach it.
Why does the second deposit matter so much?
The first deposit is a signal of volume, not value. A player has tried you once. The second deposit is the first sign that they may become a customer rather than a visitor. If it never comes, everything you paid to acquire the player is lost, whatever the source report says about the first deposit.
That is also why I look at it before almost any other retention step. Win-back campaigns and VIP programmes work on players who already have a history. The second deposit is where you still have a chance to build one. For the glossary version, see our definition of second deposit.
How do you see who is likely to make a second deposit?
Score it. One of the forecasts in Sellrise is the chance of the next deposit for each player, and the step from one deposit to two is where it matters most. The model looks at how the player behaved after the first deposit: whether they came back, how they bet, which games they tried, how long they stayed.
You can approximate this by hand with a simple rule, for example players who made one deposit and have not returned within a few days. A rule like that has a place as a starting point. The weakness is that it treats a player who is browsing your games every day the same as one who has not logged in since, and those two need different messages.
When should you reach out?
Earlier than feels natural, and based on the player rather than the calendar. A fixed chain that sends the same message after the same number of days for everyone often lands when the player has already left or has already deposited by themselves. In the daily list in Sellrise every row has a time to contact, so the message goes at the moment that fits that player.
On the first days after registration, two things are worth separating. A player who is still active needs very little, perhaps a reminder or a modest offer. A player who has gone quiet needs a different approach and often a stronger reason. Keeping these apart is the difference between a campaign that spends where it matters and one that blankets everyone.
What should you offer?
An offer from your own catalogue matched to the player's stage and value. For a new player that is often a second-deposit promotion, and the demo data shows exactly that: a player in the second-deposit-pending stage getting a second-deposit offer by SMS. Those are demo rows, not client results.
Two cautions. First, the right offer is sometimes none. A new player who is already winning and playing heavily will probably deposit again, and a bonus is a cost with no effect. Sellrise marks such players explicitly, with the line that no bonus is needed. Second, keep an eye on what you are teaching players. If every new player learns that waiting a few days produces a bonus, some will wait.
I covered the logic of who should not get a bonus in who should not get a casino bonus.
Which channel works for a new player?
It depends on what consent you hold and what your market uses. Start with the cheapest channel that has consent and move up only when it has not worked. Email and push are cheap, messengers and SMS cost more, and calls cost the most. Because new players are numerous and individually low in known value, calls are rarely justified at this stage, apart from the early VIP candidates, who are a different group. See how to spot future VIP players in their first week.
The full discussion of channels is in how to choose messaging channels for casino retention.
How do you test whether it worked?
Keep a group of new players that receives no second-deposit campaign. Compare how many of them made a second deposit, and how much they played afterwards, with the group that got your offer. Without that group you cannot tell a campaign that helped from one that arrived just before the player would have returned.
The metric I prefer is average turnover per player over the month, not the number of messages sent or opened. Messages are activity. Turnover is the outcome. The test is laid out step by step in how to run a control group test.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Counting everyone who deposited after the message as a success, including players who were going to anyway.
- Sending the same bonus to every new player.
- Ignoring where the player came from. Some sources bring players who rarely return, which no offer will fix. Read how to judge an affiliate source before the hold clears.
- Contacting players who have not given consent for the channel.
If you want the second-deposit forecast and the daily list without building it yourself, you can open the demo or start a pilot. The page on offers per player describes how the offer, time and channel are chosen.