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Brian Christopher plays a slot machine at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. Christopher’s YouTube channel, Brian Christopher Slots, has nearly 300,000 subscribers and has had more than 180 million views. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Southern California’s casinos have been increasingly rolling out the red carpet for social media influencers — people who make a living from sharing products and services to the thousands of followers on their elegantly curated social media accounts.

Social media influencers are a relatively new thing in the field of marketing but the idea of influencing is not, said Heather Honea, a professor of marketing at San Diego State University. It’s social media that’s added a different dimension.

“It’s allowed us to connect with individuals we know less about but have sort of the same experiential component,” Honea said. “And as marketing has become so experiential it matters a lot that there’s someone we feel is sharing information in sort of a word-of-mouth matter but also kind of communicating their experiences or their ideas around a product.”

Read on to see how casinos work with influencers to try to attract more people to come through the doors. Read more. 

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Beyond Southern California… 

Voters in four Virginia cities voted to approve casinos.

Voters in Bristol and Danville approved referendums to allow for casino gambling at predetermined locations in those cities, according to The Roanoke Times as did voters in Norfolk and Portsmouth, according to The Virginian-Pilot.