15 Years of Digital Partnership: Trivera + Potawatomi Casino Hotel

In this episode of the Trivera Deep Dive, Chip and Nova explore one of Trivera’s longest-running client relationships: a 15-year digital partnership with Potawatomi Casino Hotel.

From launching their very first social media strategy in 2009 to merging two casino websites under one powerful domain and CMS, this episode traces how strategy, tech, and trust combined to drive measurable results. Hear how Trivera helped Potawatomi:

• Navigate complex digital transformations
• Execute a seamless domain consolidation to potawatomi.com
• Merge two distinct casino sites into one unified platform
• Achieve over 266,000 sessions and 60.5% engagement in a single month
• Maintain SEO strength, mobile-first UX, and scalable infrastructure
• Deliver ADA-compliant SEO, microsites, gamified loyalty, CRM transitions, and more

If your organization is facing digital fragmentation, leadership changes, or growing brand complexity, this deep dive reveals what’s possible with the right partner.

Read the Potawatomi Case Study

Visit the Potawatomi website

Transcript

[Chip]
What happens when southeastern Wisconsin's biggest tourist destination teams up with its longest-running digital agency? 

[Nova]
15 years of websites, strategy, infrastructure, SEO, and interactive creativity. 

[Chip]
Stick around, because if you're leading digital for a growing brand, the lessons in this partnership might just change the way you think about your own. [upbeat music] 

[Narrator]
Welcome to Trivera's AI Deep Dive Podcast, hosted by Chip and Nova, our AI co-hosts. Together, they transform top marketing insights from our blogs, articles, and events into actionable strategies you can use. Ready to dive in? Let's get started. 

[Chip]
Welcome to the Trivera Deep Dive Podcast. I'm Chip. 

[Nova]
And I'm Nova. And today, yeah, we're looking at a really fascinating case study, one right from our own Trivera website. It's all about a massive digital transformation, highlighting our team's long, long partnership with Potawatomi Casino Hotel. It's quite a story. 

[Chip]
Okay. Let's dive right into this then. Potawatomi Casino Hotel. I mean, it's not just any entertainment spot, right? 

[Nova]
Yeah. 

[Chip]
It's a really premier destination right here in the Midwest. 

[Nova]
Yeah. 

[Chip]
Known for, you know, its energy, always evolving. 

[Nova]
Exactly. 

[Chip]
And what's genuinely surprising and really shows sustained value is just how long this partnership has gone on. 

[Nova]
Hmm. 

[Chip]
It didn't kick off with some giant website project, like you might think. No, our collaboration actually started way back, 2009. 

[Nova]
Mm-hmm. 

[Chip]
And it started with something really forward-thinking back then, a social media strategy. But let's maybe start our deep dives focusing on the more recent stuff first. 

[Nova]
Yeah. 

[Chip]
Because that's where you see the biggest visual changes we talk about in our case study. When their bold, new CEO, Dominic Ortiz, set out to elevate the Potawatomi brand, he made it clear the digital presence needed to reflect the scale and ambition of everything happening onsite, casino expansion, new restaurants, and the launch of a state-of-the-art sports book. He had a vision for a stronger, more unified identity online, moving on one domain, one brand, one destination. 

[Nova]
That started with securing the perfect domain, potawatomi.com. It had been off the market for decades, but we worked behind the scenes to make it happen. And once the name was in hand, the next step was the real challenge, building a new site architecture to deliver on that vision. 

[Chip]
Maintaining the site's strong SEO performance, despite the seismic shift caused by changing the name, was critical to keep up with competitors. So they knew they needed an ongoing strategy, one informed by data to keep optimizing web performance, you know, across all their different content, promotions, different types of visitors. 

[Nova]
But think about their situation. Two distinct casino locations, milwaukie@paysbig.com and carter@cartercasino.com, each running on totally separate websites. 

[Chip]
They needed to move both sites to that cohesive digital front door, reflecting one single brand. 

[Nova]
And that's precisely where our team at Trivera came in. We, uh, we led this phased overhaul of their whole digital ecosystem. Our focus was really locked onto consistency, cohesion, and you know, ultimately, conversion, getting results. So we started with a really exhaustive look at the user interface and user experience, the UI/UX, of paysbig.com. This wasn't just putting on a new coat of paint. We completely restructured the navigation, simplified the whole information architecture, how things are organized so content was easy to find. And yeah, fresh design, too, based on Potawatomi's own brand guidelines, this deep UX work, absolutely crucial for making things intuitive for every user, no matter what they were looking for. 

[Chip]
So, it wasn't just tweaking one site, then. With the two locations, there had to be a bigger plan for bringing them together. 

[Nova]
Oh, definitely not just one site. A really key strategic move was the multi-site merge. The Carter Casino site, which used to be totally separate, we integrated it into the very same Concrete CMS instance that was running paysbig.com. Now, this wasn't just about the tech consolidation. Concrete CMS, the platform, it's flexible. It gave them this great balance. It let the Carter team manage their own specific local content, you know, autonomously. But at the same time, it ensured that the design and the brand rules were consistent across both properties. That delivered the unified brand look they needed without making it hard to manage local stuff. 

[Chip]
Okay, bringing two casino sites onto one platform, that sounds like a pretty big technical lift. 

[Nova]
Yeah, this was way more than, you know, just changing a web address. It was about allowing the user to have an experience based on which casino they were closer to, Milwaukie or up north in Carter. And it needed a really comprehensive SEO mitigation and redirect strategy. 

[Chip]
You gotta protect that search ranking. 

[Nova]
Exactly. We did that to preserve all their existing search authority. 

[Chip]
Yeah. 

[Nova]
You know, all the digital equity they'd built up over years. We had to limit any potential traffic loss during that switch, and of course, protect their brand recognition. The thing is, big domain changes like this, they can be great strategically, but you absolutely need a proactive, super detailed SEO plan to avoid, well, messing things up for the business. 

[Chip]
And this is where it gets really interesting, 'cause we're not just talking about the tech changes, but the actual results, the things you can measure. Our case study points this out, the ongoing support our team gives, like detailed monthly reports on site performance, SEO. And the numbers, well, they really do speak for themselves. In March 2025 alone, that new unified site, over 266,000 sessions. 

[Nova]
Yeah, huge numbers. 

[Chip]
And an engagement rate of 60.5%. That tells you the user experience is working. Plus, specific promotion pages designed and optimized by our team, they pulled in over 34,000 views just in that one month. 

[Nova]
And those numbers, they directly tie back to the strategy, right? 

[Chip]
Mm-hmm. 

[Nova]
Improving the content and how promotions are presented.... when you create dedicated landing pages like the ones for their Monday Points Race or Roll Riches promotions, it's not just listing an offer. It's about creating this focused, compelling digital experience. 

[Chip]
Yeah. 

[Nova]
And that directly leads to strong engagement, keeps people on the site longer. It really shows that relevant, well-presented content, that's the key to getting users deeply involved. 

[Chip]
We also have to remember how much we all use our phones today. I mean, it's everything. The case study really stresses the huge focus on mobile optimization, and it makes sense. Over 74% of Potawatomi's traffic now comes from mobile devices. 

[Nova]
74%, yeah. 

[Chip]
Massive. So the whole redesign and prioritize speed, clarity, making it easy to navigate on any screen size, you know, small phone, big desktop- 

[Nova]
Mm-hmm. 

[Chip]
... this mobile-first thinking wasn't just a smart move. It was absolutely essential to reach most of their audience where they are, digitally speaking. 

[Nova]
And beyond just the redesign itself, our team provides a whole bunch of other ongoing services to keep things running smoothly. This includes things like ADA-compliant SEO monitoring, which is vital for accessibility and search visibility. We do comprehensive hosting and maintenance, naturally. Uh, formidable forms integration to help them collect data better for promotions, guest feedback, things like that. GA4 setup, custom dashboards, so they get deep, usable analytics. We even helped with email and CRM transition support. 

[Chip]
Wow. 

[Nova]
Oh, and we put in geolocation functionality too. So, the site can offer personalized experiences, tailoring content based on where you, the user, are visiting from. That kind of personal touch, it really bumps up relevance. So, if we sum up the key results from this latest phase, this recent transformation, Potawatomi now delivers this really unified brand experience, both locations. One single powerful CMS. Our SEO migration work, highly successful. We preserved their traffic, their digital authority, even during those big domain changes, which is honestly no small feat. 

[Chip]
It's definitely not. 

[Nova]
The better navigation, the improved content strategy that's directly led to people spending more time on the site, engaging more, and crucially, their content teams. They can now manage both Milwaukee and Carter sites efficiently, all inside one system. 

[Chip]
So, okay, what does all this mean for the bigger picture, then? We've just covered the recent work, the big overhaul, but like I mentioned earlier, this partnership with Potawatomi, it goes back way, way further, 15 years. You might be sitting there wondering how this whole collaboration became such a core strategic thing, lasting so long. When we come back, we're gonna dive into that really fascinating 15-year journey. It reveals even more incredible scope and, uh, how being adaptable became this shared superpower. Stay with us. 

[Webster]
Hi, I'm Webster, Trivera's AI assistant, here to help your business thrive in the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape. Since 1996, Trivera has delivered digital marketing that drives measurable results, partnering with southeastern Wisconsin's strongest brands, lending creativity, technology, and strategy to help them grow. Now, we're leading the charge with powerful new AI solutions, branded podcast production, fully trained chatbots, predictive analytics, automated content generation, and optimization tools that become your digital dream team, engaging audiences, capturing leads, optimizing campaigns, and delivering 24/7 support. From SEO-optimized websites and ROI-focused campaigns to custom AI tools built for real business impact, Trivera is the partner you can trust to help you own what's next. Visit trivera.com today to make the rest of 2025 your smartest, most successful yet. Trivera, where three decades of expertise meet AI innovation to deliver digital marketing that converts. 

[Narrator]
Welcome back to Trivera's AI Deep Dive. Now, back to our conversation with Chip and Nova. 

[Chip]
All right, welcome back to the Deep Dive. We've talked about the impressive recent transformation at Potawatomi. Now let's peel back those layers. Let's get into the real origin story of this amazing, long-lasting alliance. 

[Nova]
Yeah, and what's truly fascinating here is that our team's partnership with Potawatomi Casino Hotel, it actually started back in 2009, and the first project, it was focused entirely on developing their very first social media strategy. 

[Chip]
Wow, 2009 for social strategy. That was early. 

[Nova]
It really was. Think about it. 2009, social media was still pretty new, kind of the Wild West, and it had unique challenges, especially for sovereign tribal entities like Potawatomi. There were complex legal hurdles, clearances needed before they could even launch on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Our team actually helped them navigate all that complex stuff, the regulations. It was pretty novel and, honestly, a bit of a risky thing to tackle back then. 

[Chip]
That's amazing foresight, really, for both Potawatomi and for our team back then. And it sounds like that early work, that momentum, it quickly grew beyond just social media. It built a different kind of trust, maybe. 

[Nova]
Precisely, and what's really insightful is how the partnership deepened before their social media even fully launched. While all those complex legal agreements for social were being worked out, Potawatomi actually brought our team on as a hosting vendor. 

[Chip]
Oh, okay, practical stuff first. 

[Nova]
Right. This established a really critical working relationship built on operational reliability. We migrated their internal project management software over to our hosting environment. That step, which seems purely operational, it became pivotal. It built this deep layer of trust, proved our team's reliability and technical skill before we even fully rolled out the social media plan. It just shows how sometimes that foundational operational support can unexpectedly pave the way for much bigger strategic partnerships. 

[Chip]
So connecting this to the bigger picture- 

[Nova]
Mm-hmm

[Chip]
... it sounds like that early success, the trust built through keeping things running reliably, that really opened the door for a lot more than just social media. 

[Nova]
It absolutely did. Fast-forward to 2011, and our team had designed and launched a brand-new public-facing website for the Milwaukee Casino. We used Concrete5, which at the time was a fairly new platform. It actually made Potawatomi one of our very first Concrete5 clients. 

[Chip]
Taking a chance on new tech together. 

[Nova]
Yeah, it showed our team's commitment to using innovative tech to help clients. And the success of that first site, it just opened the door to a whole series of other projects. Later on, we developed their company intranet. They called it Casino Connection Online, or CCO. That became a really essential internal communication tool for them, and then eventually, we built that standalone website for their Carter, Wisconsin location, which as we talked about in the first half, we later merged into the main site using that shared Concrete CMS system. So, it all came full circle, back to that unified presence. 

[Chip]
And as Potawatomi grew over the years, adding hotel rooms, new restaurants, more gaming, our team was right there, integrating all sorts of third-party platforms directly into their website, right? Things like complex reservation systems, secure access for their players' club members, other tools guests need. This wasn't just, like, linking out to other sites. It was about embedding these functions seamlessly, making the online experience really complete and easy for their guests. 

[Nova]
And we didn't stop there. Our team also built dedicated microsites for their really big signature events, you know, like the annual Hunting Moon Pow-Wow, their huge New Year's Eve parties, making sure those key events had their own special digital focus. Plus, our digital marketing team initially led the charge on their foundational SEO and PTC efforts. That's search engine optimization, getting found organically, and pay-per-click ads for immediate traffic. 

[Chip]
Setting the groundwork. 

[Nova]
Exactly. We established this performance-driven foundation that was so solid, it actually helped inform how Potawatomi built their own talented internal marketing teams later on, which meant our SEO and PPC folks could then shift into more of a consultative support role. It's proof of value when you actually help enable their internal growth like that. 

[Chip]
That really does sound like a partnership built to help them grow and become more self-sufficient over time. And you mentioned some other ongoing things too, beyond the main websites. 

[Nova]
Yes. To keep engagement high and support promotions, our team started designing and deploying these interactive digital games for them. At first, it was just seasonal, but they were so popular, we do them monthly now. The latest one, Collect Coins, just launched this past June. It continues to get strong participation and brings people back to the site repeatedly. It's a great use of gamification for loyalty. 

[Chip]
Fun stuff. 

[Nova]
Yeah. And behind the scenes, there's also the management of Potawatomi's huge domain portfolio. We handle registration and DNS for almost 100 domains. That's a big logistical job in itself. 

[Chip]
But it's not just volume for the sake of volume. There's a reason behind every one of 'em. 

[Nova]
Exactly. Some are built for SEO, to help individual venues, restaurants, and event experiences stand out in local and branded search. 

[Chip]
Others support marketing campaigns or recruiting, with subdomains that power landing pages, email delivery, or analytics tracking. 

[Nova]
Then there's the integration layer. Subdomains tied to reservation systems, guest services, internal portals, and other third-party platforms. Those connections keep everything running behind the scenes. 

[Chip]
And of course, brand protection is a big one. Owning every relevant domain and variation helps prevent phishing, impersonation, or competitor interference. 

[Nova]
So, when Trivera manages DNS and domain registration, it's not just about keeping things organized. It's about enabling strategy, maintaining trust, and protecting the brand across every digital touchpoint. 

[Chip]
But there's also the infrastructure itself. Trivera's system administration team manages the server environment behind all these sites and services, handling uptime, performance, and security for a brand that gets massive traffic. 

[Nova]
In fact, a few years ago when the tribe built their own commercial hosting and data center in Milwaukee, we assumed the websites might move over there. 

[Chip]
Instead, their IT leadership chose to keep the hosting with Trivera because of the level of service, the depth of our infrastructure knowledge, and the reliability we've delivered year after year. 

[Nova]
Smart, secure, and scalable, and it really underscores how deep our technical and strategic expertise goes. 

[Chip]
Right. Bridging the gap between IT and marketing, two teams that don't always speak the same language, and makes sure everything works together seamlessly. 

[Nova]
And of course, as we discussed, we architected and executed that major domain consolidation to potawatomi.com, with the full SEO backup plan to protect their search visibility and brand equity. 

[Chip]
So, looking at this whole 15-year picture- 

[Nova]
Hmm 

[Chip]
... what does it all mean for how this partnership lasted? It sounds like the one real constant was just change. 

[Nova]
It absolutely was. Since we first started working together in 2009, Potawatomi has gone through multiple complete leadership transitions. CEOs, CMOs, marketing directors, IT leads, creative teams, you name it. 

[Chip]
Wow, that's a lotta change. 

[Nova]
It is. And each time, our team at Trivera consistently stepped in. We had to reestablish trust, show our value through results, and provide that really crucial continuity when everything else was shifting organizationally. It truly exemplifies what we mean by a partnership built to scale. Not just scaling technology, but being resilient through organizational change. The key takeaway, I think, for any business-facing internal shifts, is just the huge value of having that consistent, trustworthy external partner, someone who can bridge knowledge gaps and keep the momentum going. And that really brings us to the end of the story of this incredible 15-year partnership. While the case study we published on our site focuses on the most recent big digital transformation, this deep dive today let us tell the larger story. How something that started as just a forward-thinking social media strategy back in 2009 grew into one of our longest, most deeply integrated, and constantly evolving partnerships. And today, our team continues to support Potawatomi's very dynamic digital footprint with strategic insight, technical expertise, and just this unwavering commitment to delivering real results in a digital world that never stops moving. 

[Chip]
What an incredible journey. From that one social media strategy, all the way to this unified, high-performing digital ecosystem that's always adapting.... it really highlights the immense long-term value, the adaptability that defines what a true strategic partnership looks like. 

[Nova]
Absolutely. Potawatomi's digital presence is built to evolve, and so is their partnership with our team here at Trivera. And that really raises an important question for you, listening right now, is your digital foundation built to evolve? Is it ready to scale with your organization's future, ready for the changes you know are coming? 

[Chip]
As you've heard today, our team at Trivera, well, we don't just build websites, we forge these long-term strategic alliances, partnerships that grow and adapt right alongside your organization, through all the changes in needs and leadership. 

[Nova]
Whether that means navigating really complex digital landscapes, making sure user experiences are seamless across different properties, or protecting your brand's digital authority during big transitions, our team is here to help you hit your goals, just like we've been doing with Potawatomi Casino Hotel for over 15 years now. 

[Chip]
From that very first strategy session, all the way to ongoing optimization, our focus is always on delivering results you can measure and building digital presences that are genuinely built to evolve. If today's deep dive into digital transformation got you thinking about optimizing your own digital footprint, we would love to connect. You can find more case studies like this one and learn about all the services our team provides by visiting trivera.com. That's T-R-I-V-E-R-A.com. Thank you so much for diving deep with us today. If you enjoyed this deep dive, please do hit that subscribe button, or wherever you happen to listen to podcasts, leave us a review, it really helps. And maybe share this deep dive with someone you know who could use a shortcut to being well-informed. Until next time, keep learning, keep exploring and keep asking those big questions. 

[Narrator]
Thanks for joining us on Trivera's AI Deep Dive with Chip and Nova. If you enjoyed this episode, you can find more and stay up-to-dat