by Game Marketing Genie, on 07-Jul-2021 11:33:50
Blogging is one of the top three forms of content, following videos and eBooks. Modern consumers take time to research the products they need before making a purchase. Blogging provides the perfect platform to engage your target audience, boost brand awareness, and convert more leads.
Brands of all sizes have embraced content marketing to engage their consumers, with statistics from Demand Metric showing that 90 percent of companies use content marketing techniques like blogging to connect with their audience.
For your inbound content marketing efforts, it’s advisable to use different content formats to connect with your audience at different stages of the sales funnel. This blog shares the 9 most popular content formats and how to use them to attract new leads and drive sales.
Why does your gaming company need a blog?
Beyond your website, a business blog is a fantastic tool for keeping your audience informed about your company. While your website may be more practical in terms of the content and communicate in a straightforward tone, a blog gives you more flexibility and allows you to share updates in a manner that shows your personality and not just what you do.
Your blog acts as a direct communication channel for your business. It's an avenue to talk about your products and services in-depth, share timely updates, and comment on industry news in a way that brings out your brand personality.
Blogging also helps with your SEO efforts. Customers use search engines to find the products and services they need, and creating content around the relevant keywords will help them locate your business. Search engine users trust websites that appear on the top positions of SERPs, and consistently creating content that solves your target users' problems will help you rise through the ranks and earn their trust.
Blog marketing also helps you establish yourself as an expert in your niche. As a gaming brand, you can start a blog to share the latest trends, gaming tips for players, and creative ways to use characters, themes, and skins in your video game. You can also share updates about the latest conferences (in person or virtual) and discuss how new trends affect your customer’s choices.
Such posts allow you to educate your customers and establish you as a thought leader in the industry.
Blogs also help you improve your internal linking. When you create a post, you can link it with other blogs on your website. This act makes it easy for visitors to navigate your site, thus improving the user experience.
Our blog, Is Content Marketing Worth Your Time? shares other benefits of having one for your business.
We also share our top lead gen tips for blogging in our article on Growth Marketing Genie: How to Get Lead Generation Through Blogging.
Let’s now look at the top content formats to have on your blog for your video game marketing efforts.
1. Listicles
Every content marketing specialist loves a list because of how quickly they pass information to readers. Lists are easy to scan and have digestible information that makes for easy reading. Listicles are also popular for social sharing, making them a great addition to your content marketing strategy.
You can create listicles on almost any subject but stick to topics that appeal to your target audience. You can write about the top 10 video games in your niche or share the top gamers your target audience can follow for gaming tips.
2. How-tos
Tutorials and how-tos are great for engaging your audience and educating them about an important issue in a single blog post. How-tos are easy to develop since you are familiar with the topic at hand.
When creating a how-to guide, the vital thing to remember is to break down the entire process into small actionable steps. Use step-by-step screenshots to make it easier for your readers to follow the instructions. Work with a content marketing agency to create a how-to guide to show people how to play your video game effectively.
3. Checklists
A checklist is one of the simplest forms of content you can create. We’ve all written one before, and they work because checklists are short, simple to digest, and allow you to cross items off when you complete them.
Translating a checklist into a blog post is also very easy. Simply create the checklist with some supporting information, and you’re good to go.
Video game companies can create a checklist of the things a player needs to do to complete a certain level. Players will use the checklist to progress through the game and set high scores.
4. Guest blogging
Promoting a video game to the masses is a time-consuming exercise, and you may not have the time to update your blog regularly. Rather than going weeks without publishing a post, reach out to other bloggers, gaming enthusiasts, or influencers in your niche and invite them to publish posts on your blog.
Organize everything well ahead of time and make sure the posts are relevant to your blog content. This will ensure your site has interesting fresh content for your followers to keep them engaged and entertained.
5. Interviews
Interviews will help you drive interest among your readers since people are always eager to hear what experts have to say about a particular issue. Interview a leading figure in your niche area and publish the interview on your blog.
Discuss important events in the gaming industry during the interview, and get expert advice that’s beneficial to your target users. The key is to keep your interview topics central to things your users are interested in. You can interview a gaming influencer who has played your game and get them to share tips that will help players navigate your game.
6. Series
A blog series allows you to talk about certain topics in great detail. Some content topics are expansive, and you cannot exhaustively cover them in one blog post. You will have to write a string of related posts that you will publish over time on your blog.
A blog series provides you with an opportunity to engage your audience for the long term. It allows you to dig deep into a specific topic and showcase your expertise. This will encourage the readers to keep coming back for more awesome content and will enable you to create internal links between your posts that are good for SEO.
Work with a video game marketing agency to identify content topics for your blog series.
7. Case studies
Case studies are excellent for generating social proof. Social proof is a vital element if you want to appeal to modern consumers, and sharing success stories about people who have used your product to great success will do wonders for your business.
Get in touch with your customer and start a conversation about how your game has improved their life and made them happy. Include them in a case study and share it on your online platforms.
Work with a content marketing manager to create compelling case studies that demonstrate how your product solves your customers' problems.
8. Press releases and news
Press releases communicate specific information about an event, product launch, circumstance, or other happenings. The main goal of a press release is to promote a significant issue and to do so clearly.
Press releases are meant for the media, but your followers also need to know what’s happening behind the scenes. That’s why it’s a good practice to publish them on your blog to keep your customers informed about important news and events.
Check out our blog, 10 Tips To Help You Run a Successful PR Campaign, to learn how to write a proper press release.
9. Infographics and image-based blogs
Infographics are one of the popular types of content to have on your blog. Infographics present a lot of information (statistics, research, and data) in a visual format that’s digestible, engaging, and shareable.
In fact, Search Engine Journal shows that infographics are shared 3x more than other types of content, so they can help you earn backlinks and grow your audience on social media.
To make your infographics appealing, use lots of white space to keep them clean and organized. Break up the content into sections and use complementary colors to make them interesting.
Great content allows you to engage your audience, drive traffic, and start conversations with your customers and prospects online. Choosing the correct type of content for your business and target users will elevate your content marketing strategy to the next level and help you achieve your business goals.
Working with a content marketing agency will ensure you have the best content to support your customer engagement efforts. The team at Game Marketing Genie will help you create top-notch content that engages, delights, and encourages sharing.
Are you using the right content to engage your customers? Use our content marketing strategy to create and distribute high-value content.
