The Ultimate Guide to Game Marketing: Everything You Need to Know

by Game Marketing Genie, on 25-Jan-2021 12:07:39

Game marketing isn’t an easy business, especially if you don’t have much expertise. With a sea of competitors and more games releasing every year, as a gaming studio or developer, you might struggle to see a future for your video game.

Luckily, we’re here to help. Try our ultimate guide to everything game marketing to prepare yourself to make your game successful!


Menu

  1. What is game marketing?
  2. Game marketing in 2023
  3. Making a good game marketing plan
  4. How and where to market your game
  5. Understanding the marketing funnel
  6. Understanding your competitors
  7. Game marketing strategies to use (more than 20 strategies!)
  8. What your game marketing strategy needs
  9. Successful, profitable and results-focused game marketing campaigns
  10. Influencer marketing
  11. Seasonal marketing strategies
  12. VR and mixed reality
  13. Giveaways for engagement
  14. Cloud gaming
  15. The subscription economy
  16. Microtransactions and you
  17. What to do (and what NOT to to do) when marketing to gamers
  18. Generating brand trust
  19. Game design for growth (inc. game narratives and educational games)
  20. Game marketing research
  21. Steam game marketing
  22. F2P game marketing and revenue
  23. Making your game go viral
  24. The right team for the job
  25. Getting the right game marketing manager
  26. Game funding and investors
  27. Time to launch your game 
  28. Working with the game marketing experts
  29. A little bit of inspiration for your strategy
  30. ... All that's left is to get started!

What is game marketing?

The gaming industry is continuously expanding and is set to grow at a rate of 7.89% to reach a projected market volume of US$521.60bn by 2027 (source: Statista). With numerous games being introduced to various platforms and genres every year, players have an increasing number of choices. This means you need an effective strategy to maintain your game so it's not lost in the sea of forgotten games. 

And game marketing is your opportunity to position your game for success in today’s ever-growing gaming industry. Identifying key target markets, creating well-crafted and customized messaging, developing ads that deliver the right message at the right time, ensuring that your website is optimized, and more are your keys to game marketing success.

  1. Find out more in our blog, What is Game Marketing?

Game marketing in 2023

Staying up to date is critical. Now one of the biggest parts of the entertainment industry, game devs need to do more than release a game on Steam to make it. 

And they also need to step up from the gaming trends of the past. Much like any form of technology, gaming is evolving, meaning your marketing strategy needs to also.

  1. Find out what trends to follow in 2023 here: 15 Game Marketing Trends for 2023.
  2. And get your modern game marketing guide in Mastering Modern Game Marketing With Game Marketing Genie.

Making a good game marketing plan

Games fail because many developers treat marketing as an afterthought, not a crucial part of their development process. The commercial marketplace is big and noisy, and the gaming industry is more boisterous than most, with thousands of developers and publishers all competing for players' attention. 

So if you want your marketing to succeed, you need a plan. But what is a game marketing plan? This report outlines your marketing strategy for the next week, month, or year — any chosen period for which you wish to set a campaign. It captures your marketing objectives, tells you how to reach them, highlights the tactics you'll use to build a following for your brand, and shows you how to popularize your game on different platforms.

Digital strategies are the best when marketing your game since the target consumers can be reached easily through these mediums. It's also more affordable than traditional advertising, allowing developers to target specific audiences with creative marketing campaigns.

  1. Our blog, What is a Game Marketing Plan and How Can You Tweak It for Your Game?, tells you more about what a game marketing plan means for you. 
  2. For an in-depth guide into making a game marketing plan work for your needs, check out our blog How to Make a Game Marketing Plan Work.

Sticky note plans

How and where to market your game

There are billions of gamers worldwide, but not all will enjoy playing your game. The gaming market isn't small either, with thousands of companies constantly trying to prove to their audiences that their games are the ones they should be playing.

Of course, strong game marketing is your ticket to convincing your audience to buy, download and play. When you start your game marketing process, there are two things that you need to know: how to do it and where to do it. These are pretty broad, but essentially boil down to these three questions:

  • How will I market my game?
  • What game marketing strategies will I use?
  • What outlets will I use to reach, engage and convert my audience?
  1. If you want these questions broken down in a bit more detail, check out our guide: Video Game Marketing: How To and Where To Do It.

Knowing your audience

You may think you know what type of people make up your game's audience, but do you know them in detail? Let's test you out! Answer the following questions:

  • Can I separate my audience into different groups?
  • Can I create detailed groups that every single one of my audience members will fit into?
  • Do I know what kinds of material will connect with each group?
  • Do I know how to reach each group?
  • What do members of my audience's lives look like outside of their game preferences? (i.e. what they do for work, if they have children, their lifestyles etc.)
  • Do they have the budget to purchase your game and/or in-game assets? (e.g. no ads, items, skins etc.)

These are just a few of the questions you'll have to answer before you get started with game marketing, and you might have had an idea for each rather than a fully fleshed-out answer. This is why you need buyer personas as an essential part of your game marketing strategy. 

  1. But what are they, and how do they help you make actionable, informed marketing decisions? We've got all that and more in What Are Buyer Personas and Why Are They Key For Your Game Marketing Strategy?

Understanding the funnel

What makes a game marketing campaign successful? Many things do this, but one of the best tactics is to have a strong marketing funnel that tells you where your players are, what chance they have of buying your game, and the tools you use to encourage them to do so.

A marketing funnel is a type of model that notes the path that potential customers will take — from finding out about your brand to becoming a loyal purchaser that is retained.

  1. Want to learn more about what a good game marketing funnel can do for you? Read more in our blog here: How to Create a Successful Game Marketing Funnel.

Understanding your competitors

The video game market is full of triple-A developers, indie studios, and everything in between. There are hundreds if not thousands, of game devs out there who all want their games to become the next big thing.

As we mentioned earlier, billions of video game lovers are out there. Unfortunately, they are not all part of your target audience, meaning that you'll have a distinct set of competitors to come up against. You will have to understand your competitors, their products, what they're doing, and what's not working for them. Having this information will help you optimize your marketing strategies for success.

  1. Learn more about the market in How Competitive Is Video Game Marketing?

Game marketing strategies to use

So, your game is ready to launch, and you’re set to make your game marketing plan. Now what? Unfortunately, you’ve only done half of the job. Using the right strategies is essential to releasing your game to the market and attracting the thousands or (hopefully) millions of customers you’ve been dreaming about.

There are several different ways to go about game marketing, but without any insider expertise, knowing what to do can be an overwhelming experience. If you’re unsure where to begin, we’ve compiled a guide with the best video game marketing strategies that you can use to make your game rise to the top!

  1. Don't wait to get started! Your quest starts today with 11 Video Game Marketing Strategies You Can Use Right Now.
  2. And it continues with 11 MORE Video Game Marketing Strategies You Can Use Right Now!
  3. Or, check out our 10 Starter Pack Video Game Marketing Strategies for Game Creators.

What YOUR game marketing strategy needs

The perfect strategy can be hard to come by, but great marketing efforts back up great games, so you must make sure you make it count. 

If you’re a developer with several marketing channels, it is easy to become confused when designing your game marketing strategy. After all, knowing how to create a good game marketing strategy is one thing, but knowing exactly what you need to do so is another. Putting a great strategy together with the right assets, understanding, and ideas is your formula for success.

A great way to ensure that you stay on track is to follow a checklist that tells you what to consider. This will help you stay on track of your goals and timelines, heighten your brand’s power in your industry, and employ the best marketing methods that work wonders for you. 

  1. To create your own, check out our guide here: Crafting Your Video Game Marketing Strategy!

Notepad with pen

Successful, profitable and results-focused game marketing campaigns

You've got your basic game marketing plan, you know what strategies you'll use, and you're ready to go now, right? Wrong! There's still more you need to know.


A good game marketing strategy has a lot of components, and understanding the ones you need can be challenging. This component mix is crucial for a winning marketing campaign, as 10% of all published games generate over 90% of the revenue.


There are six essential components of a successful game marketing campaign that you need to ensure that you understand before you proceed. These are as follows:

  • The audience
  • Your communication strategy
  • Brand loyalty
  • Your game’s genre
  • What makes your game special
  • Your delivery method

Using this knowledge well will ensure that your marketing campaign is unique, engaging and well-informed. But importantly, it also means that you’ll get the results (and profits!) that you desire.

  1. But what do you need to know about each? Our blog, The 6 Fundamentals to Running a Profitable Game Marketing Campaign, will teach you what you need to know!
  2. And check out our sequel to this article in Profitable Game Marketing Campaigns: 6 More Things You Need To Have.

Influencer marketing

There are many marketing strategies you can choose from, but we recommend that you stick with just a few to start with. 

With all the competitors in the gaming industry, you’ve got to make sure your marketing isn’t generic, that it can reach your target audience with the right message, and ultimately that it can convince them to engage with your game. Influencer marketing is one of the best ways to get your game noticed.

Influencer marketing is the practice of advertising products and services through endorsements (and other methods) from well-known personalities - usually on prominent social media platforms and video services. These personalities are typically involved in a niche similar to the brands they work with and have a dedicated follower base that loves engaging with their posts. 

Influencer marketing is a major player in the video gaming industry, as it is flooded with high-profile streamers, YouTubers, game reviewers, and more. We cannot recommend this strategy enough, especially if you need your game to break into the market.

  1. Skip all the hassle and be connected to influencers in a fraction of a second, head over to our platform at AtisfyReach to find out more.

Influencer word written with game tiles

Seasonal strategies

Every season or event presents the chance to use unique opportunities to make your marketing successful. Even if your business and games aren't season-based, your customers will react to different events and sales in ways you can use to your advantage.

With people tending to spend more on seasonal events, especially those heading up to the Christmas period in December, you've got to understand how to connect with your audience.

  1. Luckily, we've got a guide that explores seasonality and how to develop a killer strategy that'll get the purchases you desire. Get all the information you need to know in Your Guide to Video Game Seasonal Marketing.

VR and mixed reality

Virtual reality

The gaming industry has moved beyond PC, console, and mobile into the next frontier of video games. Because this industry is kind of new, marketing is not entirely understood — which means that you need to do it exceptionally well to succeed.

VR has a lot of scope to take over the gaming market, and the number of VR titles and tech is only increasing. So what does the industry hold for VR and for marketing these games? With the proper technological advancements and immersive content, there is no reason for VR not to capture the hearts of gamers everywhere.

  1. Check out our VR gaming blog, VR Game Marketing: The Present and Future, to learn more!
  2. Get all the know-how in VR Game Marketing: The Complete Guide to Promoting Your VR Game.
  3. And find some great ideas in The 5 Best VR Game Marketing Strategies.

Mixed reality

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are two of the most common new gaming styles. From PC to mobile, these new ways to play games have revolutionized the gaming industry and offered us a new way to engage.

But what about mixed reality (MR), which offers the best of both worlds (physical and digital) to create a dynamic new gameplay style? Mixed reality combines a player's surroundings with intelligent virtual objects, allowing users to feel like they're interacting with both environments simultaneously. This makes the gameplay more realistic and helps bring once-fantasy worlds to life right before our eyes.

  1. Sound interesting? It is! Check out our blog that tells you how to market mixed reality games: What Does Mixed Reality Mean For the Video Game Industry?

Person playing virtual reality game

Giveaways for engagement

Want to keep your players engaged and retain them for longer? Look no further than game giveaways! From increasing brand awareness to building a loyal community, there are numerous benefits to incorporating giveaways into your game strategy.

This tactic is valuable when it comes to unlaunched games in particular, as it gives winners the opportunity to be some of the very first players.

  1. Discover how you can take your game to the next level with the power of game giveaways in Game Giveaways: Why You Need Them for Player Engagement and Retention.

Cloud gaming

But it's not just the style of games that's changing; it's also the way we access them and the variety of options we have. People worldwide have jumped onto streaming services, including Netflix, to get a range of great content available at one affordable monthly price. So, who's to say that this wouldn't work for the gaming industry?

This is called cloud gaming, and we're heading to a future where discs, downloads, and even consoles aren't required for people to stream their favorite games as quickly as they can watch a movie by logging onto Netflix. Cloud gaming is a concept that has been around for a while but has failed to take off in the past because of various constraints. However, as technology gets more powerful and our love for easy access subscriptions grows stronger, we see this as a significant part of gaming's future.

We're even seeing it now with the launch of Netflix Games in 2021. 

  1. Find out more in Is Cloud Gaming the Future of the Video Gaming Industry?

The subscription economy

The subscription economy describes the trend in which buyers increasingly opt for a recurring payment over an outright purchase. This payment gives them access to a content catalog at a set (usually monthly) price, and this content is often updated.

You can join this economy in many outlets, including Xbox Game Pass. But this doesn't mean you cannot launch your game at a set price on game stores like Steam or Epic Games.

  1. So, what does the future hold for you? Read more in The Subscription Economy: Powering the Next Era of Gaming.

Xbox Series X on green background

Microtransactions and the gacha system

By now, you probably know what microtransactions are. But if you don't, they're small in-game buys that players can make within the game, including anything from skins to powerups. These purchases are usually not required to continue playing but offer a heightened quality of play.

If you look up microtransactions in the gaming industry, you'll notice that there has been a lot of opposition to this over the years. But if implemented well, the revenue can overtake that generated from one-time purchases. Gacha is just one system that provides high revenue using the power of FOMO. Players are incentivized to purchase through their need to continuously reroll to win an exclusive item/character/prize. But this is just one method!

  1. Find out how to get your game making money in Game Monetization: Are Microtransactions Helpful In Increasing Your Game’s Revenue?
  2. Or learn more about gacha in The Impact of the Gacha System on Video Game Monetization.

What to do (and what NOT to to do) when marketing to gamers

Gamers are their own breed of audience. You cannot use the same strategies that you would for other industries. Why? Because even if you make a fantastic game stacked full of intense characters, mind-blowing scenery, and rich lore, you'll be lost in a sea of unplayed games without an incredible marketing strategy.

But there are a few things you need to know about marketing to gamers. Don't fall into stereotypes, and remember that the gaming industry is a niche with its own nuances and implications.

  1. Learn more about what you need to know about marketing to this audience in The Dos and Don'ts of Marketing to Gamers.

Generating brand trust

Brand trust is an essential asset every business needs to establish itself as an authority in its industry. However, this takes a long time to generate and can be lost instantly. 

With such a large audience, the gaming industry requires careful consideration to navigate. Don't worry, though; there are a set of steps that you can take (and start on immediately) to start generating trust for your gaming studio. These include:

  • Being consistent and reliable
  • Being real and actively avoid insincerity
  • Creating good quality content
  • Keeping your promises
  • Being transparent
  • Being honest
  1. Interested in learning more? Check out Game Brand Trust: 6 Strategies to Get Gamers on Your Side.

Lightbulb on sticky note on corkboard

Game design for growth

Before you even begin to market your game, you need to consider your game design. After all, this is the first step to creating something your audience will want to engage with. 

From accessibility, layout, design, and your story to purchase platforms, challenges, and micro-transactions, you need to ensure that you have everything the way you want it — and the way your audience will enjoy it — before you even start your game marketing plan.

But while the gaming universe may be fragmented into hundreds of genres, some principles hold true regardless of the complexity or simplicity of the game.

  1. That's why we've created this guide that will tell you what you need to consider when creating AND marketing your game. Learn more here: Video Game Marketing: Game Design for Growth.

Game narratives and marketing

But it's not just the look of your game; it's also the feel — and part of this comes down to how you tell your game's story. Why? Because it helps players connect with the game and characters while helping you find opportunities to market your game.

  1. So, let's take a journey through what you need to consider to create a good story in 10 Things a Good Game Narrative Needs.

Why educational video games are key

How do you develop an educational game that has the power for both enjoyment and learning?  Successful learning-based games can improve the gaming experience and contribute to learning in new ways.

If you want your game to succeed, you'll need it to have clear goals, a level of problem-solving, some strategy and chance, a good theme and story, and a pleasant reward for playing.

  1. Learn more about these factors in 5 Factors Behind Successful Educational Video Games

Game marketing research

We've told you that you need to create plans, strategies, and more, and this sounds like you’ll have to do a lot of research, right? 

Every marketing guide will tell you that you need to be research-heavy to understand how to make your campaigns succeed. This is because the marketing industry relies a lot on it. It’s all about looking at your niche and churning through data to gain insights about market trends, potential audiences, competitors, and more.

As a game developer, you might think you need to research everything. But will this serve a purpose, or is it pointless? This all depends on what you choose to look at.

  1. Our guide, Video Game Marketing Research: Data Shows It May Be Pointless, walks you through why some traditional marketing research methods will not help your brand and what you need to look at to ensure that you aren’t wasting your time.

Steam game marketing

Steam is the most popular video gaming catalog on the market. As such, it is no surprise that it is a competitive marketplace.

So, what does this mean for you? It's easy - putting your game up on Steam and waiting for people to find it is not enough to succeed. The marketing process may seem complicated, but it doesn't need to be. You can use many different Steam game marketing strategies to help your game achieve higher heights. 

However, remember that what works for others may not work for you. You must adjust your marketing strategies to suit your game, audience, and goals.

  1. Check out Steam Page Optimization: How to Get More Video Game Downloads to optimize your page for success!

Shadow of a gamer

F2P game marketing and revenue

Ever heard of Pokemon GO or Roblox? Of course, right? They're some of the best-selling free-to-play video games the world has ever seen. The F2P model is the go-to model for mobile games nowadays, but most don't get the revenue they dream of.

So, how do you monetize your F2P game? All you have to do is give players a reason to spend more time and money on your game. Sounds simple, right?

  1. It can be, if you check out our guide — How to Generate Constant Revenue From Your Free to Play Game.

Making your game go viral

Okay, you’ve done all your research, made your plans, and understood what you want to do with game marketing and how to do it. Your next step is to measure, track, analyze, and optimize to ensure your marketing campaign performs.

So, what do you need to get started? Data and analytics lie at the heart of marketing and are an indispensable secret to the success of most viral game marketing campaigns. As a game developer, there are many diverse metrics that you can watch, understand and use to get results.

Finding the right metrics to look at can be difficult. There are a multitude you can choose to work with, but not all will work for or be appropriate for a game marketing campaign.

  1. That’s why we’ve compiled the 20 essential metrics that you can measure for success in our blog The Mathematics Behind Any Viral Game Marketing Campaign.

Graph with data

The right team for the job

Fundamentally, marketing is a time-consuming task. With the constant rise in new gaming technology, including VR and AR, your game has much to compete with to capture your audience’s attention. With the space getting more competitive, gaming companies continue to grind in the pursuit of going viral among a sizable fan base. 

If you want your marketing to succeed, you must have the right marketing team. At Game Marketing Genie, we have a powerful group of professional digital marketers, detailed content creators, growth hackers, data science specialists, detail-oriented managers, and more. Our team is built from only the leading figures in the marketing industry, and we are confident of their ability to deliver excellent results consistently. You’ll need a few key figures in your team to build up marketing expertise like ours. 

  1. Learn about the team members needed for exponential growth in our blog, Game Marketing Awards Winner Reveals Ideal Team Composition for Viral Growth.

Getting the right game marketing manager

Your development team has created an incredible game ready to be released. You know countless games fail every year, but you’re sure your game will be fine. Why? Because you’ve started to think about what talent you need to market it.

Most games fail because there are too many options for players and because they haven’t been marketed properly. You know that you will probably need some help with this, especially if you have no industry experience. But you’ll need someone to lead this team to ensure deadlines are met, objectives are completed, and results are made. You need a game marketing manager.

Choosing the right manager isn’t an easy task. You need someone with marketing experience who can drive projects, has strong organizational skills, excellent communication, and is focused on delivering results — even better if they know the gaming industry!

  1. Find out how to pick the best person for the job in our guide, Game Marketing Manager Guide: Job Description, Requirements and Questions.

Woman sitting at computer

Game funding and investors

You need the funds to make your game and marketing strategies unforgettable to avoid falling short and being forgotten.

This is why we recommend that you save some of your budget for powerful marketing strategies that allow you to connect with investors worldwide and secure the funding you need to make your game incredible.

  1. Getting funding doesn't have to be difficult, if you've got the right game marketing strategies. Find out more here: 14 Game Marketing Ideas to Attract Game Funding.
  2. Or, get an investor to help out how with our guide: Find the Best Video Game Investors With These 5 Easy Steps.

Working with the game marketing experts

Creating an excellent game marketing strategy will be difficult if you don’t already have a dedicated marketing team. And sometimes, you won’t be able to hire a whole bunch of marketing staff members. Fortunately, you don’t need the resources to develop a fully-fledged set of marketers and can instead let the experts handle it all for you.

Forbes Agency Council stated that, “Choosing the right marketing agency to work with your business is as important as picking the right partner. They need to be a good fit and mesh with your personality. They need to see your company vision and be able to execute your ideas with ease.”

This may sound like finding the perfect game marketing agency is easy, but unfortunately it can be difficult to find the right one that ticks all of these boxes.

  1. Still not convinced? Get our 10 Reasons You Should Work With a Game Marketing Agency.
  2. Check out our guide to help you find the right game marketing agency for your needs here: How To Choose the Right Video Game Marketing Company.
  3. And for more information on choosing the right one, check out our follow up post, Choosing the Right Video Game Marketing Agency: The Sequel!

What do you need to know?

It's not as simple as just finding a game marketing agency. You need to ensure that they're the right fit. But how do you determine that?

It's simple, like anything you want an answer to, you must ask the right questions.

Get your footing with our guide — Game Marketing Agency: 5 Key Questions to Ask to Find the Right Fit.

word agency

A little bit of inspiration for your strategy

Gaming studios spend billions of dollars on game development every year, and much of that goes into developing fantastic marketing strategies to get their games the hype they deserve. And many of these campaigns are successful - we’re sure you’ve seen some of them yourself!

Looking to the gaming industry to see what works, what doesn’t, how they leveraged their marketing strategies, and what you can work on is a great way to gather inspiration for your campaign.

While we do not recommend that you copy other studios’ game marketing strategies, we do think that understanding how and why they did what they did is the perfect way for you to get started.

  1. That’s why we’ve compiled 12 amazing game marketing campaigns that you can check out to guide your own! Read more here in our blog, 12 Game Marketing Examples That Will Inspire You.
  2. Also check out our list of five brands that used video games as part of their marketing strategies! This shows you that anyone - whether they're part of the gaming industry or otherwise - can make their business boom with gaming! Learn more here: 5 Game Marketing Examples That Brands Used in Marketing Campaigns.

... All that's left is to get started!

So, you've come this far, and it seems like you're ready. Your game needs its audience, and you're pretty sure how to reach them. What's your next step? It's the biggest one of all - getting started!

After all, you've put all your time and effort into developing an unbelievable game with hours of fun. You know the video gaming industry is competitive, and understand that you need a comprehensive marketing strategy to kick you off and get the results you deserve.

It might seem tough, but we're here to tell you not to be scared — you're in the right hands, and you've got the right guide.

  1. Here's one last blog to help you on your journey: How to Start Marketing a Video Game.

Inspirational letter box


Final words

There’s a lot to take in from our guide to game marketing, but here’s what you need to remember.

  • Your game won’t stand out by itself, unless you’re a major video game developer, and even then, they invest hugely in marketing.
  • Video game marketing is your tool to stand out from the sea of competitors, but you need to do it well.
  • Having a strong, well-considered marketing plan is key to the success of your campaign.
  • You need the right expertise to make it count, and it’s okay to ask for help.

At the end of the day, it’s not about achieving instant global recognition. Measured and constant growth will make your game and company stand tall above the others.

How will you know when you’re standing tall? You’ll know — it’s when your customers help hold you in that position with their brand loyalty.

Want help getting there? The team at Game Marketing Genie know everything we laid out here (and more!) in great depth. Contact us today to find out how we can help you reach your desired results!

Topics:Virtual RealityVideo Game Marketing StrategyVideo Game MarketingComplete Guide

Book in a free consultation