by Game Marketing Genie, on 03-May-2023 11:42:28
Gaming studios must look for new ways to promote their latest releases and reach a wider audience. One powerful marketing tool you can leverage is influencer content.
The Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report of 2023 has unveiled some compelling insights that highlight the effectiveness of influencer marketing. The report surveyed over 3500 marketing agencies, brands, and professionals and revealed that the industry is set to grow to a staggering $21.1 billion in 2023.
Additionally, 67% of respondents allocate budgets for influencer marketing plans to increase their investment in the coming year. Even more impressive is that 23% of respondents intend to dedicate over 40% of their total marketing budget to influencer campaigns, indicating the growing importance of this marketing strategy.
In this blog, we'll explore how you can use different types of influencer content to boost the success of your game marketing campaigns.
Figure 1: Influencer marketing growth predictions for 2023. Source: Influencer Marketing Hub
1. Challenges
Leveraging influencer-led challenges is a practical approach to game marketing that can generate excitement and engagement among gaming enthusiasts. Influencer-led challenges can become a strong crowd-puller for new releases when executed correctly.
Some challenges to run with influencers:
Game art challenges
Gaming studios can partner with influencers and encourage them to create unique interpretations of characters or settings from the game. Add more interest to these challenges by promoting them on social media. Use a branded hashtag to increase visibility and encourage user-generated content (UGC).
Cosplay challenges
Cosplaying is a popular hobby among gaming enthusiasts. Such challenges can inspire fans to create costumes based on characters from the game. Gaming studios can select a winner or even feature the top submissions on social media to add to the fun.
Co-op challenges
This is another unique challenge that involves influencers collaborating with their audience. You can ask influencers to create a co-op team with their followers and complete a specific mission within the game. This type of challenge generates UGC and helps develop a sense of community around the game.
Note that generating UGC is crucial for the success of these challenges, as it creates a sense of authenticity and credibility around the game. Influencers and fans create content showing their excitement and enthusiasm, which inspires others to join in and leads to more UGC.
Learn everything about creating UGC for your game with our comprehensive guide. Read more in Your One-Stop Guide to Video Game User-Generated Content.
2. Discount offers
You can also use influencers to promote games through discount offers linked to a referral code unique to the influencer. This is an effective way to encourage the influencer's followers to purchase the game. They will receive a discount on the purchase price, and the influencer will receive a commission on the sale.
To maximize the impact of this strategy, gaming studios can partner with influencers with a large following in the gaming community and a reputation for producing high-quality content. The influencer can then promote the discount offer to their followers using a unique referral code, which will track the number of sales generated through their promotion.
3. Early access insights
Gaming studios can utilize influencers to give gamers a sneak peek into their upcoming game and share insider insights. Give influencers early access to the game to showcase gameplay footage, share their opinions, and generate buzz among their audience. This creates a sense of exclusivity and anticipation among gamers, who are always eager to be the first to experience new games.
Influencers can also provide valuable feedback that can help you identify and fix any issues before the game is released. You can implement this strategy through various platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, or Twitter.
4. Early access for fans
You can allow a select group of fans to play the game before its release. This way, studios can create a sense of exclusivity and excitement among the gaming community even before your game joins the app world.
In December 2018, mobile games developer Supercell took this unique approach to mobile influencer marketing for the launch of their Brawl Stars game. They collaborated with ten mobile YouTube influencers and gamers to host a series of pre-launch gameplay live-streaming videos, to drive registrations before the official game launch.
The campaign proved to be a massive success, with over 5 million registrations after announcing the release date and launching the first video. Instead of partnering with the most popular gaming influencers with millions of subscribers, Supercell focused on influencers already playing their other games.
Figure 2: Micro-influencers hosting a pre-launch game event. Source: Brawl Stars
5. Gameplay livestreams
Gameplay livestreams with influencers are very effective with the gaming audience. The livestreaming industry owes much of its success to gaming. 54% of all livestreamed content revolves around e-sports or gaming. The minimum duration for a gameplay livestream is typically around 30 minutes. However, longer sessions may be more effective at building engagement and excitement among viewers.
Popular platforms for livestreaming include Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook. You can repurpose gameplay livestreams by:
- Editing highlight clips and sharing them on social media or YouTube.
- Creating blog posts or articles based on the livestream content.
- Repackaging the livestream as a podcast or audio recording.
6. Gameplay videos
When players get stuck at a stage in a game, they typically turn to YouTube for tutorials. People also watch gameplay to learn more about a game. By having influencers record gameplay videos, you can showcase your product through short, edited clips that may include commentary.
Unlike gameplay livestreams, video uploads can be shared anytime, providing more flexibility and opportunity for reaching a wider audience. However, note that livestreams have a more significant impact during the stream and may not receive the same engagement afterward.
Studios should also consider sponsoring full playthrough series of their games, which can help build viewers' excitement. A high-quality gameplay video can showcase your games' features, gameplay mechanics, and storyline.
7. Giveaways
Influencers can help to promote your giveaway contests through their channels. They can create posts or videos that showcase the prize and encourage their followers to enter. Branded hashtags further help promote the giveaway and to track entries.
An example of an Instagram giveaway could be a post that features an image or video of the prize, along with a call-to-action that encourages users to enter by leaving a comment and tagging friends. To make the giveaway game-related, studios could offer in-game currency, gaming gear, exclusive skins, or other relevant prizes.
Partnering with influencers can help amplify the giveaway's reach and increase participation.
Here is an example of @alvinology partnering with Razer to host a Kraken Kitty gaming headset giveaway. The rules include following both pages of the influencer and the brand and tagging at least one friend to be eligible for the reward.
Figure 3: Influencers can run giveaways for your gaming gear. Source: Instagram
Want to plan a giveaway contest? Then read our blog Game Giveaways: Why You Need Them for Player Engagement and Retention.
8. Reviews
As a video game tech or gear company, you are best placid to leverage the power of influencer reviews. Many influencers specialize in this type of content, with dedicated channels solely focused on reviewing products. These reviews can be shared as a separate post, after a gameplay video, or at the end of a campaign. Partner with influencers to create sponsored reviews, and you can ensure that your product gets the attention it deserves.
It's important to note that good reviews cannot be bought. Influencers are known for their rigorous and honest approach to reviewing products. If your product doesn't meet their expectations, they will not hesitate to share honest opinions with their audience.
You can ensure your brand is well-represented in the influencer community and beyond by partnering with the right influencers and providing a quality product.
9. Sponsored social posts
Sponsored content is a great way to showcase your product through an influencer's quick and straightforward post. It is common to see famous gamers promote their sponsors by dedicating a short portion of their videos to them. This format is perfect for those who want to test the waters with influencer marketing or have a limited budget.
This format works even better with other formats, such as gameplay videos, reviews, or giveaways. The key is to find the right influencer who aligns with your brand and has an engaged following that will be interested in your product.
10. Tournaments
Tournaments can be a great way to engage both influencers and fans. Many examples of tournaments that engage gamers on a large scale are now annual events that communities look forward to. Dota 2 Asia Championship and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Summit are well-known tournaments.
Influencer x influencer tournaments: You can organize a competition between influencers, where they compete against each other in a game related to your product. This can generate excitement and interest among their followers, who may want to participate in the tournament.
Influencer x fan tournaments: Another option is to organize a competition between influencers and their fans. This allows fans to compete with their favorite influencers, creating a unique and exciting experience. You can also offer a prize for the tournament winner, say a gaming accessory or a cash prize.
Even if your game is not multiplayer, you can still organize a tournament where participants compete to achieve a particular goal in the game. For example, this could be completing a specific level or achieving a high score in a minigame.
Through tournaments, you can create a fun and engaging experience for influencers and their followers while promoting your product and brand. Remember to use branded hashtags and social media posts to promote your tournament and encourage participation.
Double the impact of influencer content with paid advertising
Paid advertising campaigns featuring select influencers can be linked to almost all these content formats. By combining influencer content into paid ads strategy, you can amplify your brand messaging and connect with a broader audience.
For example, you can use paid ads to promote a giveaway or discount with a sponsored post. This can incentivize their followers to engage with the post and potentially convert into customers.
Additionally, you can use paid ads to target users who have watched an influencer's gameplay video or participated in a tournament, reminding them of your brand and product and encouraging them to take action.
In today's crowded digital landscape, combining paid advertising with influencer content can be a powerful way to break through the noise and achieve your marketing goals.
Making it count with influencer game marketing strategies
If you don’t have the right influencer marketing strategies, then you won’t be able to succeed. Get everything you need to know about video game influencer marketing in our ultimate guide here: The Definitive Guide to Influencer Marketing.
At Game Marketing Genie, we understand the power of influencer marketing and can help you execute successful game marketing campaigns. Whether you're looking for small test videos or larger-scale streams and sponsored content, we've got you covered with our proprietary influencer marketing system, Atisfyreach.
Our AI-based platform helps you identify the best influencers for your game, manage your campaigns, and measure your ROI.
Our influencer marketing team of experts can work with you to expand your game marketing strategy and ensure you get the best possible start.
