Influencer Game Marketing: How to Get Streamers to Market Your Game

Influencer marketing has penetrated nearly every industry, and the gaming industry is no longer a newcomer to the fray. Involving gaming influencers and streamers in your marketing is one of the most effective ways to connect with young gamers. 

The opportunity for advertising within live streaming is enormous. And for good reason: 

• According to esports statistics by Newzoo, the global gaming live-streaming audience is expected to exceed 830 million by 2024.
• Statista shows there were 7.4 billion hours of live stream gaming watched in the third quarter of 2021.

All this success is balanced by the relationship streamers nurture with their audience. One of the key reasons is that live streamers interact with their viewers and connect with them in real time. This builds an engaged and loyal community around their channels, with the streamer regarded as a friend and expert. Brands enter the world of streamers as community supporters by collaborating with them. This produces incredible results: being welcomed by streamers and their viewers frequently increases CTRs in magnitudes!

Figure 1: Live streaming is a critical component in game influencer marketing. Source: Influencer Marketing Hub

With influencer marketing leading the way forward for marketing and advertising, here is a comprehensive breakdown of the steps you need to take to get started today.

Select the right targeting criteria

When you create a game, you already have an image of your player in mind: someone who enjoys a specific genre, theme, or aesthetic and will most likely enjoy your game.

If you're not sure who your target audience is, creating customer personas might help. For more information, see our guide to creating them: How to Create Player Buyer Personas For Video Game Marketing.

The targeting criteria checklist includes factors such as

• Age 
• Gender
• Location
• Niche/genre/interests
• Keywords (associated with their niche)
• Number of followers

Beyond this, different factors come into play when selecting the right streamer to promote your game. Let's take a quick look at a few: 

Genre

Personality and content preference are essential once your scope is in place. Use the scope of your campaign to determine the size of streamers you should target. 

Look into what games the influencer has previously played and what their audience is most likely to watch. This requires more than a cursory glance because streamers frequently switch games, so it's essential to look at their overall game selection.

This is likely the most critical factor because it directly affects your game. For example, if you want to launch a new FPS, contacting influencers who only play MMOs or card games is pointless.

Viewership

There are a few key performance indicators, or KPIs, to consider regarding viewership. The most important statistic is the average number of viewers (or CCV). This displays the average number of viewers a streamer receives over a given period. You must also consider an influencer's activity. Choose active influencers and stream frequently; the bulk of their followers must be genuine accounts. 

Audience type

Also, check for convergence between your audience type and a streamer's style. Go through some of their VOD content to gauge if they fit your brand values and the kind of game you plan to promote. The games a streamer plays provide insight into their fanbase; for example, Fortnite is primarily popular among male teenagers.

Choose your platform

When you're ready to collaborate with gamers to promote your brand, the next question is, "Where do I find them?"

Twitch and YouTube are the most popular platforms for gamers worldwide. Both Twitch and YouTube are competing for the same audience, so, understandably, they appear nearly identical at first glance. However, these platforms are different and have their own pros and cons. 

There is no shortage of marketing opportunities for either of them. Also, both are hotspots for influencer partnerships between brands and creators.

Twitch appears to be the more appealing option if you are considering advertising via live streaming due to its sheer size and laser-sharp focus on live video content.

However, YouTube is catching up with its focus on gamers and live streamers on the platform. Venturing into the smaller pastures of YouTube's streams may be a viable option for smaller game studios.

Nevertheless, you can take a call to decide which platform to use based on thorough research of the platforms and match your end goals. In our opinion, both of them have the potential to do wonders for you.

Make it obvious

Remember that the keyword in collaborating with streamers or gaming influencers is clarity. 

Don't leave any aspect of the collaboration and its following communication to assumptions. 

Unlike bloggers, streamers work in real-time, with no opportunity to 'reshoot.' Another important factor is that streamers will reject anything that will harm their channel's reputation. As a result, try to make a customized partnership offer based on channel specifics and potential advertising integrations. 

When working with streamers, key advertising formats can include overlays, which occur when a streamer changes the background of a channel to a brand image, banners, mentions, or product placement. It can also be giveaways of paid in-game content (you can offer a free game entry code and separate in-game features that are otherwise paid for).

Aside from that, depending on the needs of a project, you can devise a creatively different collaboration format. For instance, you may wish to organize a tournament among streamers to promote an MMORPG.

Remember that Twitch and YouTube are different. While Twitch is more about a show, bloggers on YouTube are more likely to make videos that try to briefly explain what may be of interest to their viewers, and their main task is to keep people watching their videos. Twitch streams can last for hours, which is why a history of your game or brand, some features, and so on can be helpful for live streamers.

If a video about your game, such as a trailer or preview/beta version, is already available online, send a link to the streamer so they can understand how much they benefit from it and if their audience will like it. 

Pick your payment

Influencer marketing has grown in popularity, and influencer types have increased. There are numerous types of influencers, with creators for every gaming niche! However, with so many options, it can be challenging to know where to begin. Have you found the best match for your campaign, and what should you offer as payment? There are many questions you must answer.

While gifts and discounts are a standard method of incentivizing influencers, not everyone will be open to that. Remember that this is an income for most streamers or gaming influencers, and they want to be paid in cash. Whenever possible, it is best to offer a fee in exchange for their services. 

A flat fee is not always required. Some influencers will accept a commission-based incentive, in which you pay them based on the number of clicks they send you or the number of sales you generate as a result of their promotion. A flat fee plus a commission-based incentive is also an option.

As a general rule, the larger the streamer, the higher the costs.

Work with smaller creators

This brings us to the point that in gaming influencer marketing, bigger (or flashy) is not always better. 

Even if big names like Markiplier and Ninja are attractive, they come with a hefty price tag. 

So don't be afraid to reach out to upcoming streamers with smaller, dedicated followings. Even if they have fewer followers, working with nano or micro-influencers more targeted to your niche can yield excellent results at a lower cost. 

Micro-influencers also have a 20% higher conversion rate, which can assist brands in increasing e-commerce sales. As a result, despite their small followings, brands can gain enormous sales value from collaborating with micro-influencers.

You'll likely be one of the first developers to reach out to them, so you might even get a good deal!

Use Atisfyreach to simplify the process

Setting up these campaigns takes time and resources like dedicated marketing staff. And the performance can be extremely challenging to measure. 

There is also a lot for you to do:

• Scouting for suitable streamers 
• Negotiating agreements
• Campaign payments

Everything takes time.

By automating sponsorship deal processes and focusing on smaller streamers, you can avoid the drawbacks of influencer campaigns. 

Atisfyreach is an AI-based influencer marketing platform that connects brands to streamers. AI and data automate and optimize all aspects of influencer marketing workflows, helping brands solve the various pain points associated with influencer marketing. Brands can reach hundreds of streamers at once with Atisfyreach. 

Here is how Atisfyreach can help simplify influencer marketing for you: 

Influencer onboarding

The platform considers a brand's campaign requirements and leverages the AI algorithm to connect them with the right fit influencers, making the influencer onboarding process seamless. No longer searching through social media for talent. 

Audience discovery

It's often challenging to pinpoint audience personas precisely. But with Atisfyreach, you must input the criteria you're targeting, and the algorithm will do the rest. 

Context execution

Once Atisfyreach identifies the ideal influencer(s), the campaign is set in motion on social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch. You can then choose the content formats as per your campaign goals. 

Analytics and reporting

The algorithm gives brands insights into ongoing campaigns so you can optimize them as needed. This helps you stay on track with your KPIs. 

Contracts and negotiations

Atisfyreach takes care of an influencer campaign's negotiations, pricing, and contractual aspects, taking away the stress of administrative details from brands. The entire process is automated, ensuring timely payments to influencers. 

One-stop dashboard

The one-stop Atisfyreach dashboard streamlines your influencer marketing workflow, from campaign performance and analytics reports to contracts and promo details. This saves valuable time as you don't have to juggle multiple screens during campaigns.

Getting influencer game marketing strategies right

Learn everything you need to know about video game influencer marketing in our complete guide here: The Definitive Guide to Influencer Marketing.

Start your marketing campaign with streamers!

Influencer marketing has found a new home in the gaming industry. Influencer marketing is the most effective way to connect with gamers and Generation Z because it targets them where they are, overcomes the shortcomings of traditional marketing, and is cost-effective.

So, if you want to connect your brand with gaming influencers, streamers, and micro-sponsorships in live streams, Atisfyreach is the place to be. Register your brand today!

Interested in creating other marketing strategies for your game? Contact Game Marketing Genie, and let's work together to create something amazing!