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

Influencer marketing is part of nearly every industry, and the gaming industry is no stranger. Involving gaming influencers and streamers in your marketing is one of the best ways to connect with young gamers.
 
All this success is balanced by the relationship streamers nurture with their audience, and in turn, can build with your brand. One of the key reasons is that live streamers interact with their viewers and connect with them in real time. 

These engaged and loyal communities regard streamers as friends and experts. Enter the world of streamers as a community supporter by collaborating with them. This strategy will produce incredible results as being welcomed by streamers, and their viewers will increase your click-through rate hugely!

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 is 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 will most likely watch. This requires more than a cursory glance because streamers frequently switch games, so looking at their overall game selection is essential.

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

Viewership

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

Audience type

Also, check for convergence between your audience type and a streamer's style. Review some of their video-on-demand content to see if they fit your brand values and the game you plan to promote. The games a streamer plays provide insight into their fanbase; for example, Fortnite is primarily popular among male teenagers and young adults.

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. Twitch and YouTube compete for the same audience, appearing nearly identical regarding their functions at first glance. However, these platforms each have their own pros and cons. 

There is plenty of marketing opportunities for both of them. Also, both are hotspots for influencer partnerships between brands and creators.

Twitch is the more appealing option for livestreaming advertising due to its sheer size and laser-sharp focus on live video content.

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

Take the call to decide which platform to use based on thorough research of the platforms and match your end goals. Both of them have the potential to do wonders.

Make it obvious

Remember that the key to 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." And they reject anything that may 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 uses a brand image, banners, mentions, or product placement over their video. You can also use giveaways of paid in-game content (like 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 many different collaboration formats. For instance, you may launch an MMORPG tournament among streamers.

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 explain what may interest their viewers, and their main task is to keep people watching. Twitch streams can last for hours, so a history of your game or brand, some features, and so on can be helpful for live streamers. Try not to make it too long, or the viewers might lose interest!

If a video about your game, such as a trailer or gameplay demo clip, 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

There are numerous types of influencers, with creators for every gaming niche! However, with so many options, figuring out where to begin can take time. 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 source for most streamers or gaming influencers, and they want to be paid in cash. More often than not, influencers will not accept a discount or physical item for their payment. It is best to offer a fee in exchange for their services whenever possible. 

But 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.

Generally, 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 Shroud are attractive, they have 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 generate excellent results cheaply. 

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

You'll likely be among the first developers to contact 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 software that connects brands to streamers . AI and data automate and optimize all aspects of the influencer marketing workflows, helping brands solve the various pain points associated with influencer marketing. Brands can reach hundreds of relevant 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. You no longer need to search 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 high-volume user social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitch, and YouTube. 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. The entire process is automated, ensuring timely payments to influencers when they've completed your work. 

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 gaming. It 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!