by Game Marketing Genie, on 22-Dec-2020 11:24:56
The last two decades have seen tremendous gains in the mobile gaming world. What may have started for many as a casual game of Snake on Nokia phones is now a multi-billion dollar industry. In fact, 60% of the total gaming market is dominated by mobile (source: Mashable).
Although the mobile game market saturation is doing well to keep the industry alive and on-the-go gamers happy, it's becoming increasingly difficult for developers to penetrate the market. As a result, game devs are re-evaluating their tactics, and influencer marketing strategies are catching on.
YouTube content creators, Twitch personalities, and Instagram celebrities are now the leading source of information in the gaming community. Business Insider states that 95 percent of gamers visit their pages for tips, game reviews, and walkthroughs.
If you want to bring influencers to market your game, this article highlights the steps you must follow to win at mobile app marketing.
Why influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing uses well-known social media users to spread the word about your brand and its products, such as your mobile video game. Influencers are well-known and respected in their areas of specialization and may have a large following on their social media pages.
Influencer marketing works because social media influencers build trust with their followers, as mentioned in our blog here on AtisfyReach. Their recommendations, therefore, serve as the social proof brands need to connect with targeted audiences.
Consumers have many options when it comes to what they can buy. But customers are starting to lose sight of who they can trust, and to filter all the noise; they're turning to ad blockers.
Such extreme measures make it difficult for brands to reach their audience in the digital landscape. But brands who know how to grab their ideal audience's attention are working with the people who already have it: the social media influencers they have chosen to follow.
Influencers' audiences follow their recommendations, thus generating good results for marketing spend. A study by Tomoson found that influencer marketing yields some $6.50 for every dollar spent, which is higher than other marketing methods.
Your guide to mobile game influencer marketing
Follow these steps to create a successful app marketing strategy that will help you connect with the gaming community.
Know your goals and target audience
The first step in your video game marketing campaign is to define your goals and target audience. Setting clear goals and figuring out your audience will help you find relevant influencers to collaborate with and guide you on how to effectively package the promotional content to connect with your audience.
Elevating brand awareness and increasing sales are two of the most common reasons for running influencer campaigns. However, instead of setting such broad targets as your goals, hone in on your brand's needs at that particular time to make your marketing more effective.
Perhaps you want to boost your customer base in a younger demographic or expand into a new customer group with a new game. Setting clear goals will help you track your marketing efforts to see if your strategy is working or needs changing to improve your performance. Work with a video game marketing agency to set clear goals and determine the metrics to be tracked to achieve those goals.
Choose the right influencer
Figure 2: Finding the best influencers isn't easy. Source: Mediakix
61% of marketers struggle to find relevant influencers for a campaign. If you're not careful, you will end up with an influencer unsuitable for your brand, making attracting players to your game difficult.
Since you are marketing a mobile game, you should only consider influencers in the right niche, as mentioned in our blog here. Don't choose a celebrity who doesn't play games because they have a considerable following. Instead, find experienced gamers who know what they are talking about and ask them to promote your game to their followers.
Two of the best platforms to find gaming influencers are YouTube and Twitch. Influencers stream gaming content on these platforms and have thousands of fans tuning in to catch the action live. You can also try Instagram and TikTok, depending on the nature of your target audience.
Our blog over on Atisfyreach, How to Choose the Best Influencer for Your Business, highlights the things you need to consider to get the best value from your campaign.
Define your budget and payment system
Set a budget before engaging the influencer to avoid misunderstandings later on. With your budget set, you can now negotiate posting rates and fees effectively.
The best way to determine your fee and payment is to contact your influencer and ask them directly. This can be a troublesome process, but is easily avoided with AtisfyReach. Read on to find out more.
Let your influencer/s guide the creative process
Influencers know what works with their audience. Brands must give them enough freedom to create content their audience will appreciate when collaborating. Controlling everything they do limits an influencer campaign's effectiveness, making it challenging to achieve your marketing goals.
Of course, you should have clear brand guidelines to follow, but you shouldn't dictate everything.
Social media users want credibility and authenticity when influencers promote a product, but this won't come out clearly when the influencer lacks creative freedom. Users can tell when a brand controls the whole process and will be reluctant to engage with the campaign.
That's why you must allow influencers to use their creativity to promote your mobile game. Influencers understand their audience better than you, and letting them run the show will make your campaign more authentic and credible.
Track and measure your results
The final step is to track and measure the results of your campaign. This step will only be successful if you set clear goals and KPIs when starting the campaign.
For example, you can track how many installs you got from the campaign. Did you acquire engaged users, or did those who downloaded your game play it once and never return? What about in-app purchases and ad revenue? Did they increase as a result of the campaign?
If you cannot notice any measurable results, it's likely that the influencer campaign didn't work. You must identify what went wrong and refine your strategy if that's the case.
If you get the desired results, consider increasing your influencer marketing efforts, whether working with the same influencer again or bringing new ones on board.
Fulfill your quest with mobile game marketing
Mobile game marketing is your key to the quest for success! Take control of your new game and make its marketing matter with the help of our insider tips in Mobile Game Marketing: Your Complete Guide to Success.
Many developers have gained massively from influencer marketing, leading to a massive increase in its adoption. Mobile game developers increasingly use this method to better connect with their audiences and boost sales.
However, as you join this field, you must know that influencer marketing is easy with the right help. Finding relevant influencers and managing campaigns to the end is challenging without using the right team.
Our product, AtisfyReach, has got your back. Our self-serve platform is powered by machine learning and AI to pair you with influencers in the right niche at the correct prices. Don't waste time creating long campaigns to fall short — sign up today to get involved in the next level of influencer marketing!
