Do Gaming Influencers only promote games? Absolutely not.
We used to live in a world where gamers were seen as the misfits in the school playground, day dreamers who just didn’t belong in the real world - oh, how things have changed. Stereotypes have been laid to rest in more recent times, with everyone from footballers, women and kids, to Tim in the finance department now part of the gaming community.
With the likes of augmented reality and artificial intelligence steadily on the rise, the world is fast becoming a gamer’s candy shop. It has been estimated by the Tech Jury that in 2021 the gaming industry will be worth an astonishing $180 billion.
It’s taken years for marketers to solve the mystery that is the gaming industry - but that has all changed now. The main question was, how do you tap into the gaming world to maximise a brand’s presence - especially when it’s a hugely competitive industry… The answer we now know is, Gaming Influencers!
Influencers are key
Influencer Marketing is no longer a stranger to us, Brands from every industry are jumping on the back of some of social media’s biggest “celebs” platforms in order to reach out to bigger audiences. The right collaborations can make a brand’s service or product go stratospheric.
Influencers can make some serious £££ with just a single post - the larger influencers are able to hit 6 figures...or more! This is particularly true with Youtube content creators, especially from the gaming world!
Although these dedicated videos are more expensive they can provide a larger impact if the gaming influencer posts very often.
Gaming Influencers, although being from the same niche, can vary from one influencer to the next. There are gamers who play a variety of games, and then there are those who prefer one genre or a particular game, for example Call Of Duty or Fortnite. Being aware of this is important as it is then easier to choose who to collaborate with for your brand!
This will also be key in getting your promotions from gaming influencers to look authentic and natural - if your product relates to them in some way it is easier for them to work it into their content and make it look genuine.
Quality over quantity
Choosing the right influencer for your brand, isn’t just about the number of followers they have. They may post on their social platforms several times a day - and sometimes this can cause them to have a less engaged audience, as subscribers and followers can become fussy about what content they want to watch - they are probably subscribed to an influencer for his early on content and if Influencers become what is deemed and un-authentic, this can often work against them.
If an influencer's endorsement of your brand seems really unnatural and doesn’t stand out to them, it’s not very promising that your marketing promo will capture them.
A way of combating this would be to find the right influencer for your brand, and instead of a short integrated mention promoting your brand, getting them to collaborate on a dedicated video promoting your brand tends to summon up more intrigue and clicks.
Do Gaming Influencers only promote games? Absolutely not.
We have to remember, gaming influencers are still human - and not the robotic gaming-junkies we were once led to believe they were. Gaming influencers are from all different walks of life - which will mean they will all have different interests in a number of products. Although the majority of products that gaming influencers promote have traditionally been within the gaming niche - Influencers are now keen to show various parts of their personalities and their lives which means promoting brands and products out of the gaming niche is starting to become increasingly popular!
Products such as energy drinks, headphones, desk accessories, clothing and even skincare and makeup products have all been infiltrating into the gaming industry through influencers!
Makeup? I hear you ask...well yes, why not?...
Let’s take a look at some of the ways to leverage modern marketing in the Gaming Industry...
1. Don’t Forget Women Are Gamers Too
We know, once upon a time the typical stereotype of a gamer may have been the introverted teenage boy - but as we mentioned above, that stereotype is now dead - gamers are now JUST AS LIKELY to be women.
45% of gamers are female. In fact, the most avid mobile gamers are middle-aged women. How’s that for the old stereotype?!
For brands who typically sell clothing or skincare/makeup products and want to start marketing in the gaming industry, this is great news...
A great example is the YouTube duo, Rose and Rosie - they have a following of over 840,000 on their page; Rose Ellen Dix, which touches on lifestyle topics such as advice for the LGBT community and relationship talks. They have managed to take advantage of their following to promote their other page, Let’s Play Games. Rose and Rosie do in depth game walkthroughs, delve into games and live streams for their subscribers. Brands who align themselves with women’s interests/products may find partnerships that come with a more diverse audience.
2. Everyone is Mobile Crazy
Mobile Gaming is an already humongous market and it is also engaged - making it readily perfect for companies to target. Collaborating with a gaming influencer who is the right fit for your brand, service or product, can help you to increase your brand awareness in a rapid way, as well as boosting traffic and sales on your websites and social platforms.
An amazing example of this is the mobile game Brawl Stars. Brawl Stars’ Creators - Supercell built an influencer campaign that saw them team up with 10 gaming influencers to create awareness, by promoting the Brawl Stars game pre-launch. This marketing campaign was so successful that it saw the game achieve a little over 5 million sign ups. Brawl Stars has since been, continuously covered by many other influencers and it was announced shortly after this campaign had wrapped up that Brawl Stars dethroned the popular game Clash Royale for the title of most played mobile game on YouTube.
3. Cloud Computing
In 2014, Jeff Bezos a.k.a Amazon, set their sights on Twitch, the game streaming platforms and when they finally bought it for a staggering $970 million, many people were curious as to how this major move would change the Word. Since then, cloud computing has moved from strength to strength.
To reinforce just how powerful cloud computing was set to become(ing), Amazons’ biggest digital competitors decided it was necessary to jump on the cloud computing bandwagon, in turn the rug beneath “traditional gaming” was definitely tugged on - a space that was once dictated by Sony and Microsoft, in the forms of the Playstation and Xbox. In 2018, Google released their alternative cloud computing service called Project Stream, and due to follow their lead is Microsoft, who are now close to finishing up their workings on Project xCloud - the Microsoft cloud gaming platform.
There is no denying that the cloud world has slowly grown into a powerful force, with a helping hand from now famous game Fortnite playing a key role in the popularity of the online gaming industry. In 2018, Fortnite quickly caught the attention of the world, as well as most of the market with an astonishing $3 billion digital revenue.
Gaming influencers would strongly agree that the streaming of live content is an extremely important part of what they do - and as cloud services continue to blossom, this will create plentiful opportunities for influencers and brands to cultivate partnerships and promo projects together.
4. Brand Nobility
It’s not hard to figure out that every company is always looking to increase their brand awareness, however some companies fall victim to being a bit “awareness-thirsty” and sometimes end up with bad promo, that lands on deaf ears (and eyes). Creating brand awareness that helps to represent a good cause during your marketing campaign, will earn you a badge of Brand Integrity - and having a impeccable reputation is the direction that companies should be aiming to steer towards. This helps to build trust and loyalty with new customers.
The Take Home Message
The formula to getting your brand-gaming influencer collaboration right, in our opinion, is to remember how gaming has changed MASSIVELY from where it first started, and you need to shake off the stereotypes we were led to adopt early on. Gamers are not just teenage boys anymore, so remember all the points above and don’t exclude anyone, based on old world discriminations.
Traditionally, marketers have been trained to go super niche, but the gaming industry challenges this practice as it’s an industry that can involve everyone! If brands can craft an inclusive, friendly and welcoming identity the (high) chances are you attract more visibility, which in turns captures a greater trust with audiences. In our opinion, who is better to help you do that than gaming influencers?!
Why wouldn’t you want to get a foot in the gaming world - collaborate with the perfect influencer, and you are in favour of amping your brand, and unlocking some great bonuses along the way!
Yasmin Boolaky
Yaz Boolaky, Account Executive at Kairos Media, spends her days at work, delving into the world of social media influencers - sourcing the best influencers to collaborate with on our client campaigns. Yaz has worked on successful influencer campaigns with the likes of Epic Games on their popular app Houseparty. In her spare time she enjoys cooking, recreating her favourite restaurant dishes at home, eating and writing. Yaz writes about everything from her own personal blogging, reviews and articles for an online women's magazine.
