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The gaming industry is booming. According to a report by New Zoo, the global gaming market will hit $187.7 billion in 2023, with revenues forecast to reach $212.4 billion in 2026. One of the easiest ways to get your hands on some of that money is through influencer marketing. Whether you're a gamer looking to break into influencer marketing, a video game developer, or a brand looking for an influencer to work with, these gaming influencer marketing platforms will help you get off on the right foot.
Just like beauty, fashion, and fitness influencers, gaming influencers significantly impact the purchasing behavior of their followers. As gamers live-stream themselves playing popular video games on platforms like Twitch, Mixer, and YouTube Gaming, they show off not only the games they play but also the products that they use to make the time they spend gaming more enjoyable. This means that collaborating with these creators can effectively promote your brand. Read on to discover the platforms leading the way in gaming influencer discovery and sponsorship.
Top Gaming Influencer Marketing Platforms
Gaming is the fourth most popular weekly entertainment activity worldwide, according to YouGov's 2023 "Reaching Gamers - Everywhere" report. As much as 64% of global weekly gamers use smartphones, with 71% of mobile gamers constituting women. This market welcomes in-game advertising, with 46% of global weekly gamers saying ads help them with their buying choices. Moreover, 32% of gamers worldwide trust products that their influencers recommend.
This is why investing in gaming influencer marketing is necessary in becoming a part of gaming communities. Here are 16 tools you can use to search for gaming influencers for your marketing campaigns.
1. Grin
Services Offered: Influencer Search & Discovery, Relationship Management, Campaign Management, Third Party Analytics, Influencer Content Amplification
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, Twitch, YouTube
Pricing: $999 per month
Grin is an influencer marketing platform that’s been around since 2014. It’s one of the best gaming influencer marketing platforms because it understands the value that influencers bring to the table. This platform allows you to integrate all your favorite marketing tools, from social channels to eCommerce solutions and communication tools. Grin’s main audience target is eCommerce businesses, and the online solution simplifies influencer management, product shipping, tracking links creation for commissions, and more.
Grin not only offers email marketing integration options but SMS and Slack, too. This way, you can reach Generation Z where they are—which might not be by email. Plus, you can keep your communication options in a single place, easing conversation tracking. In addition to communication tools, Grin includes everything you need for successful influencer marketing: finding the right influencers, relationship management, content management, analytics, reporting, payments, and more. The platform also includes a lookalike tool to search for new creators similar to your top-performing influencers.
Moreover, Grin can automatically pull influencer and user-generated content into a centralized location, making it easy to find, track, and repurpose as you see fit. You can also view and monitor the performance of your influencer marketing strategies, tracking engagements, likes, views, and sales.
Key Features: Content Amplification, Search/Discovery, Influencer Lifecycle Management, Influencer Relationship Management, Content Review, Content Library, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, Audience Analysis, E-commerce Tools, Product/Gifting Tools, Forms and Compliance,
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Twitch, YouTube
2. Brandwatch Influencer Marketing Software
Services Included: Enhanced Influencer Discovery, Relationship Management, Full Campaign Management, Comprehensive Analytics, Content Monitoring
Supported Platforms: Twitch, TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, YouTube
Pricing: Starts at $750/month (IMH Research)
Brandwatch is a complete solution for gaming influencer marketing. From influencer discovery to campaign execution and performance tracking, it offers all the necessary tools for successful collaboration with gaming influencers.
Brandwatch’s profound understanding of influencers’ crucial marketing role, particularly in the gaming industry, is evident in its robust discovery tool. Powerful filtering capabilities enhance this feature, enabling brands to refine their searches based on interests, brand affinities, previous collaborations, and credibility.
Aiming to give you a seamless management experience, the platform’s intuitive Influencer CRM allows users to efficiently store and manage crucial influencer information, such as contact details, contracts, and custom data fields. Automated email tracking is also integrated into the platform, streamlining communication with influencers.
Furthermore, Brandwatch excels in its unique customization options for creating private influencer networks. Brands can review creator applications, tailor onboarding, and receive multilingual campaign reports. The user-friendly, white-labeled dashboards improve the experience for both brands and influencers.
This gaming influencer marketing solution also has an efficient campaign management feature. It streamlines workflows, manages content approvals, tracks deliverables, and offers real-time reporting on various campaign parameters. Brandwatch’s social analytics help gaming firms measure product marketing campaign reactions, discover reasons behind consumer opinions, and determine the right time to engage with audiences in gaming discussions, including gaining the interest of new consumers.
A unique sharing tool showcases full influencer rosters via exportable sheets and live links, allowing brands to share their collaboration lists. The platform also provides robust tools for vetting influencers, ensuring they align with brand values and meet campaign criteria.
Key Features: Influencer Discovery, Influencer directory management, Creation of private influencer network, Campaign management and reporting, Broad platform coverage, Automated reporting,
Channels: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, TikTok, Shopify
3. Upfluence
Services Offered: Influencer Search & Discovery (including Fake Follower Check), Relationship Management, Campaign Management (with ChatGPT), Third Party Analytics
Channels: Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, TikTok, X, Pinterest
Pricing: Upfluence’s subscription page has no pricing details. You can inquire from its sales team via web chat.
Upfluence was founded in 2013 and has grown to hold a database of more than 3 million influencers with a collective reach of billions of followers. Upfluence clients can search its database using more than 20 filters. The platform’s “Top Gaming Instagram Macro & Micro Influencers in Henderson” page also offers a quick view of IG’s 10 best-performing gaming creators. Moreover, users can use its social listening capabilities to monitor influencers they’re interested in and their competitors.
Upfluence makes it easy to manage influencer marketing campaigns, set up budgets and campaign goals, create customized briefs for each campaign, and start working with influencers. You can also pay creators directly from the platform.
Key Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Relationship Management, Campaign Management, Third Party Analytics, Automated Recruiting, Influencer Lifecycle Management, Team Collaboration Tools, Content Review, Campaign Reporting, Audience Analysis, E-commerce Tools, Product/Gifting Tools, Payment Processing, Social Listening, Affiliate Management, Affiliate Campaigns,
Channels: Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Twitch, Tiktok, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogs
4. Creator.co
Services Offered: Influencer Search & Insights, Collaboration Hub, Recruitment, Campaign Management, Affiliate Programs, Managed Services
Channels: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok
Pricing: Starts at $460/month (with 15% savings on full-year payment)
Creator.co describes itself as a platform for social commerce, collaborations, and community growth designed for modern brands and influential creators. For brands, it serves as a creator-powered commerce tool that can help drive content, sales, digital awareness, loyalty, trust, affiliates, and reviews. The platform also connects NFT game developers with creators through its Creator’s Passport NFT, which promotes the minting, creation, and growth of virtual art through sales, brand deals, and community.
When you subscribe to the platform’s startup plan, a campaign specialist will assist you in automating your influencer campaigns. Creator.co also enables you to create your affiliate program and choose partners from a network of over 200 million creators. Meanwhile, its managed service packages include paid ads and social media management. Creator.co ensures to boost your online presence through its team’s digital marketing expertise.
Key Features: Search/Discovery, Automated Recruiting, Influencer Relationship Management, Influencer Marketplace, Content Review, Content Library, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, Audience Analysis, E-commerce Tools, Product/Gifting Tools, Fake Follower/Fraud Detection, Payment Processing, Social Listening, Competitor Research, Creator Marketplace,
Channels: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok
5. #paid
Services Offered: Influencer Marketplace, Campaign Strategy & Management, Third Party Analytics, Influencer Content Amplification (including Content Licensing), Global Influencer Payment, Fraud Detection and Audience Health
Channels: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok
Pricing: Starts at $499/month
If you’re looking for something outside the traditional models of influencer marketing, #paid might be for you. This platform was among the marketing pioneers to promote organizing influencer marketing campaigns to on different segments of sales segments and various marketing funnel stages. Like Grin, #paid understands that influencers have taken the time to grow and nurture an audience, creating and sharing content that resonates with their target audience and adding value. Instead of focusing solely on reach, #paid is a gaming influencer marketing platform that seeks to pair brands with influencers that are a good fit.
With #paid, brands can find the right influencers based on their goals and project scope. But the platform goes a bit deeper than that, letting brands use Whitelisted Ads, where specific creator content becomes paid Facebook ads and Instagram ads. This whitelisting or licensing process requires brands to connect with Facebook Ads Manager and push these content to their timelines and feeds using the creator’s name—with the latter’s permission. For gaming influencers, in-game usage rights allow brands to use your content as a short ad before the game starts or within the game. Whitelisting makes the content look more authentic because, while it will still be tagged as a sponsored post, the content doesn’t come from the brand’s account.
Influencers who want to participate in a brand’s influencer marketing campaigns can raise their hand to show interest. From there, the influencer will send a message to the brand, letting them know why they’re a good choice for the campaign and what their strategy will be.
Key Features: Influencer Marketplace, Automated Recruiting, Content Review, Content Library, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, Audience Analysis, Payment Processing, Influencer Whitelisting, Creator Marketplace,
Channels: Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Tiktok
6. Julius
Services Offered: Influencer Search & Discovery, Campaign Management, Third Party Analytics
Channels: Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat
Pricing: Julius doesn’t have any published rates. You can give the company a call or book a demo to ask about fees.
Julius got its start as Thuzio, a web-based talent agency for athletes who wanted to supplement their income with endorsement deals and appearance fees. Over time, more influencers across different niches joined Thuzio, and it eventually became Julius, an influencer search and discovery tool. In early 2023, Julius became part of the Triller creator network.
Julius offers access to more than 120,000 vetted influencers. You can select from over 50 filters to search and identify creators that align with your brand and target audience. Its social listening tool also helps you learn more about influencers through their past posts and previous brand collaborations. Since the platform covers a wide range of social media channels, gaming influencers can rest assured that they will find a home here. While Julius captures tons of data about each influencer, it also has analysts who work on every profile so brands can understand influencers better as people instead of data points.
Key Features: Search/Discovery, Influencer Relationship Management, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, Audience Analysis, Forms/Compliance,
Channels: TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube
7. NeoReach
Services Offered: Influencer Search & Discovery, Campaign Strategy & Management, Fraud Detection, Paid Media Amplification, Experiential Activations (including In-Person Events)
Channels: X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat
Pricing: Annual fees range from $50K–$500K | Minimum project price: $25K+ (Clutch)
NeoReach is a digital marketing platform that connects influencers across niches (including gaming) to the brands that need them. The tool uses an algorithm to mine social media platforms for data and indexes that data through their platform. As a result of this algorithm, brands can get direct access to data about more than 5 million influencers. Also, the website has dedicated pages showing “Top Lists” of Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, and game console influencers. Recommended larger businesses, NeoReach provides not only influencer data, but several tools to help brands find influencers, run influencer marketing campaigns, track their performance, and generate analytics-backed reports. This online solution’s analytics can help you identify the highest converting creative and audience sets to replicate effective content and target markets most receptive to them.
Furthermore, Blockchain gaming firms can tap NeoReach’s NFT marketing expertise, including developing minting timelines, organizing launches, and secondary market amplification.
Key Features: Campaign Management, Search/Discovery, Influencer Relationship Management, Team Collaboration Tools, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, Audience Analysis, Forms and Compliance,
Channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat
8. TalkWalker – Influencer One
Services Offered: Influencer Search & Discovery, Relationship Management, Third Party Analytics
Channels: X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Mixcloud, Flickr, Foursquare, Weibo, Soundcloud, Vimeo
Pricing: Starts at $800/month (Hootsuite). Fill out the contact form to speak with a Talkwalker consultant. Its pricing page lists four packages without the rates.
Talkwalker is a social data analytics software company whose media monitoring feature empowers brands to find influencers who match their needs, particularly gaming personalities already making waves in their target markets. After recruiting and collaborating with the chosen creator, the platform’s consumer intelligence tools track the influencers’ impact on the brand’s marketing campaigns. Its social listening, benchmarking, and feedback analytics provide insights to connect better with consumers (including themes that resonate with various segments), enhance brand position, and understand public sentiment. Talkwalker also gives you access to Social Content Ratings, a social engagement and video performance measurement solution it acquired from Nielsen in 2020.
Brands can use Talkwalker to identify influencers and dig deeper into social data to find new ways to collaborate and connect. The platform offers over 50 filters to supply you with high-quality search data curated by its Blue Silk AI from 150 million websites, over 30 social networks, and 100 reviews, surveys, and other feedback sources.
Key Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Relationship Management, Third Party Analytics,
Channels: Twitter, Blogs
9. Wehype
Services Offered: Campaign Strategy & Management, AI-Powered Creator Matching & Recruitment, Performance Reporting & Analysis
Channels: Twitch, YouTube
Pricing: No published rates. Learn about Wehype’s pricing by filling out their contact form.
Wehype has activated over 35,000 influencers while promoting over 230 games as it sought to make creators in over 90 nations more accessible to game publishers and brands since 2016. Besides partnering with PC, console, and mobile game developers, its influencer network has also worked with companies in gaming hardware and peripherals.
Brands can choose from various content formats to promote their games. “Let’s Play,” the most popular format, showcases a game that’s played during an influencer’s live stream. Meanwhile, “Boost” identifies the set of creators needed to raise a game’s ranking to No. 1 on Twitch and enables simultaneous engagement with hundreds of them. “Watch Party” gathers a live audience by featuring influencers who will react or share their experience playing your game. “Display” flashes your adblock-proof branded content during an influencer’s live stream. Brands can also provide YouTubers pre-made videos or “Integrated” ads, which creators can feature in their recorded content. Finally, “Dedicated” ads are sponsored videos, which run for at least 8 minutes and describe a brand’s gaming product in depth. Each ad format varies in duration, the compatible social platform, and pricing (cost per viewer hour or cost per mille).
10. Later Influence
Services Offered: Influencer Search & Discovery, Relationship Management, Campaign Management, Influencer (TikTok) Marketplace, Third Party Analytics
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, X, Twitch
Pricing: No published rates. Get in touch with Mavrck’s team by answering their contact form.
Mavrck is a full-service influencer marketing platform with over 3 million contactable influencers and a discovery tool equipped with over 20 filters, including fraud risk, and lookalike feature. Moreover, it uses Google’s Vision AI to detect images and videos that show your brand assets. In its latest enhancement, Mavrck search results now include terms and emojis in bios and captions that are related to the searched term. The platform lets brands connect their existing online presence and set up a dedicated site or page for customers.
Furthermore, the company works with leading reviews and content syndication providers to whitelist or license influencer content to your eCommerce site or retail partners. You can also use this digital tool’s online survey and focus group feature to test campaigns and products and discover consumer preferences. Meanwhile, Mavrck’s analytics allows you to predict your cost per engagement and cost per mille (or thousand impressions) in real time.
Although Mavrck has workflow tools for activating campaigns, you can tap the company’s expert team to directly assist you in sourcing gaming creators and making campaign checklists—including screening their scripts before streaming, and placing paid ads on social networks.
Key Features: Search/Discovery, Influencer Relationship Management, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, Audience Analysis, E-commerce Tools,
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest,TikTok, Twitter, Twitch, Blogs
11. CreatorIQ
Services Offered: Influencer Search & Discovery, Relationship Management, Campaign Management, Third Party Analytics
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitch
Pricing: You can fill out CreatorIQ’s “Request Pricing Now” form to receive information about rates.
CreatorIQ is a gaming influencer marketing platform that aims to minimize problems like inflated reach metrics, follower fraud, and inauthentic influencers. It integrates with social platform APIs and uses a powerful AI-based algorithm to analyze billions of public social accounts to determine whether they must added to the platform’s database of more than 22 million creator accounts.
CreatorIQ has recently combined AI and large language models to power semantic search, which takes a 360-degree approach to creator evaluation. As a result, its creator discovery capabilities—which include active audience score (estimated number of active followers), social timeline, and audience data—can aid your background check on influencers for brand safety. You can review game-specific content within the platform— dating back to three years—and store streamer information in CreatorIQ’s built-in CRM.
Key Features: Search/Discovery, Automated Recruiting, Influencer Relationship Management, Content Review, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, Audience Analysis, E-commerce Tools, Product/Gifting Tools, Forms and Compliance, Fake Follower/Fraud Detection, Payment Processing,
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitch, Blogs
12. GameInfluencer
Services Offered: Premium Campaign Management, Channel Sponsorship Campaigns, eSports Partnerships, TikTok Campaigns, User Acquisition Licensing, Influencer Events
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch
Pricing: Request a personalized offer for your campaign by filling out the GameInfluencer contact form.
GameInfluencer considers itself the leader in influencer marketing for gaming, as it connects various brands to the gaming community. Its expertise is in developing and executing unforgettable influencer marketing campaigns with distinct talents for game publishers.
GameInfluencer deals with not just gaming creators but also vloggers, social media influencers, and streamers in all fields. It has a database of over 3.1 million creators you can partner with for projects on PC, console, and mobile games.
The platform can facilitate the licensing of organic content pieces and negotiate with influencers for the creation of new branded content. You can also tap Gameinfluencer’s crew to shoot your next video documentary or livestream. Produce ads and game trailers featuring your influencer or 2 to 3-minute-long trailers of your game, which will be embedded in influencer videos. In addition, GameInfluencer works with major tracking and attribution systems—including AppsFlyer, Adjust, Tune, and Kochava—easing KPI tracking and measurement.
13. inStreamly
Services Offered: Live Streaming Campaigns, Direct Streamer Access, Campaign Management (including A/B testing)
Channels: Twitch, YouTube
Pricing: You can fill out inStreamly’s contact form or leave a message on the webchat to learn about pricing.
inStreamly leverages advanced technology to expand marketers’ reach and increase campaign visibility. The company helps create engaging branded animations for influencers’ live streams. Accompanying the animation is a CTA message containing a link that also appears on the streamer’s chat. inStreamly campaigns prides itself on a 100% view-through rate (inStreamly’s ad formats are unblockable) and up to a 10% click-through rate.
Meanwhile, over 116,000 streamers depend on this online solution, which has helped them secure over 410,000 micro-sponsorships on multiple platforms such as Twitch and YouTube. Registered streamers select a sponsored animation from inStreamly and add it to their streaming platform. Then, they earn based on the number of times viewers see this animation during their live stream (usually once per hour), regardless of their audience size. Statistics per streamer and campaign are also accessible for easy monitoring of metrics.
14. Aspire (formerly AspireIQ)
Services Offered: Influencer Search & Discovery, Relationship Management, Campaign Management, Influencer Marketplace, eCommerce
Channels: Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, X
Pricing: Aspire offers three plans. Contact the sales team to discover their exact rates.
AspireIQ offers a self-service platform with a database of over 170 million influencers. While anybody can sign up for AspireIQ, creators must have at least 1,000 followers across Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest to view marketplace campaigns. The former requirement was more than 500 Instagram likes or 2,500 YouTube views. Influencers who meet the AspireIQ criteria will be added to the searchable database and can see proposals from brands. The search process is easy, using a Tinder-esque Quickmatch system to match up brands and influencers.
Gaming firms can tap the platform’s vast network, using advanced filters and Image Search to find influencers who match their target audience and brand aesthetic. They can also receive proposals from creators by posting their projects on Aspire’s Creator Marketplace. As a Meta partner, the platform lets you access Facebook Ads Manager directly to process “allowlisting” or content licensing.
Key Features: Search/Discovery, Influencer Relationship Management, Influencer Marketplace, Team Collaboration Tools, Content Review, Content Library, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, E-commerce Tools, Product/Gifting Tools, Forms and Compliance, Payment Processing, Social Listening, Competitor Research, Visual Discovery, Influencer Content Amplification,
Channels: Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogs
15. Streamcoi
Services Offered: Influencer Marketplace, Automated Campaigns, Streamer Overlays, Real-Time Statistics, Clip Download
Channels: Twitch and YouTube
Pricing: Get pricing information by answering Streamcoi’s contact form or using the webchat. The platform offers a 30-day free trial.
Streamcoi enables influencers, eSports organizations, brands, and agencies to launch campaigns effectively from one dashboard. Its network of 70,000 streamers comes from 14 regions worldwide. It streamlines and optimizes workflows through built-in chat and a content library for storing, updating, and sharing overlays and video clips.
Moreover, Streamcoi generates in-depth campaign reports from real-time statistics of one influencer or an entire network. You get data such as display views, average viewers, total content hours watched, and chat link clicks.
16. impact.com
Services offered: Influencer Discovery & Outreach, Campaign Management, Cross-Device Tracking, Mobile Partnerships, Analytics and Attribution, Business Development
Channels: Facebook, X, Linkedin, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, Pinterest, WeChat, Weibo
Pricing: Request a demo from Impact’s sales team for details. Starts at $500/month (SaaSworthy)
Impact’s Enhanced Discovery tool provides access to creators not to just social networks but to its mobile app partners, premium publishers, reviews, and more. Also, users benefit from its Extended Search, which recommends potential collaborators from its Marketplace with the help of AI. Meanwhile, its fraud reporting tool detects suspicious traffic sources and fake installs, helping ensure brands only pay for legitimate creators.
Furthermore, Impact.com offers detailed reporting to gain insights into the performance of influencer partnerships. You can even predict performance for up to 90 days through its Optimize feature. With Impact’s conversion path analysis report, brands could identify trends and focus on referral partners that drove high-value incremental customers. Razer, a gaming hardware manufacturer, leveraged the platform’s automation technology, detailed reporting, and diverse network of gaming influencers to improve its efficiency, optimize its partnership program, and expand into new markets across Southeast Asia. The company experienced a 34% growth in its partnership program and a 33% decrease in time spent manually managing partners. As a result, the business was able to focus on creating great gaming hardware while still effectively reaching its target audience through influencer partnerships.
Key Features: Influencer Content Amplification, Search/Discovery, Automated Recruiting, Influencer Relationship Management, Influencer Marketplace, Team Collaboration Tools, Content Review, Content Library, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, E-commerce Tools, Product/Gifting Tools, Forms and Compliance, Payment Processing,
Benefits of Working With Gaming Influencers
Influencers are influencers for a reason. They hold remarkable sway over their followers, with many fans looking to the influencers they follow to help them find the right products to purchase. While working with gaming influencers offers innumerable benefits, here are what we consider to be the top three.
Gaming Industry Growth
As we've already mentioned, the gaming industry is constantly growing. Newzoo forecasts that the global gaming community will reach 3.38 billion in 2023 and grow by 6.3% annually. With this upward trajectory, the number of gaming influencers will likely increase dramatically, too. We may even see new gamer streaming platforms coming into play, joining the existing popular platforms like Twitch, Steam, YouTube Gaming, and others.
Reach and Traffic
Gamers tend to have large, loyal, and very engaged followers. Their audiences enjoy watching them play their video games of choice, and the best gaming influencers can narrate effectively, almost in a stream-of-consciousness way. Ultimately, gamers are just like their followers, and their followers recognize and appreciate that.
Engagement Through Multiple Touchpoints
Brands can reach their target audience through multiple touchpoints with gaming influencers. Gaming influencers can be invaluable for brands releasing new video games or gaming-related products through downloads, purchases, and promotional marketing.
What are some factors to consider when selecting gaming influencers for one's marketing campaign?
Consider the following when deciding whether a gaming influencer or gaming influencer marketing is a good fit for your next marketing campaign:
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Target audience
Ensure that your chosen influencer's community overlaps with your target market, including age group, game genre, and other demographics. This way, the content created for the campaign will be relevant to the creator's viewers.
For instance, Canadian influencer Evan Fong, a.k.a. VanossGaming, would resonate with a younger demographic—particularly 13 to 17-year-old American gamers—who ranked him among the most influential YouTube creators for his authenticity and approachability, according to a Hooke Audio feature.
Fong’s YouTube channel has amassed 25.9 million followers due to his funny and entertaining game commentaries. He captures the funniest moments of his multi-player sessions in Grand Theft Auto, the Call of Duty series, and Garry's Mod.
Also a DJ and music producer, Fong sets into music montages of gameplay involving himself and other YouTubers. His fan base expanded further with his production of animated shorts. Fong has also had projects with Ubisoft and Amazon.
Another popular target market is American college students. Student-athletes with a large gamer following can serve as a bridge between brands and that demographic. Colorado Buffaloes cornerback and wide receiver Travis Hunter is fond of Squishmallows, with the plushies seen sitting on his bed by his over 24,000 Twitch livestream followers. So it's no surprise that the college football star recently signed an NIL deal with the company, his latest in a string of other partnerships, which include Fortnite, American Eagle, Michael Strahan Skincare, and Celsius Fitness Drinks.
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Brand values
Check if the gaming influencer can represent your brand voice and tone in their specific niche. Researching their past collaborations can help you examine if their personality and style can work with your goals.
Several fashion companies have chosen British Bengali Jasmine Asia to connect with gamers with a strong sense of style. She became a professional model after her Young Justice character costume at a Comic Con event impressed a talent agency. Stardoll and Bratz's video games may have sparked the fashionista in Asia as a child, but at her core, she's a competitive player, counting Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Valorant among her favorites. Asia has recreated the looks of Lara Croft, Bayonetta, and other heroines on Instagram. Now signed with Anti-Agency UK, she recently collaborated with Ellesse Sportswear after modeling for YSL Beauty, H&M, Adidas, Mugler, and Agent Provocateur.
Meanwhile, Turkish home appliance brand Karaca turned to its local gaming community, believing its new tea and coffee brewing machine Çaysever Robotea would appeal to the tech-savvy crowd. Tuna “Pintipanda” Akşen—who has nearly 2 million combined YouTube and Twitch followers—sampled the Robotea in one of his livestreams. Moreover, Karaca partnered with over 700 other gamers, who showed sponsored video overlays showing the product's unique features, including wireless connectivity and audible alerts.
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Influencer metrics
Investigate the creator's profile to determine any fake credentials or followers. Review past content for quality and relevance. Also, choose active influencers with a regular and frequent streaming schedule.
Mastercard wouldn't have picked Aussie Fortnite streamer Kathleen "Loserfruit" Belsten to co-lead a content creation masterclass with compatriot and top YouTuber Lachlan Power if it weren't for her credentials. Two hundred fifty aspiring creators worldwide attended the 45-minute virtual event in October 2023. Belsten has over 9 million Twitch, YouTube, and Instagram subscribers; her Twitch viewership averages 1,000 per session, and her YouTube sessions garner over 100,000 views and 8k to 10k in comments and likes. She's also a member of the content creation team at PWR, Power's eSports organization.
Another example of an influencer with a reliable performance is Colombian influencer Juan Sebastián Guarnizo Algarra. He hit a milestone in 2023, becoming one of the five Hispanic Twitch creators to have reached the 10-million-follower mark. Known by the JuansGuarnizo handle, Algarra broadcasts his Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto V gameplays in Spanish as he resides in Mexico. He's also the top Latin American streamer in the King's League. Despite his slow climb—he launched his channel in 2016—Algarra's follower growth is stable. His Twitch session views average 7,680, while his peak views exceed 23,000. Husband to streamer Abril “AriGameplays” Alonso, Algarra has 6.45 million YouTube subscribers.
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Payment
Because influencer marketing is an income source for many gamers, they're likely to accept a fee—instead of a physical item or discount—in exchange for their services. Some may ask for a commission, which can be a percentage of the sales generated by your collaboration. Another option is to agree on a flat fee with an incentive. Like in other industries, expect to pay more for popular influencers. You might gain more sales with micro-influencers, whose campaigns can result in a 20% higher conversion rate than those with higher follower numbers.
Choose the Right Gaming Influencer Marketing Platform
Gaming influencers, video game developers, and brands can find the most suitable gaming influencer marketing platform for them by focusing on their goals, who they’re trying to reach (their target audience), and the type of content you want to create or share. Fortunately, each of the gaming influencer marketing platforms on this list offers the tools you need to achieve success in your campaigns.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the different types of gaming influencers?
Gaming influencers have a deep understanding of games gained from spending hours playing a specific game or gaming genre. They share content through gameplay, walkthroughs, commentary, live chats, and Q&A sessions. Their engaging personality, ability to entertain, and gaming skills help them build a follower base, according to a Samy Road study. Gaming influencers fall into the following categories:
- Streamers
Streamers broadcast their live gameplay on Twitch, Facebook Gaming, and similar platforms. You can check their concurrent views (live audience) and real-time chat activity to evaluate their engagement. - YouTubers
YouTubers use the platform's livestream feature to broadcast their gameplay. They also use the channel for gaming reviews, reaction videos, and tutorials. - eSports pros
eSports players compete, typically with teams, in professional tournaments with cash prizes. - Journalists
Journalists write for gaming websites or publications and offer insightful analysis, critiques, and industry news, helping their audiences decide what products or games to try and avoid. - Modders
Modders modify the code of a game, changing or enhancing the way it looks or behaves so that it becomes user-generated content or "fan work." This influencer type builds a unique following, usually among game developers, as they share player preferences and mechanics. - Cosplayers
Cosplayers dress up as characters from video games they play and draw a fan base with costumes they showcase at events and conventions.
What channels are most popular for influencer marketing?
The most popular channels for influencer marketing include Instagram, known for its high engagement rates and visual content. YouTube is favored for long-form content and vlogs. TikTok has rapidly gained popularity for short, viral videos, especially among younger audiences. Twitter remains relevant for real-time content and conversations, while Facebook is used for its broad demographic reach and targeted advertising capabilities.
What type of influencers have the most followers?
Influencers in the entertainment and fashion industries often have the most followers. Celebrities, musicians, and actors typically amass large followings due to their widespread fame. Fashion influencers, including models and fashion bloggers, also attract significant followings for their trendsetting and style advice. Additionally, influencers in niches like fitness, beauty, and gaming command large, dedicated audiences.
