Given the growth and fierce competition in the gaming industry, the dream of a best-selling game can be shattered easily. That is if you don’t have and implement the right game marketing strategies.
You created, developed, and launched your game. But this is just the beginning of your long (or short) journey to success. Without effective marketing and implementation, your game may get overlooked, wasting the resources spent on its development.
Creating an excellent game isn’t the toughest part, it’s standing out. Whether you’re releasing a new one, or targeting a fresh market, there are marketing strategies to use.
If you are a large corporation, the situation is not so complicated. But what do you do when you’re a startup or medium-sized business? Most often, you can’t afford to invest in marketing the same impressive budgets as the big companies do, right?
In this blog post, we’ll talk about how to market your game. We’ll explain to you 7 effective and easy game marketing strategies you can start using right now. Some of them are free or inexpensive. However, if you choose to combine them, they will all help to increase your game’s download rate. And most importantly: get people talking about it.
Content marketing
Absolutely, content marketing isn’t merely a strategy, it’s a game-changer. Regardless of your industry, it’s the indispensable tool that transforms potential leads into dedicated customers.
Still skeptical? Consider this: a HubSpot survey revealed that an astounding 82% of businesses are harnessing the power of content marketing for customer acquisition and retention. Imagine the possibilities for your gaming business. It’s time to level up, don’t you think?
Picture this: content that is captivating, unique, and packed with value. That’s what gets gamers buzzing! From riveting gameplay guides and blog posts to eye-catching infographics, immersive video content, and engaging podcasts. Each piece of content is a potential traffic magnet, drawing people to your socials and your game.
But there’s more! If you’re eyeing a global player base, it’s not just about localizing the game itself. An equally important part of your strategy must be tailoring your marketing content to resonate with each unique market. After all, your content isn’t just content; it’s your voice, your brand, and your ticket to global gaming success! Let’s get you there together, one piece of expertly localized content at a time.
Blogging
Imagine the power of words that an eye-opening report from the Content Marketing Institute unveiled. When asked about the secret sauce behind their content marketing success, a whopping 82% of marketers pointed to one thing. Guess what it is? Blog posts and short articles. Yes, these nuggets of wisdom and insights triumphed in delivering unparalleled results.
But that’s not all. Hot on the heels of blog posts and articles were email newsletters, standing strong at an impressive 26%. And let’s not forget about pre-produced videos, the unsung heroes that contributed to success for 13% of the marketers. In the realm of content marketing, every piece, every format matters. And, it’s time your gaming empire taps into this potential too.
Imagine the exponential power of your website augmented by a blog, one of the finest long-term investments you can make. The rewards are bountiful – from boosting your brand visibility to cementing your reputation in the gaming industry. The value a blog brings is unquantifiable, and the returns, simply phenomenal!
What can a blog do for you?
Basically, a blog lets you:
- use SEO best practices to increase the traffic of your blog/website. Blog posts are not just about SEO optimization, both off-page and on-page. They’re also your magic wand to solve your readers’ pain points. They are an opportunity to step into your readers’ shoes, address their challenges, and offer actionable solutions, transforming your content into a valuable resource hub!
- attract new players
- show and tell people about your game(s)
- Transform your website into a magnetic hub where visitors eagerly dive into engaging, valuable content. When you give them a reason to linger—be it fascinating articles, irresistible game insights, or insightful industry trends—you create a strong connection. This bridges the gap between being just another game and becoming a customer favorite. So, invite them in, keep them entertained, and watch as your games effortlessly draw in a loyal fan base!
A blog isn’t just a platform. It’s a powerful tool to share insightful updates about your products, your company, and the dynamic landscape of the gaming industry. Always remember: gamers are a discerning audience. They crave content that informs as much as it enthralls. Crafting posts that are both ingenious and insightful isn’t an option—it’s a necessity.
When you hit the sweet spot of creativity and informativeness, your articles will naturally gravitate toward social media shares and likes. They become not just content, but conversations that keep your game at the center, drawing in an engaged audience like bees to honey.
Influencer marketing
When it comes to attracting the millennial audience and getting your game in front of millions of potential customers, then influencers are kings. Be the bloggers, VIPs, streamers, YouTubers, and other social media celebrities, these people are followed by your potential audience. That’s why their opinions are important and working with them is extremely useful in promoting video games.
If you are lucky enough to know an influencer in the gaming industry, then you can reach out to see if he/she would want to work with you. Many influencers will ask you for money, so this could cost you a bit, depending on how big their audience is.
But what should you do if you don’t have any connections? How do you find the right influencer?
Well, social media is the best place for connecting with the top influencers in your niche. Depending on their specialization, you may reach them out on different social media networks and social sharing websites. All you have to do is to look for their profiles and contact them.
If you can set a collaboration, you will not have just their recommendations, but you will also benefit from their own audience.
Video content – the king of game marketing strategy
A Smart Insights study shows that video content accounted for 78% of all global data traffic in 2019. At the same time, according to the Wistia State of Video report, people watched 12.2 billion minutes of video last year, 85% more than in the previous year. That’s 23,211 years’ worth of content!
As gamers also enjoy watching games not just playing them, we can say for sure that gaming habits have also changed lately. So, it’s reasonable to say that you should use video content as a key marketing technique for your gaming products and services.
That’s why promoting your game on platforms like YouTube and Twitch is essential. With the live streaming of video games becoming more popular, you can easily reach an established market. You can stream your game, get your product promoted by an influencer, or create your promo video.
Social media
Even though the order of popularity of certain social media platforms may change over time, the presence and power of social media itself aren’t going anywhere. If you want to reach an audience that matches your target demographic, using platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is essential.
To find out the most efficient social media networks from your business goals point of view, you should first use the analytics tools offered by each platform. This is the best approach when you want to figure out how to market a new game. Once set the social media channels, you should post quality and engaging written and visual content to build and develop your brand. On Facebook and Instagram, you can also take advantage of advertising options, which will help you strengthen your brand, but also drive traffic to your own site.
Email marketing
The email has always been and still remains one of the classic and effective ways of marketing. In 2021, 77% of marketers reported seeing more engagement with email than in the previous year. By sending hyper-personalized and authentic messages, that include information about the latest sign-up offers, tournaments, and new features, you will immediately grab the attention of your potential audience. In addition, if you also include a link that takes them directly to your website, app store, or other platforms from where your potential customers can download the game or play directly online, many will click on it out of curiosity. Nowadays, more and more people are using their smartphones for everything and in some cases, they throw away emails without reading them. In-app notifications, push notifications and text messages promoting your offers are also great marketing techniques.
Live events
One of the main characteristics of young people is their willingness to socialize and make new friends. And even now, or better say, especially now, when the pandemic changed completely the way of people interact, what can be more interesting than a live event? Even if it may be online. And to make things more exciting for them, you may consider organizing a limited event, where everybody is gathered around one main thing or topic.
You could also invite to your event the same influencers, celebrities, and bloggers who accepted to write or share positive reviews or opinions about your game. And if you stream the event live on social media, that’s better. Think about combining four marketing techniques: influencer marketing, event marketing, video content marketing, and social media marketing.
Potentially you can trigger the interest of the most popular of them by providing some kind of additional incentive. Afterward, many of these would provide reactions to the visit, giving you a free video game promotion.
Bonuses, free plays, and downloads
Everyone likes to get something for free, and the use of bonuses and free games has been the not-so-secret weapon of many game developers and creators since the beginning. So players actually test out the games before they decide to invest money in their hobby, and you give them the sign that they’re getting something special.
Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of such offers?
Reviews – one of the most powerful game marketing strategies
Considering that 93.4% of consumers and online shoppers rely on customer reviews when dealing with brands they are not familiar with, social proof is one of the most powerful methods of promotion.
And getting reviews from your customers where they describe the positive experience the game offers will encourage others to buy and download the game. The more positive reviews you get, the more potential customers you will attract, and the higher the download and purchase rates will be. After all, that’s the goal, isn’t it?
Once you’ve created and launched a website for your game, make sure it contains at least some positive reviews.
Wrapping up
People love direct, honest, interesting, and creative communication, so now’s your chance to think of unique ways to get attention for your game. The sky’s the limit to what you can do, but of course, you have to keep your budget in mind. Think about what game marketing strategies you can use to create a buzz and get people talking about your game. Then consistently implement them, analyze the results and adjust your marketing plan accordingly so you can attract visitors to your website or app store and increase sales.
