Wehype: Why Gaming Influencers Are a Must-Have for Modern Marketing Strategies

Introduction

There are hundreds of thousands of mobile games available on the Apple app store and Google Play, each trying to grab the attention of more than 2.7 billion mobile gamers around the world. It’s an extremely saturated market, with game publishers and developers battling to boost their games presence in the mobile landscape.

  • Consumers spent $110 billion on mobile games last year, via the
    data.ai State of Mobile 2023.
  • Mobile game app downloads reached 90 billion.

It’s important for brands to drive installs, and in 2023 one of the best avenues for growth and user acquisition is through influencer marketing. In this post, we’ll discuss why leveraging gaming content creators on Twitch and YouTube is a crucial step in your marketing strategies.

Drive Reach and Engage New Audiences

It’s no secret — there’s an absurdly high demand for both long-form and short-form video content for video games across the internet. There are more than 2.5 million average viewers at any given time on Twitch who are watching content from influencers. On YouTube, users worldwide watch more than 100 billion hours of gaming content on the video platform each year. Viewers tune into the content from gaming creators for their perspectives and personalities, and brands can unlock access to an enormous and diverse audience through these influencers.

Many content creators have a specific game, or type of game, they typically play. Others produce a variety of content. Influencer marketing gives you the opportunity not only to keep your current gamers engaged and happy with new content, but also allows you to reach new audiences who might not have been aware of your title — and who might still become passionate fans of your game. Game brands can also be extremely flexible with the audiences they target, by using macro-influencers (large, broad audience creators), micro-influencers (smaller, dedicated communities), or content creators in specific genres.

Authentic Voices in Content Creation

There are countless benefits for including gaming content creators in your marketing strategies, but essentially, passionate fans are more genuine in championing your game. If content creators fall in love with your title and community, they can serve as unofficial long-term brand ambassadors, helping to boost announcements, preview gameplay and showcase your game’s content. These dedicated creators can bring their audiences along for the ride as well.

Viewers trust their favorite content creators to steer them in the right direction when it comes to downloading new games. More than one-third of gamers in the U.S. say viewing gameplay and videos of game content on Twitch and YouTube is an important factor when they’re deciding on purchasing a game. At Wehype, our data-driven platform helps connect gaming brands with content creators who are suitable for your campaign in order to maximize these results.

Spark Organic Awareness and Engagement

One of your biggest goals with influencer marketing should be to influence the influencers. This helps spark organic content creation for your title. If a campaign builds enough momentum, game brands can start to see an exponential amount of video content on Twitch and YouTube that breeds even more organic content.

You can set up the content creators in your campaign for success in many different ways. One of the most important approaches is by giving them enough room for creativity outside of the framework and requirements of the campaign. This allows space for content that showcases your game from unique and diverse perspectives.

You can sometimes directly attribute organic content creation to influencers who were involved in a campaign. You might hear comments in published content along the lines of “I saw this game from (streamer with sponsorship), so I decided to try it out for myself.”

Conclusion

The mobile gaming industry is extremely competitive, with hundreds of thousands of games vying for attention from millions of players. In 2023, influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways for game brands to drive downloads and user acquisition for both new releases and existing titles.
By leveraging the reach and engagement of gaming content creators on Twitch and YouTube, brands can access a diverse and passionate audience that might not have been aware of their games otherwise. Content creators’ authentic voices and dedication to their communities can also make them ideal long-term brand ambassadors who can help to boost announcements and showcase game content. By sparking organic awareness and engagement through influencer marketing, game brands can help to maximize their results and stand out in a crowded marketplace.

You can learn more how Wehype is connecting game brands with content creators around the world through its data-driven platform.

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