4 Marketing Strategies Borrowed from the Gaming Industry

The gaming industry can easily be called one of the most successful sectors in the world. But one of the main reasons it can claim all of this popularity is thanks to its fantastic marketing endeavors. So, today we’ll be taking a look at the top marketing techniques borrowed from the gaming industry to further your campaigns.

Understanding Your Target Audience

The easiest way to sell a product or service is to know who you’re selling it to. Gaming companies have mastered this skill set, seemingly knowing exactly what their clientele wants without them even saying it. This is mainly achieved by knowing their target audience.

We’ll take a look at online casinos that feature casino games, such as poker, blackjack, poker, and baccarat. Taking into account the demographics of players, ages 18-40 male, accessibility, and convenience are a must, especially when considering that they are not meant to replicate brick-and-mortar locales and the feeling people get from it.

As such, to ensure every user, regardless of their location, can enjoy the casino games, they are made to be available 24/7. To increase their accessibility, such platforms also make their games playable on not just PCs, but also tablets, and phones. This is ideal for the new generation of casual gamers who might not have a full gaming setup.

Considering this, when trying to introduce a whole new genre of gaming, gambling platforms have to pick the right game. Video poker is an ideal offering, as it is a form of simplified poker, meaning that it can easily be marketed both to professional and beginner gamblers. There are many variations of this game, such as Aces & Faces, Jacks or Better, and double-double Bonus Poker. Ultimately, the concept behind video poker aims to build the best hand with the cards dealt, choosing which cards to hold and discard as you go. And then the payout is determined by your final hand.

Gamification: Turning Marketing into a Game

If you haven’t heard of the popular term, gamification, it simply means adding games or gaming elements to something to improve engagement. This can easily be done when it comes to marketing strategies. 

For instance, a great campaign that would increase your social engagement and encourage participation is to add a hidden element to your ads. This way, viewers will always be on the hunt for the hidden element and unintentionally further your campaign by sharing with friends their findings.

Alternatively, you can promote a limited game during a campaign run, to further the hype of your product or service. This doesn’t have to be an intricate game; it can even be a collaboration with an existing game. However, this would definitely be a great way to further your agenda. 

Creating an interactive and immersive experience can make you stand out. Plus, it can turn an ad, which is not something people typically love, into an actual fun experience that gets people excited. And it will help you connect with your audience on a much deeper level thanks to this added touch.

Loyalty Programs

Typically, the more you play something, the more rewards you can earn. These rewards can be in the form of valuable upgrades or items that can make it easier to win or make it more enjoyable. Drawing inspiration from this, something you can market to your users is a loyalty program.

This is an absolute staple, that is also found in industries such as the aforementioned online casino one. Simply put, you are incentivizing your users to continue purchasing your products or using your services. By running the right loyalty program, you can ensure that your current client base is loyal and attracts more people.

Studies show that acquiring new clients can cost up to five times more than retaining them. This is why a marketing campaign such as this one aimed at increasing loyalty can end up saving you money.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a powerful tool for gaming brands to connect with audiences authentically and effectively. By collaborating with popular gaming influencers who have large, loyal fan bases, brands can promote new products, services, and accessories through different types of media, such as videos, events, campaigns, reviews, and channels.

To illustrate, PewDiePie, a massively popular YouTuber, promoted the mobile game Vainglory 5v5 through a creative approach where his subscribers described what they liked about the game without him initially explaining the gameplay or features. This unique method piqued the interest and curiosity among gaming fans. 

Another successful example is The Family Gaming Team (FGTeeV) YouTube channel partnering with Electronic Soul to launch their survival game BarBarQ. The influencers formed a storyline in which the game’s promotion was naturally incorporated, likely making it more engaging for their audience by blending entertainment with the marketing message.

These examples are a testament to the ingenuity and creativity that gaming influencers bring to the marketing arena, particularly, by marketing games to their loyal fanbases in a fresh and imaginative way, which traditional marketing often can’t compete with. 

Conclusion

It’s always smart to look towards things that are thriving for inspiration, and the gaming industry certainly has plenty you can find. So if you’re trying to figure out what else to do to market your product/service and you’re feeling stuck, we hope that this article will help you solve just that.