By Sophie Riordan, Marketing & Communications at Social First
The use of influencer marketing is constantly evolving, as well as what it means to be an influencer. Gone are the days when an influencer can publish a telemarketing-style ad and expect to see conversions, and no longer can a company expect to prioritise follower counts over engagement.
Consumers, specifically gamers, are after authenticity and genuine connection; whether it’s when they’re playing games with their friends or watching their favourite streamer do the same. Emerging from the surge in gaming due to the pandemic, a return to a normal trajectory of revenue in the gaming industry highlights that staying connected and bringing value to your audience has never been more important.
As the use of influencer marketing evolves, the demand for well thought out, engaging content is increasing. Gaming is inherently social which makes working with gaming influencers a perfect addition to your 2023 marketing strategy. For example, who better to form connections with your target audience than a YouTuber who has built a dedicated community around how and why they play certain games.
Here are some things to keep in mind when fine-tuning your 2023 influencer marketing strategy.
Continue to elevate micro and nano influencers
As a whole, engagement rates dropped in 2022, but not for the majority of nano and micro influencers who continue to deliver better conversion rates for businesses. Influencers with smaller sized audiences can connect to their audience and promote games at a very authentic and genuine level. Not only this, but the content produced by these smaller-scale influencers tends to be much more audience-centric; staying relevant to their style and brand as a channel whilst also connecting them to our product.
For example, in a past campaign run in Poland, the view-to-install ratio for players converted through a micro tier influencer was 5x higher than that of a mega tier influencer on the same campaign. When your audience and product match the influencer’s audience with carefully crafted messaging, you can expect great results.
Tailor your KPIs to each campaign
There isn’t a one size fits all approach to working with influencers. The type of influencer, content and length of the campaign can all be a factor in defining the goal of the campaign and it’s important to remember that. Have the correct metrics in place in order to assess the success of the campaign and be sure to evaluate the long term retention of your conversions.
Integrated influencer marketing
Integrating influencer marketing into your wider marketing strategy is the best way to adopt a holistic approach and see the best results. Combine your influencer marketing with further UA in select regions/countries to better achieve wide spectrum high-density user acquisition.
Influencer type UA creatives
Forming an agreement with a high-performing influencer to use their creatives in your own UA campaigns is an excellent way to further connect the influencer to your game and add a layer of authority to your ads for your target audience. This is not always something that can be agreed upon by both parties, but generally the mutual benefits of further exposing that piece of content can be understood and utilised.
What next?
Influencer marketing isn’t going anywhere. The market continues to grow and UGC creators are on the rise as brands are realising the value that can come from UGC in growing your audience and creating a real sense of community both inside and outside of games. Of course, ensuring the biggest chance of success with UGC is starting at the source – tailoring your game content and gameplay to be fun to watch and easy to share.
What we will see in 2023 is a change in the scope of what influencer marketing is and what it can achieve; more than just ad placement or content creation, working with influencers will and should be an integrated form of communication and connection with your community.
About Social First
Social First is a team of accomplished game developers who have formed an independent studio based in Helsinki, Finland. CEO Kim Soares and President Mikko Kähärä founded Social First in 2021 with the mission to create games that are social experiences, span decades and extend beyond gaming; giving players platforms to create meaningful relationships with people all across the world. The team is backed by Play Ventures and a syndicate led by Joakim Achrén. For more information on Social First and their work, please contact Sophie Riordan, PR & Communications, at sophie.riordan@socialfirstgames.com. For their press kit, click here.
