The upcoming Casual Connect Europe conference in Amsterdam (16-18 Feb) will showcase the top speakers from the games industry, offering insight into the latest innovations, strategies and the best of new indie games. However, creating a great game is just the beginning, and a stellar marketing strategy is key to a successful venture. The BlogsRelease team has a few great tips to help you get started - their CEO Eti Nachum tells more!
Go Positive
In today’s world, the consumer is increasingly busy with work, life, and the millions of other things their gadgets can offer, often leading them to dismiss gaming (particularly the casual variety) as a waste of time or a harmful distraction. Highlight why they may be mistaken. For instance, a recent survey by Givling revealed that over 50% of players play games to de-stress. The number rises to 91% amongst those who play regularly. A third of responders went as far as noting that ‘the de-stressing element of games can have a positive impact on their job, relationships, parenting, or school works’.
To look into the popular ‘antisocial’ aspect games detractors often cite, the survey also compared the gamers and non-gamers, and found that both groups don’t significantly differ in terms of positive/negative outlook of the world or the desire to help others. Running these kinds of surveys gets valuable data that helps place gaming in a good light for consumers.
Rather than stressing factors like the competitive thrill or the chance to win money, consider focusing on how your game can notably improve your customer’s life.
Recruit Influencers
Influencer marketing is a boon in any industry, and can be particularly useful in gaming due to the prevalence of respected gaming blogs such as Kotaku and Indie Haven.
Recruiting influencers to review your games or run promotional contests on their blog will have the positive impact of expanding your audience base, spreading the word about your product, and building trust among consumers thanks to association with respected influencers.
Run Multichannel Campaigns
Xbox’s successful partnership with Mazda is an example of an effective multichannel campaign. By teaming up, the brands targeted the gamers and car lovers at the same time.
A Mazda design contest was included in a motorsports video game for Xbox – after purchasing the game, players had the chance to design a unique paint job and win prizes on behalf of Mazda. The rewards were certainly a motivator, but the campaign was a hit primarily due to thinking out of the box and combining consumers’ creativity with brand promotion.
Gaming is more diverse than ever with consoles, mobile, virtual reality and more starting to crowd the market. It’s also more important than ever to stand out and get consumers to pay attention. Use these tips to craft a truly unique campaign and a strategy that wins over customers.
Eti is the CEO of BlogsRelease - The #1 PR marketplace for brands to engage with bloggers. Eti is a marketing professional with 20 years of experience in marketing and PR.
Interested in launching your blogger review campaign? BlogsRelease – Blogger Review Campaigns connects brands with top ranked bloggers with just one click.
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