Press Play to Start: Gaming’s Role in Digital Marketing

Goal-oriented, challenging and visually-captivating, the gaming industry is slated to be one of the next big marketing channels. The monumental success of games like Fortnite, Pokemon Go and even the virally-addictive Candy Crush, prove that the industry is ripe for advertisers to take advantage.

A New Level for Marketing

According to Statista, the number of active video gamers worldwide will reach 2.6 billion by the year 2020. Console, mobile and social media games have continually diversified the industry and infiltrated almost every touch point of a consumer’s day. For brands looking to invest ad dollars into an unsaturated medium, businesses should start with gaming.

In addition, gaming bridges the gap to connect brands with Millennials and Gen Z. These generations grew up with online gaming, more so than social media, and are highly engaged with the content making it a great medium to target messaging. This rings true especially on platforms like Twitch, an online gaming streaming platform with approximately 15 million daily active users who can broadcast, watch and chat with other players all day, every day.

Rewarding your Consumers

Another avenue of opportunity for marketers is value exchange or reward advertising. Simply put, value exchange advertising incentivizes users to engage with an ad in exchange for some type of in-game value. For instance, a mobile game could have an option for a player to watch an ad in exchange for extra points or to unlock an extra level.

For example, Noisy Trumpet ran a Value Exchange Traffic Display (VETD) campaign for a client looking to drive traffic to their website to take a survey. By the end of our campaign, we saw a CTR above 95%, resulting in over 100,000 users visiting the website. The numbers towered other traffic sources, giving us more quantity for our buck.

Ads in Disguise

Another new toolkit for advertisers are ads disguised as games themselves. This particular format veers far from the impression-frequency prism of traditional marketing, focusing on the less quantifiable experience of an ad. Where product-attributes focus on the sale, an experience focuses on the emotional connection with a brand, leading to a stronger brand affinity.

Moreover, with emerging AR and VR capabilities coming to advertisers in the near future, gamified ads will become more prevalent. Some brands are already taking advantage of Snapchats Snappables – branded lenses with built-in games.

All of these capabilities provide advertisers with a better way to engage their audience with the pleasure of gaming. Assimilating a combination of the gaming channels should no longer be a possibility but rather a certainty for brands looking to build their awareness and connect with consumers.

Keeping your brand ahead of changing technologies can be a tough task. Our duty as marketers is to provide our clients with every resource available. Let our expertise keep your business at the forefront of innovation and change. Contact or stay social with us! We’re just one call, like, follow, retweet, and DM away.