Influencer marketing is all the rage nowadays. People are tired of hearing recommendations from suave actors delivering slick, scripted lines. Instead, they want something direct and personal. This is where influencers come in.

Most of the time, influencers start their careers as normal, everyday people who blog about their lives and the things they like. Followers enjoy seeing someone who shares their passion so they are more likely to connect with them.

This is all the more true in the gaming industry.

Here are a few reasons people follow game streamers:

1. They want to learn more about the upcoming titles – reviewers often get early access privileges.
2. They need help getting through a tricky level or solving a puzzle, so they look up walkthroughs
3. They enjoy seeing a skillful gamer take on the ever-growing world of competitive gaming
4. They appreciate funny or knowledgeable commentary of the game, criticism of the titles’ bad design, or hearing thoughts on the latest news

At this point, you might be wondering – how does this specifically affect you or your business?

Well, the gaming industry is growing, together with the number of influencers and marketing opportunities. This is the perfect time to catch that wave and increase your visibility.

Here are just some of the benefits of hopping on that influencer train.

6 Reasons Why You Should Be Working with Gaming Influencers

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#1 Get Exposure with Millions of Followers

The first and most important reason you should consider teaming up with a gaming influencer is the audience. Millions of people automatically get exposed to your product or service in a natural, non-intrusive way. This alone is worth a fair amount of your marketing budget. While you might not be able to strike a deal with some of the biggest names like PewDiePie (currently leading the pack with 106 million subscribers) you can still find some great options.

The money-saving tip here is to keep an eye out for rising talents instead of well-established popular individuals. You might need to delve deeper into the talent pool but it will be worth the effort. Not only do rising stars cost less to hire, but they also remain more loyal to the brands or companies that supported them in the early days.

#2 Give Your Product Some Character

The right influencer can become an exceptional ambassador for your product or service and give it some character.

Let’s say you sell energy drinks.

A charismatic steamer might make a running joke out of the claim that your drink gave him or her the cat-like reflexes necessary to win the game. Maybe they’ll come up with a cool nickname for the drink or create sketches through video editing.

You need to remember here, the audience is aware of the fact that influencers earn money for product placement. You shouldn’t ignore that fact or pretend that it’s organic.

What you can do, however, is embrace that fact and put a fun spin on it. Turn it into a gag where the streamer wears ridiculous items of clothing with your name on it or pretends he seriously dislikes the product.

In any case, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

#3 Benefit from Better Audience Targeting

Hiring an influencer gives you a better chance of finding your target audience and improving your product’s reach. Based on the type of content they produce, the tone of their videos, and the games they feature, you can get a pretty good idea of the audience demographics.

For example, some video games are more appealing to teenagers, others aim at highly competitive gamers, while some might be targeting older, casual gamers.

If possible, try to find the narrowest niche that is in tune with your business. It’s always better to have a slightly smaller community of followers that might be genuinely interested in what you have to offer than promoting your product to millions of disinterested gamers.

Quality over quantity all the way.

#4 Gain Useful Information About Your Product

Let’s go with another example here – headphones. You hire a Twitch influencer to promote your newest pro-gamer headphones during a live stream.

However, despite their best efforts, you start noticing a pile of negative comments from followers regarding the price of the product.

What do you do? Do you pull out of advertising or actually do something with that information?

Why wouldn’t you create a special promotion that’s valid only on the day of the streaming or give out discount codes to the first 100 subscribers?

There are at least a couple of benefits to this approach. First off, you’ll learn how an average consumer perceives your product. Use the information to make adjustments to reflect the demand of the market. Secondly (perhaps even more importantly), you show your consumers that you listen to their advice and care about what they have to say.

In terms of user engagement, this is invaluable.

#5 Boost Your Esports Promotions

Esports is one of the fastest-growing branches of the gaming industry. Esports is a form of competition using video games. Esports often take the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams.

More and more people are tuning in to watch exciting competitive matches like Dota 2, League of Legends, Starcraft 2, or Rocket League.

Naturally, this has also led to the rise of esports betting and opened a whole new market full of potential.

So, where do betting enthusiasts go to gain tips, insight, or learn more about the game?

To gaming influencers, of course.

They are the perfect analysts with extensive knowledge and insider info.

Teaming up with the right influencer in this field can give you access to a narrow, lucrative niche and help your business gain more authority. Whether you own a betting site, sell high-quality gaming equipment, or offer detailed analyses of popular matches, you need this partnership.

#6 Storage equipment

Today’s companies need to be socially responsible and show that they care about global issues.

One of the best ways to ensure their voices resonate with audiences is through gaming influencers.

Having a vocal representation on streaming services like Twitch or YouTube or ever-present social networks like Instagram and Facebook can do wonders for your publicity. All you need to do is make sure that the influencer shares your brand’s values and shows your full support.

We would advise you to take your time and carefully consider whether the influencer promoting you actually represents your views to the fullest. The “cancel culture” of today is ruthless – one bad move or a wrong statement and you’ll find yourself losing a good chunk of your fanbase.

Conclusion

Gaming influencers are the perfect marketing tool for companies that want to achieve a personal connection with their customers. Finding the right person to do the promotion may take some time but the effort definitely pays off in the end. Keep these few tips in mind at all times:

• Aim for rising stars that might be a good investment
• Keep an eye out for fake influencers
• Try to find your specific niche
• Listen to the feedback from your customers
• Get involved!

In the end, it’s essential that you don’t rush the process. It’s better to look for a perfect match – an influencer that truly speaks for your brand – rather than tying yourself to a sinking ship.

When it comes to your reputation, you shouldn’t cut corners.