Beating the competition in the world of iGaming is hard. Influencer marketing becomes one of the most powerful strategies to help elevate your brand.
This is a way to reach and influence the target audience in an organic and authentic manner, using social media influencers’ reach and influence. Through such collaborations, iGaming companies can very effectively raise brand awareness, drive user engagement, and improve marketing return on investment.
Influencer marketing has been one of the most disruptive activities in several sectors. In this respect, it has been very useful even in the iGaming sector. Any experienced or not-so-experienced marketer will attest to the fact that, when used accordingly, it can bring tremendous benefits to the business.
Herein, we will show you how to use influencer partnerships in raising your iGaming brand with successful case studies and actionable insights for you to get started.
The Power of Influencer Marketing in iGaming
Influencer marketing is just too powerful a form of social media marketing, which involves product endorsements and placements by an individual with sizeable online followers.
With large audiences sometimes on a platform like Instagram, YouTube, or Twitch, the ability for an influencer to influence purchasing decisions among followers lies in authentic, engaging content.
For influencer marketing to work effectively within the iGaming niche, you have to tap into their engaged audiences who trust the influencer to enhance your visibility and credibility with your target market.
Why Influencer Marketing Works in iGaming?
One of the main reasons behind the power of influencer marketing in the iGaming sector is that influencers have a very strong connection to their audiences.
Of course, they are a kind of celebrity, but more often than not, social media influencers are much more engaged with their followers on a personal level, creating a base for a tight, trust-based community. This trust comes in very handy for an iGaming brand that wants to make waves within a very competitive market.
For example, an iGaming brand collaborated with an extremely popular Twitch streamer who often streams gameplay live. The streamer’s genuine passion and in-depth knowledge of the games highly related to the audience, and the number of game downloads along with active players increased tremendously.
In this live stream interaction, potential players could ask questions and see with their own eyes the real operation of the game, thereby avoiding doubts and hence downloading the game.
Platforms and Their Unique Advantages
Different social media platforms offer unique advantages for influencer marketing in iGaming:
- Twitch: This platform is very good at live game streaming. Twitch allows influencers to engage with their audience in real-time, thus highly dynamic in showcasing new games or even features. Viewers could see the live gameplay, join in on the discussion, or even play with the influencer to make the experience more immersive.
- YouTube: Since it is a long-form content platform, it is perfect for lengthy in-game reviews, and tutorials. The influencers would come up with detailed content that explains the mechanics and strategies of the game while updating the potential players with any other relevant information so that effective decisions can be made accordingly.
- Instagram: Best for visual content, it helps in creating the required buzz around the release of a new game. Full of visually entertaining posts, stories, and IGTV videos, influencers can use them to share highlights, teasers, or promotion-oriented content in order to capture the audience’s attention and build interest in it.
Real-World Examples
One of the important examples of how influencer marketing could work out in iGaming is when Electronic Arts collaborated with a group of YouTube gaming influencers to launch Apex Legends.
Allowed to play and stream ahead of the actual release date, EA generated interest and buzz, which led to over 10 million players within the first 72 hours of the game’s launch.
A gaming company for mobile devices partnered with several popular Instagram influencers. These partners created engaging stories and posts about the newest game.
Some of these features were swipe-up links and interactive polls that directed their base of followers to download the game, noticeably spiking downloads and active users.
Building Brand Awareness
Perhaps the number one benefit associated with this marketing is its ability to build brand awareness.
Influencers help in introducing your iGaming brand to a larger audience, which may not have been able to find the brand otherwise. The increased amount of visibility associated with this method of marketing is very important in a crowded iGaming market where differentiation proves to be a challenge.
Example: A major online casino collaborated with the most popular YouTubers in the gaming space to review their new games, resulting in a huge increase in website traffic and new player registrations.
Implementation Tips:
- Identify Influencers: Start by finding influencers who align with your brand and have a large, engaged following.
- Collaborate Creatively: Work with influencers to create engaging content such as game reviews or live-streaming sessions.
- Track Results: Use analytics tools to measure the impact of these collaborations on your website traffic and player registrations.
What You Can Do Now: Begin by researching influencers within the gaming niche who resonate with your brand values. Engage them with creative collaboration ideas and closely monitor the increase in traffic and player engagement to evaluate success.
Engaging Your Target Audience
Influencer collaborations help in strategising content that matters to your audience.
The influencers need to know the preferences of their followers and therefore can create interesting content that is, at the same time, informative. This type of engagement empowers a closer relationship between your brand and your customers.
Example: A sports betting website collaborated with several sports-minded influencers on Instagram. Their posts, in addition to some strategically placed hashtags and promotions, delivered a sizeable uplift in visibility and engagement.
Implementation Tips:
- Content Creation: Get the influencers to create content that speaks to your brand’s message, articulating it and relaying it to their audience.
- Use Hashtags: Use relevant strategic hashtags so that the visibility of the influencer posts increases.
- Monitor Engagement: Keep tabs on performance in terms of engagement on all of these posts to help fine-tune your strategy.
What You Can Do Now: Partner with influencers who have a strong connection with your target audience. Use specific hashtags to boost visibility and regularly monitor engagement metrics to adjust your strategy as needed.
Establishing Brand Trust and Social Proof
Influencers usually have a large following of people who respect their opinions.
Therefore, by associating your brand in iGaming with influencers, you can leverage this credibility to spur your brand’s credibility.
This concept of social proof—the tendency to follow others’ actions—is a strong one in influencer marketing. When followers see the influencers who love playing your games, they will be much more likely to try them out themselves.
Example: A gaming company partnered with one of the most famous Twitch streamers to play and review their newest game. This made a real difference in players’ trust in, and downloads of, the game.
Implementation Tips:
- Select Trusted Influencers: Choose those influencers who have built up a reputation based on honesty and reliability.
- Share Real Experiences: Allow influencers to share their personal and actual experiences regarding your games.
- Establish Long-Term Relations: Cultivate long-term relations to ensure the creation of long-term trust and engagement.
What You Can Do Now: Identify influencers who are known for their authenticity and reliability. Encourage them to share genuine experiences and focus on building long-term relationships to maintain trust and continuous engagement.
Effective Influencer Marketing Strategies for iGaming
To maximise the effect of your influencer marketing, you need to employ proper strategies. Some of the key tactics are:
Platform-specific Tactics
Different social media platforms serve different demographics.
Tailoring your influencer marketing strategies on the specific platform ensures you reach your targeted audience. For example, Twitch is ideal for live gameplay; at the same time, Instagram and YouTube are ideal for engaging visual content.
Example: A gaming platform utilised Instagram for its visual content and Twitch for live gameplay sessions to reach different segments.
Implementation Tips:
- Identify Platforms: Determine which platforms your target audience frequents.
- Tailor Content: Adapt your content to fit the strengths of each platform.
- Engage Consistently: Maintain a consistent presence across all chosen platforms.
What You Can Do Now: Research where your target audience spends their time online. Tailor your content to the strengths of each platform and ensure consistent engagement across all channels.
Measuring Engagement Rates
Keeping the rate at which they are engaging in mind is, therefore, crucial to establish how effective the campaigns are.
High engagement rates indicate that your posts are connecting with the audience, which will therefore perform better. These can be measured through social media analytics tools.
Example: An iGaming company monitored engagement rates using social media analytics and found that engagement was brought in more by influencer posts compared to other marketing efforts.
Implementation Tips:
- Track Metrics: Use tools to measure likes, comments, shares, and click-through rates.
- Analyse Data: Regularly review engagement data to identify successful strategies.
- Adjust Campaigns: Refine your campaigns based on engagement insights.
What You Can Do Now: Implement social media analytics tools to track the performance of your influencer campaigns. Use the data to identify what works best and make adjustments to improve future efforts.
Enhancing Campaign Effectiveness
The most successful influencer marketing campaigns usually feature creative content that generates interest in an audience. It may be asking them to share your games through tutorials, reviews, or live sessions, which will amplify the engagement manifold.
You can also offer exclusive promotions or giveaways through the influencer to attract more eyeballs to your platform.
Example: An iGaming brand ran a giveaway campaign with an influencer, leading to a huge increase in users engaging with and signing up for the brand.
Implementation Tips:
- Create Unique Content: Encourage influencers to develop unique and engaging content around your games.
- Offer Incentives: Use promotions and giveaways to attract more users.
- Evaluate Success: Measure the success of these campaigns and adjust for future efforts.
What You Can Do Now: Plan a creative campaign involving tutorials, reviews, or live sessions. Include promotions or giveaways to attract more users and monitor the campaign’s success to refine future efforts.
Conclusion: Elevate Your iGaming Brand with Influencers
Influencer marketing provides one of the rare opportunities whereby iGaming brands can associate themselves with their target audience. Tapping into social media influencers could prove to be a wise decision, bringing about increased brand awareness, high levels of engagement, and a much stronger return on investment.
This would be acquired through the right identification of influencers, the development of compelling campaigns, and measurements for success. If done rightly, it is able to revolutionise your iGaming business completely.
Summary of Key Points:
- Build Brand Awareness: Partner with influencers to introduce your brand to a wider audience.
- Engage Your Audience: Create content that resonates with your target market.
- Establish Trust: Leverage the credibility of influencers to build brand trust.
- Use Platform-Specific Tactics: Tailor your strategies to different social media platforms.
- Measure Engagement: Track metrics to assess the effectiveness of your campaigns.
- Enhance Campaigns: Use creative content and promotions to boost engagement.
Integrate them into your digital marketing, and watch the iGaming brand grow in the competitive market.
Remember that the key to success lies in real collaboration and creative content that speaks to your audience. Unleash the power of influencer marketing and drive your iGaming business to new heights.
Here at IPOINT INT, we will be delighted to help you create a winning social media strategy and implement it. Contact us today to discuss the business growth services we can offer!
