We often think of the term ‘gamer’ as something very niche. We might imagine them hooking up computer to computer at a LAN event or to potentially win millions through e-sports. We might imagine someone neglecting their responsibilities to raise a few levels in the latest MMOs. But of course, the only reason those thoughts would come to us is that we are significantly out of the loop regarding how modern gaming conventions work.
In fact, more people are gamers than you might imagine. If you play video games on your phone before work? You’re a gamer. If you play Stardew Valley or Mario Kart with your child? You’re a gamer. If you simply enjoy playing one big-budget title every six months when you get a chance? You’re still a gamer.
This means that running a business marketing certain products for gamers need to be a little more direct in their approach. For this, we wish to use an example to illustrate our points. Our case study will be surrounding a fictional business attempting to sell video game peripherals, namely a new headset for communication and online play.
Competition Sells
Consider how gaming habits have changed over the last ten years. Ten years ago, big blockbuster AAA shooter video games were all the rage, particularly if they had a cover-based system. Now, battle royales and online shooters have taken the throne. Fortnite is the biggest game in the world, as are battle royale games such as PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS and Apex Legends. This means that kids are not being raised by storylines, by stealth games, or by puzzles for the most part. They are being raised by competition. Now, it matters what your rank is on Overwatch or Counter-Strike, or what your favorite counter picks are for Dota 2, League of Legends or Rainbow Six: Siege.
This means that for our case study, a gaming headset, we would want to target this crowd. Before talking of the comfort of the headband, the length of the cord or the wireless options – you want to paint the picture of someone winning because they had selected your headphones. Perhaps you have 7.1 positional audio that allows someone to hear footsteps no matter where they are located? Talk about that, it’s essential for them to know. Perhaps the microphone quality is the best you have ever produced, now able to isolate background noise? A competitive gamer will view that as a boon when barking orders at their team.
Competition sells in this gaming market. We would recommend you utilize it.
Social Media Browsing Habits
Consider an average gamer. They likely follow a few channels on Twitch, perhaps even subscribe to a couple. They watch YouTube videos about the latest strategies in a certain game, or even watching deep-dive lore videos for series such as Dark Souls. Perhaps they follow many gaming personalities on Twitter or contribute to Discord servers. This is where it’s important to employ the most popular method of Google Ads automation to always ascertain that you are ahead of the curve and that you can continue to be present with your marketing strategy no matter what outlet you choose.
For example, consider the most popular search terms surrounding gaming in the last year. ‘Battle Royale, Fortnite, Ninja, Twitch, Mixer, Jack Black, Pewdiepie, Minecraft’ – all of these have shaken thee gaming common culture in many different ways, and for many different reasons. While not all gamers are interested in these topics, millions are. You can adapt said targeting for what you know about your niche.
Try To Avoid The Memes
It can be hard to achieve, but gaming culture is absolutely replete with memes in the modern-day, and that means that you need to be extremely tight, concise, and also careful with your marketing copy, lest someone make fun of it. This is why many ‘Xtreme gamer’ brands are starting to become a little more professional in their approach, offering more of a comforting offering that highlights gaming expertise than trying to market as if a Hot Wheels car.
Even the smallest misstep could land you in meme territory. If that happens, use it to your advantage by going along with the joke. For example, you have likely seen the phrase ‘F’ used when replying to something sad. This is because in Call of Duty Advanced Warfare, a gameplay section had your protagonist prompted to press ‘F’ on the keyboard in order to pay respects to a fallen military comrade. The ridiculous division between an emotional moment and artificial gameplay requirements led this meme to become entered into the hall of fame. You can use this to your benefit, avoid it completely, or let it ridicule your product and business if you’re not careful.
With this advice, we hope you can better market to gamers exclusively.