It’s no secret that the video game industry is booming, and any growing industry brings with it new innovations. According to a report published by Epyllion CEO Matthew Ball, in 2025 computer and video game sales exceeded $195 billion and consumers spent more than $221 billion on hardware, accessories and content in the U.S.
One of the unexpected results of the video game industry’s growth has been the development of new and interesting means of marketing. Here are just some of the marketing techniques used by video game developers that you can use in your business strategy as well.
Stay Up-to-Date
Video games have only been around a few decades, but they have managed to keep up with the media trends that shape markets and are often leading other industries. Because of this agility, video games have expanded their original demographic to include people from all walks of life. iMediaConnection reports that between 60 and 70 percent of all Americans play video games.
Whenever there is a new media outlet, it is important to consider its potential for your business. More importantly, never assume that your current advertising methods are all you need because your brand can easily become stale. For example, game development companies decided to skip television ads and billboards and rather went online before many other industries. When you experiment with new directions and media formats, you might be surprised at what sticks with your audience. After all, you might not associate Denny’s with Twitter, and yet they have 118,000 followers who receive direct marketing from them regularly.
Audience Familiarity
The video game industry is unique in that nearly everyone who works within it also consumes the product. Compare this to the number of baby food marketers that actually consume baby food. Therefore, video game developers have a particularly intimate relationship with their product and their customers. You also can build this relationship with your customers through a variety of means.
Social media is a key way to reach out and build a relationship with your consumers. Consider the Xbox One, which features many games that integrate social media use into the games themselves. This ensures that there will be social media use by customers that developers can interact with. Furthermore, video game developers often maintain active social media presences as an extension of their brand identity. This is an easy way to be consistent and hear what your customers like and dislike about your product.
User-Generated Content
If your product is as good as you believe it to be, chances are your customers will want to tell someone about it. You can take advantage of this phenomenon by crowd sourcing user-generated content for your campaigns. Take, for example, Twitch.TV, a service that allows gamers to play their favorite games in a live-streaming format for others to watch and comment on as they play. While you might not think that people would want to watch someone play Minecraft for 72 hours straight, there is something compelling about watching someone play a game they love.
If your customers are willing to sing your praises, place them front and center in your marketing campaigns. User-generated content not only shows that you make consumers happy but it also is a cheap source of powerful advertising that can’t be faked.