The global market for digital games is expanding rapidly, making it more crucial than ever to select the best marketing approach. Since the pandemic, when mobile gaming’s popularity skyrocketed, digital game marketers have had to contend with a congested industry and fierce competition.
Digital games are anticipated to surpass $100 billion by 2023, having already surpassed 50% of the global gaming market in 2020. This industry has no one-size-fits-all answer, and digital game studios are under pressure to develop successful mobile game marketing tactics.
It’s critical to pick the appropriate digital game marketing practices that benefit your company and complement the unique features of your game. Here are a few digital tips to help you market your game successfully:
Search Engine Optimization
One of the most crucial organic user acquisition methods is to optimize channels such as your website for SEO. Don’t worry if you know nothing about SEO. There are experts who specialize in SEO for gaming. The folks at Betexposure are an excellent example. They can help you create content, source backlinks and grow your website’s traffic organically.
Improve Organic Channels
Laying the foundation for growth is one of the most important digital game marketing techniques. The majority of marketing techniques are intended to draw in new users. However, it won’t matter how many people see your digital game if they don’t end up playing it.
Your app and website demand particular attention since they function as the deciding factors for potential customers. Additionally, word-of-mouth growth is built on those digital touchpoints, so you should prioritize optimizing these channels first.
How can you optimize your digital game for conversions?
App Store Optimization
If you create an interesting app store listing, new players will be motivated to download the game once they learn about it. The game’s name, logo, description, buzzwords, images, and promotional video are important elements that will all work together to increase interest in the game and encourage downloads.
Contextual Targeting
Most technologies that marketers formerly relied on are no longer functional as internet platforms take steps to protect users’ privacy. This means that digital game marketing tactics must employ contextual targeting techniques to compensate for the loss of user-specific identifiers.
Contrary to popular belief, contextual targeting predates user-level tactics that have become popular in recent years. Contextual targeting concentrates on appropriate ad placements without understanding the user who will see the ad.
The strategy’s main principle – choosing the setting where your advertisement will appear—is obvious from the name. Contextual targeting for digital game marketers can sometimes be as straightforward as putting an advertisement for a game with a makeover theme on a beauty company’s website. Research by Global Industry Analysts projects that the contextual advertising industry globally will top $335 billion by 2026.
Try Different Ad Formats
Some ad formats work better for marketing digital games than others. At the same time, creative new advertisements are emerging to better cater to consumers’ ever-changing digital gaming preferences. Traditional ad formats provide the security of tested possibilities, but some of the most effective formats, particularly for digital games, include:
Video advertisements: Videos are appropriate for digital game advertisements since they provide prospective players with a more detailed understanding of gaming than static graphics can.
Playable advertisements: According to experienced marketers, playable ads are the most successful ad format. Potential consumers are likely to become regular players after playing an interactive digital game demo.
Rewarded video advertisements: Consumers favor advertisements they choose to view over those they are compelled to view. Spend money on networks that allow rewarded video to get the most out of digital game ads.
Master Channel Distribution
Another crucial tactic for marketing digital games is to optimize your budget distribution across several channels. According to a Statista analysis, digital advertising accounts for the largest portion (13%) of most advertising budgets. However, dividing that expenditure across the many available channels requires careful balancing.
Here are some channel distribution concerns to take into account while creating your digital game marketing plan:
Social Media Platforms
Facebook has a massive user base, Instagram has a vibrant community, Twitter gives priority to posts with rich media, and Snapchat and TikTok cater to a younger demographic. Understanding your target audience will make it easier to choose channels to concentrate your advertising budget for a certain digital game.
Evergreen Strategies vs. One-off Strategies
Evergreen methods prioritize a long-term, continuous approach; hence they frequently account for most marketing expenses. Using that as a base, think about the potential of one-time ad tactics concentrating on precise placements rather than continuing engagements. One-time advertisements can help with user growth in particular areas and pave the way for future, more active relationships.
Experimental Strategies vs. Predictable Strategies
You must include predictable and experimental channels in your marketing budget allocations. Around 75% of your advertising costs should go toward tried-and-true conventional techniques, leaving another 25% for experimental investment. Experimenting and test campaigns give a higher chance of success, but they also come with a higher risk.
Calculate and Refine
Tracking your progress is a crucial component of digital game marketing strategies. Set measurements that align with your distinct objectives, and monitor key performance indicators frequently throughout the procedure.
Major marketing key performance indicators for digital games include:
Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS)
ROAS cuts through the clutter to show how successful your marketing initiatives are in generating money. It is arguably the most crucial measure for digital game marketers to comprehend. In contrast to cost-per-install, which may not always take user quality into account, ROAS is often a better measure of the success of digital marketing.
Conversion Rate
What proportion of installs results in in-app purchases? Understanding how many paying gamers your campaigns will produce is essential when choosing the best way to use your budget.
Retention Rate
After the initial download, how frequently do consumers come back to play your digital game? This KPI is important since it measures both player pleasure and the game’s overall appeal.
Cost of Acquiring a Customer
How much money must you spend to bring on a new user? Understanding customer acquisition costs and figuring out the highest converting tactics will help you focus resources more wisely if you manage numerous campaigns simultaneously.