Overview

• Finding an influencer that resonates with the genre and has access to the right demographic is the real challenge.

• Gaming companies are constantly increasing their influencer marketing spend. The average marketing spend is about 30% of their total revenue. This market generated $41.37 billion in 2018.

• Approximately 2% ($827 million) was spent on influencer marketing.
• In 2018, the highest-paid gamer on YouTube earned $22 million. In the same year, the number of Twitch streamers increased by 86%. Although it is still fairly new, influencer marketing is increasing in importance to the hyper casual game market as an ideal strategy.

Importance of Influencer Marketing

• Using influencer marketing in the gaming industry enables a brand to hit its perfect target audience. Direct targeted Facebook and Instagram adverts may result in a hit or miss as it is dependent on the frequency of individual social media access.
•  90% of gamers take gaming advice comes from influencers on YouTube. 64% will download a game based off the recommendations.
• Twitch streamers are a great way of ensuring the right audience is targeted. Each month, Twitch gets over 100 million unique visitors. 
• In the past couple of years, several gamers have begun live streaming their games and they have millions of followers. Their audience reach is massive.
• The gaming community views influencers as credible sources as they are relatable. This is because they are transparent and open their personal lives to viewers. They have a stronger influence on their audience than "traditional" celebrities.
• Reaching the gaming community is extremely challenging as traditional marketing and advertising methods may not be as effective. This is the reason why influencer marketing is on the rise. 
• The main categories that are cashing in on the massive followers of influencers are game publishers, equipment manufacturers, and food and beverage brands.

Case Study 1: Azur Games

•  Azur Games pre-launch campaign partnered with multiple influencers in order to get as many people as possible to register for Infinity Ops game before its launch. These YouTube influencers created videos and introduced the game to their audiences.
• The company offered 400 gold bonuses to anyone who would pre-register before its launch. The influencers presented this information, the features of the game, and the benefits offered.
• After running the campaign for 22 days, the game had received 1.3 million preregistration. 

Case Study 2: Ubisoft

•  Ubisoft promoted their new game, Far Cry 5 by partnering with a YouTuber, H20Delirious. With 11 million subscribers, his videos garner millions of views. He created numerous videos of him playing the game. Just one of his videos had 1.4 million views.