We already discussed the main formats of cooperation with influencers in the gaming industry and how they are different from the generic approach to influencer marketing. Now let’s take a closer look into a comparison between main socials that you can use for promo.
Twitch: the main place for the gaming community
Twitch was launched in 2011 by Justin Kan as a live-streaming platform focusing on gaming and esports content. In August 2014 Amazon bought it for $970 million. Today, the platform offers a variety of categories except for gaming.
At the moment you're reading this, approximately 2 million people are watching one of the 95 thousand streamers who are live right now. So yes, it’s definitely the channel with a massive audience.
The majority of the content is made in English and focused on games. Even though the platform offers targeted paid ad placements, most companies choose to work directly with streamers to build a better connection with the audience.
If you're launching a game, for sure you have to do the bare minimum: add your game as a category that streamers can use when playing it. This will help organize all streams and clips about your game, be easily found by potential and active players, and get noticed by a wider audience.
When to use Twitch to promote your game? Considering the variety of streamers and viewers, for most games, you will find your audience. It might be less relevant for some mobile games, although it is still possible to find streams about them too
The main principle is to find the right influencers who play games in the same or a very similar genre. This means that their audience will potentially be interested, and there is also a chance that the influencer will try out your game for free or for a lower cost if they like it.
In most cases, you need to get your game out on Twitch and earn the attention of as many streamers as possible. The tricky part is that you also need to take into account other channels to extend your visibility and increase awareness of your game. So, let's move to other platforms.
Does anyone watch YouTube Gaming?
Short answer — yes. The gaming category on YouTube has over 1.5 million concurrent live viewers. And of course, except for livestreaming YouTube is offering to post long and short videos.
How to use it for game promotion? Depending on your goals, you can ask an influencer to add a shoutout to the next video they are planning to post. This will allow get higher visibility because dedicated promo videos in some cases can receive fewer views than the average influencer viewership. The same goals can be achieved with YouTube shorts.
A long-form dedicated video can be used when your goal is to provide more detailed content about the game. After short-form interaction, many potential players may go on YouTube to search for more about gameplay, tricks on certain levels, etc.
In comparison with Twitch, YouTube allows targeting players at different stages of the funnel and communicating different aspects of your game.
Another important note regarding the YouTube audience: it's more localized. For example, only 28% of content is in English. You can be more precise in targeting specific markets and adapting local content.
The raise of TikTok
Starting from dancing videos, TikTok has transformed into a much bigger platform that now has a lot to offer to games. It is a great platform for becoming viral by posting content on a branded page and using paid ads, but that's a whole other story.
Initially, game streamers started using the platform to reach a new audience that would migrate to their main streaming platform. Now you can find influencers who focus their attention on videos and livestreams specifically on TikTok.
The principles of working with the platform might be very similar to YouTube Shorts because the TikTok feed also works algorithmically. It means that a video or live stream will be shown to potentially the most interested audience, and it's not always the influencer's followers. Still, when selecting influencers, you need to focus on profiles relevant to your game to achieve better content quality and higher views.
TikTok also allows you to boost videos through Spark ads. You need to obtain a video ID from the creator, which also grants permission for promotion, and use this ID when you’re launching a paid campaign at the stage of ad selection. This is not a necessity but a highly recommended strategy that can significantly increase the effectiveness of your promotional campaign.
To find influencers you can use TikTok’s own Marketplace platform or reach out to a specialised agency.
What else to use to promote a game?
In response to high moderation on Twitch in late 2022, Kick launched a new streaming platform. It quickly gained popularity, and even some top Twitch streamers moved there, mostly because of the higher profit they could achieve due to the lower cut-rate. The biggest attention from the media Kick got after signing a $100 million contract with Félix “xQc” Lengyel.
The platform is still very new and doesn't have the audience size of Twitch or YouTube. However, this can be an advantage for games that are looking for their narrow niche, want to extend audience reach, and get placement where their competitors are not yet present.
The same might be said about Facebook Gaming. The platform might be overlooked by other advertisers and can be used to win certain audiences. The majority of top-viewed channels are Asian streamers while audiences prefer hyper-casual games.
Don’t forget about Discord and X where influencers can stay connected with their audience and quickly share links to your game or video about it, for example. Those channels are the perfect addition to promo on another platform.
It is worth emphasising again that a combination of different channels, where the same influencer is presented, can boost your promotional effectiveness. However, which media is your main focus depends on your goals and available resources.
If you need to reinforce your influencer marketing efforts, reach out TrapPlan agency. They have experience with all of the mentioned platforms and can help to build the most efficient multi-channel promotion.
