Lindsey Cook 5/23/22 Lindsey Cook 5/23/22

Monitoring KPIs and Determining Success in Gaming Influencer Campaigns

Gaming influencer campaigns are often geared towards brand awareness and brand affinity among an increasingly valuable audience; however, they are now also being leveraged for product purchases, launches, and user acquisition.

Now that you know why brands are getting into gaming-centric campaigns (more on that here) let’s discuss how you can track campaign performance and find success in the space.

The Key Performance Indicators to Track for Gaming Campaigns

Average Concurrent Viewers (Avg. CCV): The average viewership at a given moment throughout the stream
Peak Concurrent Viewers (Peak CCV): The highest level of concurrent viewership reached during the stream
Unique Viewers: How many unique viewers engaged with the stream
Views: Impressions of the stream

The best way to guarantee your influencer campaign in the gaming space is a success is by partnering with influencers who are passionate about the brand partnership and enthusiastic with their audience. That energy will translate to higher audience engagement.

How Brands Can Engage & Find Success

Brands have the opportunity to activate alongside creators in a depth of ways, including sponsored streams and live-streamed events, VODS and long-form series, and short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram. The brands prioritizing these areas are finding more ways to creatively own the gaming scene alongside creators.

A big trend has been the creativity and ownership of esports content by the creators themselves. From creator tournaments like Ludwig’s Fortnite Mondays, live-streamed series like OTK’s series Schooled, and big stunts and challenge videos with influencers like Mr. Beast and PrestonPlayz, gaming creators are often at the heart of today’s innovations.

It’s worth noting that while production quality is an important factor to consider, the true keys to success in content include showcasing personalities, bringing creators together, and telling entertaining, organic-first stories.

Have questions about launching a gaming campaign? We can walk you through the whole process. Get in touch.

Lindsey Cook 5/19/22 Lindsey Cook 5/19/22

4 Reasons Why Brands Are Getting Into Gaming Marketing

The old cliché that gamers are either male kids with no purchasing power or social misfits still living in their mothers’ basements is long outdated: we've seen a 79% increase in sponsored streams on Twitch and YouTube, and there's a big reason why.

The fact of the matter is that gaming cannot be ignored. The gaming industry is projected to reach a value of $175 billion in the United States this year, with 227 million gamers in the United States in 2021 according to a study from the Entertainment Software Association. As it pertains to the world of influencer marketing, gaming influencers are incredibly popular, with 1 in 10 adults worldwide following at least 1 gaming influencer according to a study from market research company YouGov, and amongst teens in the United States, gaming influencers are the second-followed influencer type behind music personalities.

Beyond the high usership, gaming audiences are highly engaged with the content they consume. 30 million people are tuning in to Twitch to watch live gaming content on a daily basis, there were over 800 million gaming-specific tweets in Q1 2022 alone, and the gaming spend is expected to exceed a record-breaking $200 billion this year. Across watching games, talking about gaming, and spending on games, a new kind of fan experience is being forged through this industry.

And while we are discussing gaming today, platforms like Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Facebook Gaming have found success beyond video game live streams, with plenty of popular creators hosting cooking streams, conversational chats, and other lifestyle streaming content. The possibilities of activating within the gaming community are essentially endless.

1) Young Audience Demographic

With 38% of gamers falling between the ages of 18 to 34, the gaming space is ideal for reaching Gen-Z and young millennial consumers. It is also more gender-balanced than many assume, with 41% of gamers in the US identifying as female in 2021, meaning gaming is a great space to reach young consumers of all genders.

2) Hyper-Customization

There are significant levels of creative concepts and executions that can be pursued, especially compared to the established sponsorship formats of traditional sports, music, and film. Gaming integrations go beyond purely media and product placement, and into owned events, gamification, and experiential content.

3) Audience Engagement

Creators on platforms like Twitch have subscribers that can pay a monthly fee for access to exclusive content, meaning that they have truly opted into the creator’s content and are more likely to engage with it, including branded content. Partner with gaming influencers who have a strong subscriber base if you wish to see high engagement and conversion rates.

4) Depth of Opportunity

While streaming apps like Twitch are dominant in the world of gaming influencers, influencers in the space activate across social platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, allowing for brands to develop powerful omnichannel campaigns that reach varied audiences.

Lindsey Cook 7/8/21 Lindsey Cook 7/8/21

5 Reasons Why Twitch Is A Great Space For Influencer Marketing

The surge in video game streaming throughout the past year has introduced a growing power in the influencer marketing space: Twitch.

The surge in video game streaming throughout the past year has introduced a growing power in the influencer marketing space.

If you haven’t been paying attention to Twitch already, you should be. The streaming site boasts 3 million monthly broadcasters and 15 million daily active users, and its power only continues to grow. Video game enthusiasts aren't the only ones taking note of Twitch’s growth; Lytehouse has observed brands like e.l.f., Nike, and Wendy’s utilize the space recently, and we’ve received a lot of requests from brands looking for ways to activate on Twitch in the past couple of months.

Here are 5 reasons why you should consider making Twitch part of your influencer marketing strategy:

1) Gaming Is More Popular Than Ever

Gaming saw a massive surge in 2020, and while pandemic-related free time may be to blame, data indicates that there are no signs of decreased interest. In fact, Business Insider reported that there will be an estimated 177 million monthly gamers in the United States. In 2020, Twitch averaged 93 billion minutes watched per month.

In the competition between livestream gaming platforms, it’s the most popular platform by far, with 5.4 billion hours watched in Q4 of 2020, compared to 1.9 billion hours watched during that same time on YouTube Gaming Live and 901 million hours watched on Facebook Gaming. So if you are interested in the gaming space at all, Twitch needs to be your first priority.

2) Gen Z & Young Millennials Love The App

As you could probably guess, Twitch usership skews young and male. 41% of Twitch users are between the ages of 16 and 24, with another 32% falling between the ages of 25 and 34. For brands looking to engage with young audiences, Twitch is a great avenue to explore.

Twitch’s audience is also predominantly male, with 65% of its users identifying as male. This is much higher than other social media platforms like Instagram (49%) and TikTok (40%). Brands hoping to reach a young male audience should definitely prioritize Twitch.

3) Users Are Highly Engaged

While Twitch’s usership numbers are still much lower than other platforms like Instagram, and TikTok, those who are on the platform are incredibly engaged. The average user spends 95 minutes per day watching livestream gaming content on Twitch, an impressive number when compared to other apps like YouTube (40 minutes per day) and Instagram (32 minutes per day). When you’re activating on Twitch, you’re reaching out to a highly-engaged audience who will watch content for longer than on other platforms, providing your brand with more opportunities to speak to said audiences and get your brand in front of them.

4) Opportunities For Innovative Brand Integrations

So, how are brands activating on the app? Partnering with popular creators on Twitch is a logical first step, but brands are getting wonderfully creative with how they showcase their offerings.

In May, e.l.f. Cosmetics became the first beauty company to launch a branded Twitch channel, hosting livestream beauty tutorials, DJ sets, and gaming sessions to market their brand to Twitch’s Gen-Z audience. In December, Wendy’s partnered with Twitch streamers to create signature meals offered through Uber Eats to encourage customers to order Wendy’s for delivery so they can continue gaming all day long. The fast food company also has its own Twitch channel with over 115K subscribers.

As Twitch grows to become more than just a video game streaming platform, with creators using the app to live vlog, showcase beauty and cooking tutorials, and host music content, there are more opportunities to get creative on the platform everyday.

5) Ability To Speak To Niche Audiences

One unique aspect of the gaming world is that it is extremely segmented, with users extremely loyal to specific video game content and Twitch streamers. A Fortnite fan may want nothing to do with Call of Duty content, and vice versa. This high segmentation may seem difficult to navigate, but it offers an opportunity to market to niche audiences and tailor content to their specific interests and needs. A multi-pronged campaign that speaks effectively to different niches within the Twitch community, with curated content strategies for each niche, will help you reach audiences across the platform.

Still have questions about how to market effectively on Twitch? The good news is that we’re here to guide you through influencer marketing on Twitch. Let’s chat about setting up your next campaign.