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How to step up your mobile game advertising with influencer marketing

HypeFactory explores the challenges and opportunities of working with influencers to build successful marketing campaigns

How to step up your mobile game advertising with influencer marketing

The growth of the mobile gaming industry has been so explosive that even the video streaming giant Netflix decided to dive into these waters.

According to recent data, global spending on mobile ads is expected to reach $290 billion in 2021 which will fuel further growth.

This sounds impressive, but there is one catch. People are tired of mobile games ads.

There are dozens of discussions on Quora and thousands of YouTube videos about how bad these ads are. That’s why developers are turning to other advertising options

This is where influencer marketing comes in.

What is influencer marketing?

According to HypeFactory, an influencer marketing agency, influencer marketing is a strategy of finding and employing leading content creators to improve brand awareness and/or performance metrics.

You’ve probably heard about the main steps required to create a powerful influencer marketing campaign: define your goal and audience, create the message and brief, reach out to influencers and measure the results.

While working on these steps, you might encounter three challenges. In this article, we will describe how to overcome them.

Why is influencer marketing becoming popular in mobile advertising?

The short answer is “It works.”

According to the 2019 survey, companies are making $5.20 (sometimes up to $20) for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.

According to the 2019 survey, companies are making $5.20 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing

A successful marketing campaign starts with a clear understanding of the target audience. There are over 2.6 billion gamers in the world, and the gaming community is getting more diverse. This is why gamers are hard to nail down. Besides, not every gamer is your target audience.

A partnership with influencers can be very beneficial for reaching a niche audience. Influencers know their followers, what content they like and how to engage with them. While traditional advertising targets a crowd, influencer marketing helps to focus on specific groups.

But it comes with its own challenges.

Overcoming three main challenges in influencer marketing

  • Challenge 1: Finding the right influencers

61% of marketers agree that this is one of the biggest challenges.

Companies that have a big marketing budget can partner with an influencer marketing agency or subscribe to tools such as HypeAuditor. Big brands can tap into the agency’s expertise and free up their internal resources to find the right influencers as fast as possible.

For small companies, this is not an option, so they usually opt for Google or social media search. This is much more time-consuming and less reliable, but there is no budget threshold. Small companies should try to partner with several micro-influencers. They are not as expensive as celebrities or mega influencers.

It might take a while before a small brand finds micro-influencers who are a perfect fit for their campaigns and brand identity. But when you find them, try to build a long-term partnership.

  • Challenge 2: Measuring results

Measuring the effectiveness of an influencer marketing campaign is the main concern for 78% of companies. Before starting working on the brief, you need to decide on your goal and key performance indicators:

  • If you want to focus on increasing engagement, specify what exactly you will be tracking (likes, shares, comments, the number of user-generated branded hashtags, etc.).
  • If you want to increase the conversion rate, monitor track links, individual coupon codes, the number of installs.
  • For higher reach, track the number of social media followers (before and after the campaign), views or impressions.

By further analyzing these numbers, you will find out how much you spent vs. gained. You can calculate relevant KPIs, such as the cost per engagement, impression, click or click-through rate.

Influencers are usually content creators, so get acquainted with their work

By comparing these metrics with the expected ones and with the ones for similar campaigns (for example, using data from public sources or influencer marketing agencies websites), you can determine whether your marketing campaign was successful.

  • Challenge 3: Improving communication

For a successful collaboration with an influencer:

  • Find an individual approach. A standard pitch will not get you far. Influencers are usually content creators, so get acquainted with their work before reaching out.
  • Write a clear project brief. Although your message to the influencer should be individual, the brief with all the requirements and deadlines should be standardized and follow a clear structure. This is the cornerstone of your campaign.
  • Do not limit yourself to gaming influencers. If you know that your game is popular among teenagers, you can contact a rising TikTok star with young followers. This will help you increase brand awareness.
  • Allow room for creativity. When brands dictate influencers how they should engage with their community, this partnership is doomed to fail. Before reaching out to an influencer, make sure that their communication style matches your brand voice.

In conclusion

Finding the right audience and partnering with the right influencer is a daunting task. While it requires a lot of research, marketing expertise and soft skills, it definitely pays off.

If you are not comfortable with influencer marketing yet, reach out to an experienced influencer marketing agency.

HypeFactory has access to 21 million influencers around the globe and has launched over 450 successful campaigns on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitch. Feel free to get in touch!


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