Gaming
The Entertainment sector speaks much about its steady growth. The global gaming market is now worth over $145 billion, and it is expanding every year. To put the popularity of gaming in perspective, the global music market is worth close to $20 billion, and the global film office generated close to $42.5 billion.
Even when these two popular entertainment genres are combined, they only account for less than half of the global gaming market.
For instance, when Marvel released Avengers: Endgame, one of the biggest box office hits ever, it brought in $858,373,000 in its first weekend. Grand Theft Auto V, an action game, made over $1 billion after its 2013 release.
Gaming is the biggest source of entertainment at present:
In 2023, video games will be an all-out war. As they prepare for another fantastic year, gaming companies and game developers should keep an eye on these 15 marketing trends.
1. A significant rise in the number of Players:-
Contrary to what is shown on television and in movies, gamers are not a minority. By the end of 2020, there will be 2.69 billion gamers worldwide, predicts Newzoo. With an average 5.6% YoY increase, growth is steady.
Beyond selling games and hardware, earning opportunities have increased with the rise of subscription and cloud gaming services. With sound marketing and promotion plans, independent game developers can concentrate on creating and distributing their titles.
2. Ongoing Ties between Influencer Brands:-
In 2022, influencer marketing began to take off, and in 2023, we anticipate this trend to continue. To enhance or sustain their investment in the upcoming year, 89% of marketers now use an influencer marketing strategy (source: Influencer Marketing Hub).
Furthermore, 17% of marketers plan to make their first investment in it the following year.
While this form of social media marketing is nothing new in 2023, businesses are utilizing it to forge more meaningful connections with their target demographic by using "brand ambassadors".
3. A live video stream:-
Marketer uses Instagram reels and TikTok bite-sized films to boost brand exposure and promote interaction among Millennials and Gen Z.
Even in video content, live streaming stands out, though. Gaming would not be as common as it is now without the help of live-streaming technology. 54% of live-streaming material is related to gaming and esports, and the majority of it is produced by YouTube and Twitch. One of the most well-liked live-streaming networks for gamers and streamers, Twitch has 30 million daily users.
4. User-created content:-
In video games, user-created content has always had significance. New material has been produced by users for their favorite games. Even popular new games like League of Legends and PUBG were inspired by mods.
Having sold more than 200 million downloads to date, Minecraft is without a doubt the most well-known UCC-based game. 11 years after its first release, it is now the video game with the highest global sales. Millions of users in the Minecraft community build fantastical worlds within the game. Millions more engaged Minecraft players come from the widespread sharing of user-generated content on websites like YouTube and social media.
5. Leaving cookies behind:-
Digital marketing and advertising are always changing. Technologies, best practices, and rules are continually emerging. Significant modifications, however, are periodically necessary to guarantee the best experience for both enterprises and customers. The move by Google to phase out third-party cookies by 2024 serves as the best illustration.
A Google study found that when businesses respect the privacy of their clients, their adverts do better. Additionally, poor privacy experiences hurt customers almost as much as data theft. It is sufficient to persuade 43% of them to switch brands. Cookies make it possible for marketers to deliver a more individualized experience by tracking a user's online activity. Brands must begin experimenting with other targeting options now to make up for its absence in the future.
6. The thin line separating privacy and personalization:-
Privacy and personalized experiences are increasingly at odds with one another.
When done correctly, a data-driven strategy for creating tailored experiences is advantageous for both the client and the company. The majority of consumers prefer personalized contact with brands. However, they are equally concerned about how businesses use their personal data. Marketing and service leaders must exercise caution while using and maintaining consumer data to maintain customer confidence. For success and trust, proper permission and data management are essential.
7. Improved accessibility:-
To begin with, game creators ought to be more upfront and truthful about the accessibility of their works.
8. Integrated marketing:-
71% of consumers expect firms to encourage diversity and inclusion in their digital marketing tactics, according to a Facebook survey. Underrepresented group members who play video games feel particularly excluded.
Fortunately, companies are aware of the issues and are actively searching for solutions. For instance, Twitch recently added proactive filters to better detect hate speech, while League of Legends recently restricted some chat functions to decrease toxicity.
9. An even gender distribution:-
Despite research by analyst companies like Newzoo revealing that 45% of gamers are women, many developers and publishers are still stuck in the past and mainly target teenage guys as their major audience.
Through focused initiatives, businesses like Microsoft and Facebook are trying to solve the problem. The lack of gender diversity in the video game industry is still an issue, as many publishers fail to advertise their games to the other half of the gaming population.
To avoid preconceptions and improve communication with audiences, game publishers must extend their perspective on the gaming community, taking into account factors like age, playing style, and gender in addition to gender.
10. Expansion of the mobile game industry:-
Between 2023 and 2032, the mobile gaming industry is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 16.7%.
During the projection period, the global market for mobile games will expand rapidly as consumers switch from consoles and pre-installed games to tablets and smartphones.
This expansion, though, might eventually slow down. Over the projection period, mobile game creators may have difficulties due to the low monetization rate of players. On smartphones, a very small percentage of gamers will pay for full-version games. You should never spend more than you will make from a user to stay profitable. Customer lifetime value (CTV) is a mobile game metric you should investigate for your mobile game in 2023 and beyond because it best addresses this problem.
11. Marketing that is interactive and game-based:-
The audience of today desires content that will draw them in. Marketers must develop interactive, two-way experiences with their content that motivate their target audience to participate actively. Include material like:
Infographics
polls and checks
games on social media
calculating scores
Contests
Videos and maps that are interactive
12. Multichannel advertising:-
It's not just a fad that the gaming and ad tech businesses continue to combine. It's a huge potential for advertisers, particularly when it comes to creating a real omnichannel marketing strategy in a world of digital commerce that is getting more and more complicated. There is no other source that can compare to the data that game studios gather and own, most of it first-party or even zero-party data. It is crucial to leverage data analytics to gather customer insights and an omnichannel approach to create long-term growth as gaming brands alter their digital strategies.
Final words
Marketing trends and best practices have been greatly impacted in recent years. More than ever before, consumers today demand from brands greater levels of authenticity, transparency, privacy, and diversity. Game makers can cleverly include these ideals into their messaging even as VR grow