September 19th, 2018 | Updated on October 20th, 2018
Newzoo.com affirms that the online gaming industry, across the globe, is expected to generate revenue of $137.9 billion by the end of 2018.
The reason for such an outstanding surge in the revenue of the gaming industry for the past few years can be attributed mainly to the marketing strategies that each of the top gaming companies is able to come up with.
Marketing is not an easier ask at all. It involves a thorough study and understanding of customers’ needs.
The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processing for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large.”
This definition is enough to know the broader areas that marketing covers, and the complications involved in it.
With the gaming industry making a steady progress, thanks to its marketing abilities, let us see now some of the marketing lessons that any organisation can learn from it.
1. Naming the brand
Half the job of promoting a product is done when the same is named properly. A good name attracts the customers. So how to conclude which one is a good name for a particular product?
Yes, of course there is no denying the fact that names must be catchy. But in addition to being catchy, they need to be simple and easy to remember too.
Only then, it will be easy for someone to let know others that there exists a game by that name. Again, a title itself should be able to make one know what the game is all about to have all the gamers interested in that particular genre to latch on to it immediately.
This, precisely, is what happens in the gaming industry too where they meticulously name the brands in the user-friendly manner.
For example, every website related to Rummy card game will have the name “Rummy” in it like RummyCircle, the one of the most popular platforms to play online rummy.
Similarly, the gaming websites give catchy and yet simple names like Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, Plants Vs Zombies, etc.
Such names not only are attractive and simple to remember but also give the overall picture of what the said games are all about. So, this is the first and foremost marketing lesson that one can idolize seeing the growth of the gaming industry.
2. Technology advancement
No business in the world can survive if the incumbents are not updated with the latest advancements in technologies.
As far as the gaming industry is concerned, most of the leading gaming sites have switched to Augmented reality and Virtual reality which gives the users a sense of belongingness as they play the games and gives them a presentable experience.
Many games have won credibility just because they have started using ARs and VRs professionally. Every organisation should start following the footsteps of the gaming industry and start using AR & VR for product promotion and discovery, for exploring new customer experiences, for brand storytelling opportunities and so on.
It is believed that AR and VR can further be used to transform how people shop, eliminate pain points and improve customer service too. When gaming industry is one of the front runners in utilising technology advancement why not other industries too follow the suit?
3. Brand Story telling
One of the most important marketing tools that helps in making a brand reach out to the audience is brand storytelling.
The significance of this aspect of marketing is well stated by Harrison Monarth, New York Times as he rightly puts,
“A story can go where quantitative analysis is denied admission: our hearts. Data can persuade people, but it does not inspire them to act; do that, you need to wrap your vision in a story that fires the imagination and stir the soul.”
This exemplifies the importance of storytelling. This is where the gaming industry’s success lies. The storytelling is nothing but the narrative structure of the game which the audience are curious to understand.
When an interested gamer downloads a particular game, he needs to know the plot, the characters in it, the environment and everything.
The success of the game hinges on how well a story is narrated. This is when the players develop an urge to interact and become more involved in the game.
For example, when you want to play real cash Rummy, but you are totally blank as to how the game is played, you get to see such storytelling in the form of tutorials which will help you know the game and its rules better in addition to knowing the scenario in which the game will be played for.
A successful story so told, brings in more gamers to download and play the games. This is an art which every organisation should learn as a marketing lesson if it is looking forward to connecting with the customers better.
Conclusion
The online gaming may be just a three to four-decade old industry, but it has managed to become some sort of a phenomenon which is unimaginable in such a brief period of time, thanks to its marketing strategies.
A keen observation on the progress of each of the successful gaming sites will reveal how well they have used every marketing tool for their success.
