Marketing Trends in the iGaming Industry

The gaming market is broadening as technology advances. Games are simulating the real world more vividly, hence becoming more attractive. For this reason, the number of gamers is increasing every day, thus challenging marketers to come up with new ways to gain a bigger piece of the pie.

There is a wide range of online games, ranging from adventure games to online casino games. This article will go through some of the latest trends marketers have adopted in iGaming.

Most Popular iGaming Marketing Trends

According to UK casino marketing statistics, the online gaming scene is so big that it hit the $231 billion mark in 2021. To increase their revenue, gaming companies have adopted several marketing trends.

Popularization of Mobile Gaming

Before the smartphone age, programmers could not make immersive and complex multi-level games for mobile devices due to their limited processing power. They made games without plots, such as puzzle games.

When smartphone use became widespread, programmers started making games like Fruit Ninja and Candy Crush. Gaming enthusiasts can now play an assortment of games on their devices. Mobile games are now easily accessible, and people can play them anywhere since they do not require a console or special device. To increase downloads, companies have started using influencers to popularize these games. Marketing also took the direction of players enjoying games anywhere and anytime.

Marketing Leaning on Women

Most people view gaming as a men-only activity. The widespread assumption is that video games are not attractive to women. For this reason, gaming companies would create animal-focused simulators, puzzles, and dress-up games for women.

Contrary to common belief, women also play adventure and action games. In fact, 45% of people actively involved in gaming in 2021 were women. This statistic shows the potential of the female gaming scene. For this reason, marketers have adopted the use of women influencers and Twitch streamers. However, companies should consider avoiding the over-sexualization of women in games since most female gamers view it as offensive.

Aggressive Branding

Branding is an essential component in marketing. It helps consumers to relate to a product, thus increasing the purchases. For instance, Sega used aggressive branding to compete with Nintendo in the ’90s. Sega portrayed Sonic as this cool and exciting character in their game, Sonic the Hedgehog. Most players found the character more fun than Mario, Nintendo’s game character.

For this reason, Sega grabbed a portion of Nintendo’s market share. In addition to Sonic the Hedgehog being fun, its leading character also came with a lot of sass.

Hyping Up a Game

Trailers introduce a movie’s plot and are great to market a product before it is released. Marketers are now using gameplay footage to advertise games. These footages help to build anticipation and stimulate conversation before the game release. Gaming companies have also started using gaming reviewers and influencers to cover a game before release. The influencers increase a game’s hype on channels such as YouTube, hence popularizing it.

Using Referrals to Attract New Players

Referrals are one of the easiest and most affordable methods to gain new players. Developers add an invite button in various stages of a game, which players use to invite their friends to try it. This method has a high conversion rate since players will recommend a game to people who are likely to try it.

Final Thoughts

There is only one method to remain relevant in the game-developing scene – adopting new innovative ways to reach out to players. Competition chokes gaming companies that fail to adapt. From low-budget marketing strategies such as referrals to expensive ones like aggressive branding, each has differing conversion rates, but all are proving to be valuable.