Fostering a supportive and loyal community is often the difference between a company getting lucky with a one-off game and a company that can build and maintain long-term growth and sustainability. In an ever-increasing digital world, marketing strategies now must find ways to build, grow, and keep their players through digital channels. The rise of influencer marketing has been one such avenue companies are using to develop such loyal fanbases. In the rest of this article, we will explore how the rise of influencer marketing is helping gaming companies grow, maintain, and engage online communities while improving revenue.

The rise of influencer marketing

Influencer marketing, in general, has become the most strategic way for companies and brands to engage consumers in a post-COVID-19 world. Businesses have improved visibility, audience reach, and profits by using recognizable faces from popular social media platforms. The gaming industry has been particularly receptive to influencer marketing, with 62% of millennials making gaming their favorite pastime and 75% of teenagers subscribing to at least one gaming influencer on social media. As a result, the influencer market has grown from $1.7 billion in 2016 to its projected size of $24 billion in 2024, and within the gaming industry, it will reach $4.6 billion in 2025, a 29% increase from the previous year. To capitalize on the effectiveness of influencer marketing, companies of all sizes—about 59.4%—now invest in influencer marketing as part of their overall marketing budget and strategy. These same companies often utilize new artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to choose which creators to work with and generate content to reduce the rising costs of user acquisitions and build a community of loyal online and offline consumers. Community building with influencer collaboration Community building is one of the most important things a company can do to ensure continued growth and sustainability. These days, community building occurs mainly online through social media platforms in our increasingly digital world. It is no longer enough to have a good game, players want to feel that they belong to a group where their voices are heard and trust is one of the core values. This is especially prominent and seen the most in the video game industry, where die-hard players turn out for their favorite studios every time a new version or game is released. Gaming influencers play a huge role in targeting the right audience, generating content for their followers who they’ve already established a trusting relationship with. This built up trust can be leveraged to promote games. The benefits of having an established community tied to your studio is tremendous. A loyal community can generate free marketing for your company when members spread the word about you through social media or word-of-mouth marketing. This can generate new users, leveraging the trust and credibility that your existing community has in your company. It can also lead to higher retention and engagement rates when your community regularly engages with your studio, meaning more revenue for your company. A loyal community also provides your company with a wealth of consumer data, helping you understand your audience's needs and wants more effectively and how to quickly drive product changes and growth. While the benefits of fostering a community are a no-brainer, there are some challenges. A community is more than just an audience; it is a relationship between the company and its consumers. Building and maintaining a community takes time and resources. Like any relationship, engagement is also a challenge. Community members need to engage with each other as much as they engage with a company, so occasional social posts won't cut it to avoid low engagement numbers. This means having an internal team or a third party to monitor and develop your community to deal with negative feedback, trolls, and conflict among your members. It also means creating content outside your company's main product to maintain relevance in your member's lives. Building your own community As you build your online community, consider these pillars: understanding your audience, choosing the right platform, providing value, fostering engagement, and creating effective influencer campaigns. The chart below will help guide you through what it takes to not only build a cost-effective community but how to ensure it thrives. An established community can:

• Boost sales
• Expand your audience
• Decrease UA costs
• Provide valuable insights
• Improve retention

When looking at successful influencer-led campaigns, the popular mobile game Among Us benefited significantly from influencer marketing. Popular streamers like DisguisedToast, Valkyrae, and Pokimane collaborated to create engaging content and drive viewership. The game's popularity among streamers can be attributed to collaborative opportunities, community-focused gameplay, and easy consumption. These factors, combined with the game's accessibility and short-form gameplay, contributed to its phenomenal growth. Regardless of their following size, Streamers found value in Among Us as a means to collaborate, grow their audiences, and benefit from increased visibility. Moon Studios and Private Division also found success with influencer marketing through a collaboration with Xsolla for their game No Rest for the Wicked. The campaign featured influencers like Cohhcarnage and Sweet Anita, effectively leveraging Xsolla's existing partnership with T2 to create a dedicated branded environment and reach a wide audience. The campaign resulted in significant user acquisition, campaign views, and peak viewers, demonstrating the power of influencer marketing in driving game awareness and engagement.

Level up with Xsolla

The easiest and most cost-effective way to leverage the power of influencer marketing to build and maintain a solid player community for your video game is to use a powerful marketing solution and online platform. Xsolla Partner Network and Xsolla Mall are just that. Xsolla Partner Network (XPN) is an affiliate marketing engine that lets you create and manage influencers and affiliate programs from one dashboard. With XPN:

• Access a massive database of influencers, from micro to mega
• Find the right partnership that best suits your target gaming audience
• Set custom revenue-sharing models and distribute free game keys among influencers
• Track campaign performance for optimal results

After you've seamlessly set up your influencer marketing campaign, utilize Xsolla Mall. This online destination offers:

• Global Reach & Exposure: Xsolla Mall provides a platform where your game can reach a global audience, allowing you to tap into new regions and demographics, thereby expanding your player base beyond existing markets.
• Customizable Storefronts: Create tailored storefronts for your game with unique branding, allowing you to feature exclusive offers, bundles, or limited-time discounts that align with your influencer campaigns.
• Integrated Influencer Sales Tracking: Easily link influencer content with direct sales through creator tags, tracking conversions and allowing influencers to earn commissions based on their impact, boosting both engagement and sales.

By utilizing both Xsolla Partner Network and Xsolla Mall, gain access to 127K+ influencers across YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and TikTok, as well as the following features:

• Unique Offers: Cashback, loyalty programs, and co-branded content to increase conversions by 10%
• Seamless User Experience: An intuitive checkout with over 700+ global payment methods
• Advanced Analytics: Track campaign performance and optimize your marketing strategy for maximum impact
• Social Media and Retargeting: Increase website traffic and improve audience awareness through curated social media channels and targeted ad campaigns

If you're ready to instantly grow your audience and earn more revenue, reach out to one of our experts today!