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Every day, several dozen to hundreds of Twitch streamers are paid to stream new video games. The coverage these streamers bring to a new game launch can pay off many times over, assuming the right creators were selected for the campaign.
And that’s the rub…how do you select the best creators to promote a new game’s launch?
Variety streamers on Twitch and YouTube bring versatility and strong viewer engagement to their game developer and publisher partnerships. As opposed to single-game specialists that focus on only one or a small subset of games, variety streamers can play hundreds of different video games each year. Their audiences are used to seeing varied content and stick with their favorite gaming creator no matter what they stream.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
Engaged audiences watch more content and are more likely to purchase games and products promoted by content creators. Evaluating a creator for your campaign that has millions of followers but only 500 average concurrent viewership (ACV)? That’s low engagement.
A phenomenon that gaming-focused Twitch streamers encounter is the dreaded viewer drop-off when they deviate from the primary game(s) their audience expects. Game developers and publishers looking to sponsor streamers on your next game launch need to carefully assess viewership drop-off.
In this post, we want to delve into why it happens and how gaming content creators and their game dev/publisher partners can best collaborate.
EXPECTATIONS
When a creator experiences significant viewership drop-off the likely culprit is mismatched audience expectations. As a Twitch streamer builds their audience, their followers have usually joined their community because they enjoy their type of content or the game they are playing.
If the viewer expects a certain genre or game, they can be quickly thrown off when this changes. If a gaming content creator who predominantly focuses on World of Warcraft, for example, then switches to Stardew Valley, the audience expectation isn’t met, meaning less of that streamer’s regular viewers will show up to the stream.
MISALIGNMENT
A gaming content creator switching to different genres or games may also showcase a misalignment between them and their audience. Yes, a content creator may be excited about exploring new games on stream but their audience may not, leading to a drop-off in viewers and therefore engagement - which is not the desired outcome for brands and publishers working with creators.
Authenticity is key and gaming content creators have the most loyal following on social media and the audience will immediately see any inauthenticity.
According to a study featured on Cloutboost, streamers switching from their regular game see an average of 32% drop in viewer numbers, which you can see below.
SO, WHAT SHOULD BRANDS AND PUBLISHERS THINK ABOUT WHEN SELECTING CONTENT CREATORS TO AVOID VIEW DROP OFF?
VARIETY STREAMERS
Here at GG Talent Group, we have a large and diverse range of variety streamers on our roster. Variety streamers are a powerful partner for game devs and publishers, as they cover a wide variety of games and genres. This diversity not only keeps their content fresh and exciting but also attracts a more diverse audience with varied interests and preferences - which creates more of an impact than the size of the creator. You can see more about this in our blog.
In general, variety streamers boast viewership that is:
- More loyal
- Willing to try a range of games
- Trust the creators’ judgment when it comes to its brand partners
All of these traits are incredibly important when marketing a new video game via influencer channels.
According to Gamesight, using creators which have less than half of their content dedicated to one came can minimize risks. If a steamer's concentration on a single game exceeds 50% the risk of viewer drop off increases massively - which you can see below.
MAXIMIZING YOUR PAID INFLUENCER SPEND
The gaming industry has been through ups and downs the last few years, but the one constant is the need to maximize influencer marketing budgets. A failed campaign reflects poorly on a brand’s management and the agency or agencies they contract. Even a few poorly-fit influencers can spell disaster for a campaign’s KPIs.
Alignment between a new video game, creators’ interests, and the interests of their audience is more important than ever before.
Once you’ve selected the best creators for your campaign, or worked with a professional agency like GG Talent Group to support your influencer discovery process, make sure you’re paying for engagement, not followers. You would think in 2024 that follower counts as a key indicator of a creator’s value would be a thing of the past, but you’d be surprised! It doesn’t matter how many legacy followers a creator has…only their engaged viewership matters.
SEAMLESS INTEGRATION
The games played by a gaming content creator can offer opportunities for seamless integration and activation of brand messaging and assets.
To avoid viewer drop-off when working with a gaming content creator, brands should assess whether the content creator's gameplay style, commentary, and audience engagement present opportunities for organic brand placement, sponsored content, or collaborative activations - authenticity is key (and we will keep reminding everyone of that!)
Partnerships that leverage the natural connection between the content creator's content and the brand's objectives are more likely to resonate with audiences and drive meaningful engagement.
There is a surprisingly large amount of data available on viewership drop, you just need to know how to find it! (Or drop us an email, we live and breathe this data). Data is your friend, use it!
TO CONCLUDE…
When choosing creators for your influencer campaign, game developers and publishers should carefully consider the games played by gaming content creators before entering into partnerships to reduce the risk of viewer drop-off.
Ultimately, aligning with content creators who’s game and genre selection resonates with a brands value and objectives will allow them to unlock the full potential of influencer marketing.
If you need any advice on how to create a results-oriented influencer marketing campaign get in touch via our website or drop us an email on info@ggtalentgroup.com.
