Social media is one tool that gaming brands can’t afford to miss out on. After all, there are roughly 2.5 billion Facebook users, one billion Instagram users, 1.8 billion YouTube users, and 330 million Twitter users. That’s a lot of potential to better reach your audience, engage with your audience, and grow your audience.
Not sure where to go from there? Here are some tips gaming brands should follow on social media:
Know Where Your Audience Is
Before you can effectively reach your audience, you need to know where they are. As demonstrated above, the top social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. While it certainly doesn’t hurt to have some presence on all of these platforms, where you are most active should depend on where your audience is most active. Facebook and Instagram are likely a given for your brand, so let’s take a look at YouTube and Twitter.
YouTube is one of the most popular platforms for gaming brands because it is a social video platform. It is a great choice for eSports-related brands because the site already hosts eSports tournaments, highlights, gameplay, strategy discussion, and commentary with ease. It would also be a good choice for casino or general video game brands that want to highlight events, gaming strategies, or post interviews.
Although Twitter has the fewest number of users, it still remains one of the most popular social platforms for sports. Athletes with only a few million followers on Instagram might have five times as many on Twitter. This is especially important for eSports brands to keep in mind. They could extend their reach by engaging with athletes (who are increasingly investing in eSports) or athletes’ fans, who might also be active eSports players.
Create Relevant Content
The more your brand focuses on, the easier it will be to come up with ideas for social media content. For example, PokerStars dominantly focuses on casino games, news, and gaming tutorials. So, if they want to create content for Instagram, they could advertise new game releases and upcoming events, post photos from past tournaments and events, and share infographics about gaming.
If you’re still having trouble coming up with ideas, see what types of content your competitors are already producing. You should also see what they’re not producing, and think about how you can improve on what they’re doing — or at least offer a different take. It is worth the time investment to do social media – especially Twitter – correctly. If you are struggling for content ideas take a look at Twiend's Twitter Growth Guide for some inspiration and different tactics you can put to use.
Find Your Voice
Your brand’s voice should be consistent across platforms — your website, social media, events, and so on. But that doesn’t mean it can’t vary a bit depending on the platform. For instance, you might want your social media sites to be more casual than your website.
No matter what, make sure that your brand is authentic, approachable, and trustworthy. Don’t lie to your audience, make promises you can’t keep, sell snake oil, or look down on them. They are the reason your brand is a success, and they will be able to tell when they’re being tricked. And that’s a quick way to make sure you lose your audience.
Post Content Frequently, But Not Too Frequently
People are always looking for more content, and it’s far better to create too much content than too little. However, when posting content it’s usually best to come up with a schedule and routine. You want a nice balance of content. You don’t want to post ten Instagram photos in one day and then not post again for two weeks. Space it out and make sure you’re posting on a regular basis. If you’re infrequent about your posting, your audience will quickly forget about you, and that’s something you definitely don’t want.
Use Social Media Management Software
The best way to stay on top of all your social media is to invest in social media management software. You can sync all of your accounts, schedule regular posts, monitor audience engagement, see which types of content are performing best (based on engagement), learn about audience behavior, and so on. It will help you to stay on top of your content production and provide you with the data you need to see how well your social media strategy is actually working, and whether or not it needs to be altered.
