Gaming

How to make money in the game industry by building a personal brand on Instagram

Published

2 years ago

August 8, 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Online games become an increasingly popular form of leisure for various segments of the population, and the demand for them constantly grows. In the future, experts predict further growth in the gaming industry due to the increase of the Internet audience, the development of payment systems, investments in game development, the appearance of new successful projects, and the growing popularity of social networks. Therefore, the promotion of a personal brand in this area is of high relevance. In this article, we will consider how to create a loyal community of players, and further monetize it.

First steps in promotion

The target audience of gaming sites is young people who are concentrated on social networks. So, now Instagram is the best place for promotion, where users with maximum involvement are represented, geographic barriers are erased, and there are a great variety of advertising tools and options for earning: direct contracts with advertisers, cooperation with game developers, affiliate programs, sales of own training materials, etc.

To begin with, you need to choose a narrow niche and decide on the topic of the blog. Some bloggers take rating games as a basis. The more famous the product is on the market, the more brands have already been created and the higher the competition. Therefore, blogging on a well-known game requires finding a unique idea and original presentation. Some bloggers bet on a freer niche, new products that may also become popular in the future.

Blogging is a constant and energy-consuming job. So, choosing your favorite game will help in the matter of content regularity: it is important to play and shoot daily, communicate with the audience, come up with new tactics, etc. and it is easier to do when you are a fan of the certain game.

How to design an Instagram profile?

The profile is the face of the gamer, so it should from the first seconds engage and create a trusting first impression. Think of a short, memorable nickname, and use a close-up, high-quality, contrasting personal photo as an avatar. It is effective to add triggers to the photo that reflect the game theme.

In the profile description, indicate the key theses that reflect your activity, and confirm your experience and expertise with numbers, facts, or statistics.

An important design element is the level of popularity. At the start, it is effective to buy real Instagram followers and other popularity metrics to raise your brand status, create an effect of demand and keep the attention of a new audience.

How to develop a content strategy?

Before forming a content strategy, it is important to study the interests of your target audience. To do this, it is effective to analyze your competitors, determine the most popular topics, and create an initial content plan.

Since players follow the release of new games, their versions and are often interested in when to expect the next release, you can publish the latest industry news on the blog.

As a rule, most subscribers are newcomers to gaming. They often look for clear guides online to help them understand the intricacies of the game play. So, in the posts, list the main difficulties that beginner players face, explain why a certain problem occurs, and emphasize how players can improve their rating. That way you show that you understand the pains of your target audience.

Often games offer such a wide selection of characters, weapons, etc., that novice players are simply lost. Help them with their choice by doing an independent evaluation: list the pros and cons of the options, and place a comparison table with important characteristics.

A player’s desire to compare himself to other players is valuable currency for your business. So, spur excitement with actual research and rankings, dilute the text with info graphics and tables, emphasize the elite status of the best players, and tell how to quickly pump up the character.

Help users decide which game deserves their attention. Conduct a comparative analysis in different genres. List projects similar to their favorite classics, get readers interested in short videos and include both new and old games in the list.

Content that meets the needs of the target audience will provoke a lot of user reactions and trigger the process of organic scaling. To accelerate the results, it is effective to buy Instagram followers, likes, comments, etc. This will create a powerful trigger of social proof, increase trust for new users and reach.

How to attract a new audience?

Research shows that players respond best to Instagram Stories ads that include minimal text and dynamic video.

To attract and hold the attention of a person, it is important to convey the essence of your message in a few seconds. It does not matter if you’re presenting a trailer for a new game or want to talk about the availability of a demo or downloadable content. According to the results of the study, the best conversions were shown by ads that convey one or two key messages in three seconds.

Don’t complicate your ads. The less text in the ad, the stronger the emphasis on visual content. Although players watch ads longer, their attention gradually wanes, so longer ads (longer than 13 seconds) are not as effective as ads shorter than 10 seconds.

But simplifying doesn’t mean limiting creativity. The Stories format is combined with camera effects, augmented reality, and interactive technologies, so people expect ads on this platform to be more modern and immersive. This helps to stand out from the competition, engage the audience and demonstrate the strengths of the product.

Although in Stories more people watch videos with sound, it is important to consider all options and make sure that the meaning of advertising is clear even without sound.

To sum up, a gaming blog on Instagram is a project for the long term, which requires regularity in actions and a comprehensive approach. With the right approach, you will form a valuable asset, which will pay off with huge financial opportunities at a distance.

Up Next

India’s Ibrahim qualifies for Sim Racing World Cup final

Don't Miss

Personalisation in sportsbook roundtable

Click to comment

Gaming

Midjiwan opens Stockholm’s first co-working space for game developers

Published

3 days ago

April 17, 2024

Adrienn Sarkany

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Midjiwan, the award-winning independent studio behind The Battle of Polytopia, today announces the opening of Game Town, Stockholm’s first coworking space for game developers.

In addition to being a new home for Midjiwan, Game Town will also serve as a base for Toppluva AB, the makers of Grand Mountain Adventure; Warm Kitten AB, the developers behind Justin Wack and the Big Time Hack; Gro Play AB, a studio creating educational games; and Dataspelsbranschen, Sweden’s trade association for video game companies. More game development companies are expected to join over the next few months.

The Swedish games industry, including subsidiaries abroad, generated SEK 86.5 billion (USD $7.9 billion) in 2022, according to a Dataspelsbranschen report. Gaming is a strong growth industry, accounting for over 4 percent of Sweden’s total service exports. Game Town will become a creative, innovative, and social meeting place, further solidifying Stockholm as a key games industry hub with industry meetups, mixers, and game showcases hosted for indie and AAA developers.

Södermalm, the Stockholm island where Game Town is located, has one of the highest concentrations of game developers. The nearby areas constitute a cluster for companies within game development, housing among others Paradox, DICE, Fatshark, and Epic Games.

Christian Lövstedt, General Manager at Midjiwan, commented:

“Game Town will become a professional and playful environment for smaller game studios that want to work and develop among other developers. We’re looking to create a community of people who share our same passion for gaming and game development. Game Town will bring together indie developers and freelancers to create an open and welcoming place for the entire industry to gather.”

Per Strömbäck, Chairman of Dataspelsbranschen.

“Within a kilometer radius of Södermalm, there are at least 3,000 game developers, making it perhaps the most densely populated place for game developers in the world. Here, games are created for billions of players worldwide. Perhaps there is something in the Earth’s magnetic field that makes local games particularly good? Game Town will be located right in the middle of this hub, so it is only right that our own office should be right here.”

Gaming

Metaverse Studio Karta Reaches Huge Milestone with New Game Beat Builder

Published

4 days ago

April 16, 2024

Alan Campbell

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Karta pushes the boundaries of music game innovation with Built Builder on Fortnite – reaching 100k players

Beat Builder is Fortnite’s first-ever build-based rhythm game
Karta partners with NoCopyrightSounds for the game’s music library
Two new big songs just added: Royalty by Egzod & Maestro Chives and Invincible by Deaf Kev

Karta, an award-winning metaverse studio pioneering the world of in-game experiential marketing, continues to push the boundaries of music game innovation as its latest project, Beat Builder, reaches 100,000 players.

Beat Builder is an interactive music rhythm game where players put down walls, ramps, floors and cones to the beat of the music. Centred on building a core Fortnite gameplay feature used in its very popular Battle Royal, Beat Builder is the first-ever build-based rhythm game on the platform. As well as being a music-filled experience played for fun, the game is also used as a practice tool for players to improve their game-playing skills on Fortnite.

To create the game’s eclectic music library, Karta has partnered with NoCopyrightSounds, a copyright-free record label and music platform. Focusing on drumstep, phonk and trap electronic music for now, with artists such as Twisted, if found, XTOM and Lost Sky, players interact with the stems of each song that have their own visual world to match the vibe. Karta aims to develop the game further, updating it with a plethora of new music and genres such as metal, K-pop and rock. The long-term aim of Beat Builder is to integrate artists into Fortnite to share their music with fans, with the game becoming a recognised platform for exploring new artists and music.

Reaching 100,000 players is a significant milestone for a new metaverse game with Beat Builder continuing to grow in popularity since its launch recently. To mark the milestone, Karta has updated the game with two of NCS biggest songs; Royalty by Egzod & Maestro Chives and Invincible by Deaf Kev and is already planning further extensions, partnerships and new seasons.

“We’re thrilled that Beat Builder has gotten off to such a great start,” the Chief Executive Officer for Karta, Erik Londre, said. “We wanted to create a rhythm game that felt 100% Fortnite native, where the music is connected to the platform’s core building gameplay. A rhythm game that makes you a better gamer is an idea that excites us a lot.”

“Beat Builder truly encapsulates what Karta is all about; innovative and forward-thinking design that combines incredible music with interactive gaming in one entertaining place,” the Chief Growth Officer for Karta, Tony Barnes, said. “Music’s presence in the metaverse is evolving and we think Beat Builder has the potential to become its own platform for artists and brands to authentically connect to a Fortnite audience through gameplay and new music. We can’t wait to develop it and see how it grows.”

Since launching in 2021, Karta has worked with brands such as Amazon Music, McDonald’s and Hugo Boss. As well as working with Spotify on its iconic global campaign, Spotify Wrapped, to gamify the listening habits of Spotify users and bring this into the metaverse. Through these partnerships, Karta is reshaping entertainment experiences in the metaverse and creating meaningful connections between brands and their audiences. In the past year, the London-based studio has also worked with global artists like Nicki Minaj for her Gag City experience in Roblox, K-pop giant Blackpink with its hugely popular Blackpink the Palace and Twice with its Twice Square, which has become the most successful persistent music experience on Roblox.

“We’re very happy to provide the music for Beat Builder, a brilliant new game that gives players the chance to interact with the music like never before,” the Brand Manager for NCS, Charlotte Lee, said. “It has the potential to become a go-to platform for music gaming and we’re proud to support it.”

Beat Builder is available now to explore on Fortnite. For more information, go to www. Karta. game.

eSports

Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov is a New Virtus.pro Player

Published

5 days ago

April 15, 2024

Alan Campbell

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov (pictured), one of the most decorated and famous players in CS2, a Major champion and winner of the Intel Grand Slam, is moving to Virtus.pro.

“The arrival of star players always generates excitement within the club and among its fans,” the Chief Executive Officer for Virtus.pro, Nikolai Petrossian, said. “Denis is a well-known figure in the world of eSports with an impressive list of major victories and exceptional skill. Few players won both at Major and Intel Grand Slam events.

“Our CS2 roster is strong thanks to teamwork, a clearly defined playstyle and the individual talents of our players. Transferring players with outstanding skills to improve specific areas is a common practice in sports. I am confident that Denis joining will give a powerful boost to the team in the upcoming challenges in Dallas, London and beyond.

“Denis will replace Nikolay ‘mir’ Bityukov in the VP lineup. Nikolay has been a loyal and valuable member of our team and we express our gratitude for his contributions. Nikolay ‘mir’ Bityukov is open to offers from other teams.”

“Virtus.pro is a top team,” Sharipov said. “The core of the roster has won a Major not a while ago and all the players are in their prime and ready for victories right now. We share the same ambitions and goals. Besides, I’m also excited about the idea of playing with Jame as he’s one of the most unique IGLs in the game. Can’t wait to adapt to my new team and start doing what I came here for, winning trophies.”

Sharipov has dozens of victories at elite tournaments, including: