Advertising in video games is a thriving opportunity for brands as they can take their offerings to arguably the most attentive user base on the internet. We created an insightful video to help you understand how brands can get the most out of their advertising efforts in video and mobile games.
**The number of active video gamers across the world is predicted to reach 2.471 billion by the end of 2019, which is slightly lesser than the number of social media usersOpens a new window .** This substantial chunk of active and dedicated internet + smartphone users naturally attracts brands as they see a lucrative advertising avenue with an attentive audience base.
If you haven’t yet started using advertising in video and mobile games, here are ten tips to help you begin.
1. Understand Thy Audience
**Knowing your target audience’s geographic, behavioral, and demographic characteristics establishes the basis of your advertising. This information can help you figure out what types of games your target audience plays.** For instance, if your target audience consists of tech-savvy males in the age group of 18-25, running your ads on first-person shooter (FPS) games is often a safe bet.
There could be slow growth in the campaign analytics as your ads can also be seen by an entirely different audience due to the wide appeal of video games. The key is to keep tweaking your audience targeting until you get favorable results.
2. Know the Game’s Business Model
Advertisements are primarily used in two types of games, viz.:
- Freemium Games: Video games that are free to play, but you need to pay to avail additional features
- Free to Play (F2P) Games: Games that are essentially free, but with heavily promote ads to generate revenue
Knowing the revenue generation stream will help marketers plan ad placements. For example, freemium games can nudge users a bit with ads in hopes of users eventually upgrading to the premium version to avail ad-free experiences, whereas F2P games are more careful with ads due to high competition in the F2P niche.
Therefore, know what type of game you’re targeting so that you can manage and modify your ad placement and frequency.
3. Choose Multiple Ad Networks
When your target audience is dispersed across a wide array of characteristics, it is rare for a single ad network to fulfill all your requirements. A smart choice is to work with different ad networks that cater to different segments of your audience.
This might sound like a lot of work as you need to evaluate different parameters and choose ad networks, but you can automate this activity through an ad mediation platform.
Ad mediation platforms help advertisers get the optimal effective cost per mile (eCPM)Opens a new window by showing ads to the right ad network based on the preferences set by the advertiser.
Learn More: The Renaissance of Contextual AdvertisingOpens a new window
4. Don’t Ruin the Gaming Experience
No gamer would appreciate being interrupted by a full-screen banner ad during gameplay. Your goal as a marketer/advertiser is to identify the precise instances when ads will be displayed without being an annoyance.
**If you are planning to run interstitial or video ads, it’s wise to run them during the natural pauses such as level completion, loading screens, etc. of the gameplay for minimal interruption.**
5. Customize Creative Assets
If you’re contemplating the use of static, dynamic or native ads, the most important thing to ensure is that your ads match the form of the video game. Due to platform similarities, marketers often reuse the same design for multiple display ad platforms.
This is often not the case with video games. Your ads should not disrupt the visuals of the game. Instead, they should blend in with the overall User Interface (UI). To improve ad click-throughs, design custom graphics for each game or ad network.
6. Don’t Force Users to Leave the Game
Another way to deliver good User Experience (UX) is to ensure that the player isn’t being taken out of the game after they click on your ads. Taking them out of the game directly impacts gameplay and causes annoyance, especially if the user has accidentally clicked on your ad.
Therefore, strive to convey all the information through the ad without requiring the user to leave the game, and in case if they have to, ask for permission first.
Learn More: Data-driven, Dynamic and Dynamite: Welcome to the New Era of DisplayOpens a new window
7. Experiment with Frequency Capping
Frequency capping is limiting the number of times a user sees your ad. If you don’t show your ads often, users will find it difficult to establish brand recall. On the other hand, if you overpromote, the law of diminishing returns will kick in due to ad fatigue. As users grow desensitized to your ads, your advertisements will have lesser impact.
Experiment with frequency capping according to the day, week or month to identify the most effective slots where you start generating a justifiable return on ad spend (ROAS) without turning off your audience.
8. Consider the Impact of Banner Noise
While we’re on the topic of ad desensitization, let’s talk about banner noise or ad blindness.
User behavior is evolving to the level where they’re growing accustomed to ads. This has led to users knowingly or unknowingly ignoring banner ads. This behavior can be seen in pro-gamers who are aware of every nook and cranny of the game.
So, if you see a sudden drop in the engagement, you need to consider and evaluate the possibility of banner blindness.
9. Take Ad Blockers Into Consideration
The use of ad blockers is on the rise among end-users and is a major cause for concern for publishers and advertisers.
While bigger brands can invest in advergaming to battle ad blockers, not every business has the required funding to create their own games.
**Although ad blockers haven’t impacted video games to a great extent yet, run ads that don’t interrupt the gameplay and benefits users in some way.**
Learn More: 3 Tips for Executing a Successful Mobile Native Advertising CampaignOpens a new window
10. Bank on Rewarded Video Ads
Benefits could be in the form of rewards. Rewarded video ads can boost your advertising efforts. Rewarded video ads deliver value in return to users for watching a video. This can be widely observed in freemium games where if users are not willing to pay to buy inventory (such as coins or power-ups), they can watch a video ad for the reward instead.
Rewarded video ads bring in more engagement as the user is willingly watching the ad, and if the ad catches their attention, it leads to an action (such as clicks or app installation).
Closing Thoughts
There you have it: understand your audience, the business model, ad networks and accordingly create ads that fit into the gaming environment without hampering the gaming experience.
We hope these tips will help you get the maximum out of your advertising efforts in video games. Like any marketing or advertising activity, there’s no silver bullet that will assure guaranteed results. Keep iterating to find the strategies and tactics that work best for you.
What advertising tactics have worked for you in the past? Let us on FacebookOpens a new window , Twitter Opens a new window or LinkedInOpens a new window . We’re always listening!