As a company at the forefront of gaming globally, we have somewhat of a privileged view with regards to the evolution of the marketing tools needed for success. Those familiar with our industry will know how central influencer marketing is as a lever for growth with regards to expanding your company’s reach and fostering an authentic community that contributes to business goals.
At Overwolf, we operate the largest repository of gaming desktop apps and mods (via CurseForge) in the world, empowering over 43M gamers monthly to expand and enhance their playtime experience. Whilst our reach is expansive, we are constantly looking for new ways to grow our audience, and influencer marketing has become a pivotal part of our strategy.
As we look to expand our team (and hire a new Influencer Marketing Manager), we wanted to share three specific tips that can help those currently looking for new career opportunities in this industry.
1. Prove Your Knowledge By Being In The Action
In this competitive landscape, differentiation is key for job seekers. At Overwolf we seek candidates who are “doers” and who can demonstrate their knowledge and passion through previous experience.
Whilst this can certainly come from simply working at previous companies, candidates who stand out within influencer marketing tend to have personal experience as an influencer or content creator themselves. Demonstrating your aptitude for this vertical of marketing via your own “side hustle” or hobby is just one indicator that you have a more unique perspective to offer.
Whilst you may not be involved in gaming directly, having your own influencer/content creation experience gives you a far deeper knowledge of the current landscape of social channels, algorithm and content trends, the most effective methods for follower growth vs engagement and predicted results.
In addition to this, a super star quality is someone who may already maintain personal connections to communities of content creators/influencers that can be leveraged or at least learnt from with regards to contract negotiations, expected campaign KPIs and the process of authentic content creation. Overwolf already has a handful of independent influencers working full-time in different areas of our marketing department, and their unique understanding of both our company’s and an influencer’s long-term objectives dramatically help shape success for both parties.
2. Dive Deep, Always
Effective marketing in gaming comes from profound immersion in the industry. Understanding both the commercial aspects and the cultural dynamics that drive gaming trends is crucial.
When we consider influencer marketing, a deep knowledge of specific gaming communities and where they live is gold dust to us. From Discord to Twitch, TikTok to YouTube, Reddit to X, star candidates know the nuances of different audience groups within gaming and know the most effective ways to approach and collaborate with influencers to meet our business objectives.
As a specific example, perhaps the engagement of a select group of smaller influencers that is already natively promoting Minecraft mods would be cheaper and vastly more impactful than a large-scale creator that comes with a heavy price tag. Alongside this, understanding how pre-roll ads on a content creator’s YouTube channel vs overlays on a Twitch influencer’s stream for League of Legends audiences may guide a KPI-driven strategy in a profoundly more effective way.
3. Think Outside The Box
When considering the saturated nature of influencer marketing within gaming, we are always searching for fresh perspectives to find new pockets of opportunity that no one else is thinking of. As we often say at Overwolf, “when everyone is turning left, try turning right”.
Perhaps there are new creative ways to work with influencers that aren't just “this video is sponsored by…” style campaigns. To get more granular, if we’re focused on reaching new Valorant audiences to raise awareness of an Overwolf companion desktop app, perhaps meme accounts on TikTok will unlock a new and untapped audience versus working with well-known influencers in the community that may already be aware of our products.
This is just one small example of how a star candidate may approach an industry like ours by employing more unique strategies that other companies in our ecosystem may not be considering.
Looking for a new opportunity as an Influencer Marketing Manager in gaming?
If what we’ve laid out resonates with you, and aligns with your own experience and way of thinking, then consider applying for our Influencer Marketing Manager position and join our incredibly talented team.
You can find more information about the role (and other open positions) right here.