Marketing is essential to any business, particularly when you are looking to make a splash about a new product or feature. And in the context of the gaming industry, an effective marketing strategy can lead to more engagement with a wider audience.
In an industry that is constantly changing, however, it’s challenging to keep up with the latest marketing trends. This is where Marija Hammon, Head of Marketing at Relax Gaming, comes in.
In a chat with CasinoBeats, Hammon begins by giving us an overview of some of the biggest marketing trends that we’ve seen in the gaming industry in 2023. She highlights the relationship between product innovation and effective marketing before offering her opinion on the video content versus traditional social media debate.
A shifting landscape
Hammon started out in the gambling industry back in 2017 at Catena Media, before making the move to Relax Gaming in 2019.
In that time, the marketing landscape within the gaming industry has shifted tremendously. Multimedia and social content has become a more prevalent marketing channel, brands are becoming more creative with how they showcase their offerings and – from an engagement standpoint – players have become more demanding.
But despite the dramatic shifts in marketing trends, Hammon believes that the “core functions and fundamentals” have largely remained the same.
She began: “Principally, marketing is about educating players and operators about the fantastic products which you either already have or upcoming launches which represent months of hard work from our studios.
“The market has become much more competitive so standing out from the crowd and/or tailoring your marketing to a more localised audience is a key shift.”
With these changes, it has become imperative for game studios to keep a close eye on the developments taking place in the markets that they operate in, as well as those further afield. By doing this, and adopting a more fluid approach to marketing, suppliers can find new ways to stand out from the competition.
Hammon added: “If anything surprises me it is the speed and volume of new suppliers coming up, and the fact that your traditional competitors are evolving all the time.
“Staying static in your marketing approach in this landscape is a very risky thing to do and you always need to stay on top of your industry (and global) research, continuously looking for ways to embrace change in the best way possible, whilst always being brave enough to set trends and stand out. That’s the only way to be at the forefront instead of merely following.”
A new standard for marketing
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years, the exponential growth in video content has been somewhat inescapable. The gaming industry hasn’t been an exception to this rule, either. In fact, a number of game developers have begun to use video streaming capabilities as a means to engage with the more tech-savvy millennial generation.
Video streaming and multimedia content has been a core vertical of marketing Relax Gaming’s titles, as evidenced by the popularity of Money Train 4.
The inclusion of video-led strategies isn’t just imperative for game developers. According to Hammon, it’s part of the “standard” for content consumption.
So what about more ‘traditional’ social media engagement strategies? Well, according to the Head of Marketing, video content can create new levels of engagement with players that go beyond that of social networks.
She said: “Whilst traditional social is of course important to stimulate awareness, video streaming really creates a deeper level of engagement and understanding, which is the element we value most in that regard.
“Traditional social largely reminds or attracts a more casual audience in many ways, whereas those who are actively in watching video streaming are likely high enthusiasts, spanning across all budgets, who have an active desire to understand more about what’s coming out.”
Streaming has arguably become one of the most popular forms of video content in the gaming industry, and one that Relax Gaming has made its mark on already.
One of the reasons that Hammon believes streaming has become more popular is due to the rise in higher volatility slots. She explained: “Streamers have had a large impact in the type and desire of the mechanics being built. The learnings are extremely valuable. Anyone skipping this step is missing out on creating a product that will truly satisfy audiences.
“The rise of higher and higher volatility slots are in part, down to streamers wanting to advertise bigger and bigger win potential and max wins. The industry has shifted a gear in terms of volatility in recent years and this is a direct cause and effect brought about by streamer play.
“The job of a supplier is to create an exciting product and the role of streamers are to expose the potential and excitement of that product so the two have in recent times had a symbiotic flow. Ultimately, however, this might well be shifting back as regulated market and operator demands are starting to see this trend settle if not reverse.”
New versus classics
Part of the challenge of marketing new game titles, and even the development of slots, is finding a theme which players are going to enjoy. Do you run the risk of creating a new theme that players will be unfamiliar with but may bring something new to the table? Or do you stick to the classics?
Creating a new theme may sound like a great idea on paper, but it doesn’t come without its own set of challenges, as Hammon explained. “Nowadays, there are thousands of games on the market covering a massive spectrum so to be truly innovative is challenging and comes with numerous complexities.”
An alternative solution would be to take a classic theme and offer a fresh twist – one that goes beyond just switching up the graphics, and instead incorporates a range of innovative features.
This, the Head of Marketing said, can open up a lot of potential to tap into that classic player base while also still bringing something new to the table. This sounds like a win-win – after all, a game becomes a classic for a reason.
“Resonation with a broad group of players requires a familiar feel but unique twist – no one really wants to see ‘another leprechaun’ or ‘another Egyptian god’, but, create something interesting in these elements and you generate an interest,” she added.
But for Hammon, the theme isn’t the only contributing factor to a player enjoying a particular title. A sense of familiarity can help players to resonate more with a title, which explains why we see so many of the same themes cropping up each month.
In 2024, she advised that game developers should focus more on creating a strong connection between the theme and the mechanics of the game should they want their titles to stand out from the crowd.
“Players enjoy the familiar, but for a game to be a true hit it needs to have a daring element to it – something different. Relying on the same theme in combination with a known mechanic is actually quite boring and players are all too aware (and cautious) of this trend.
“A solid theme opens up the elements of curiosity but it’s how unique, fun and engaging the mechanic and storyline are that will foster interest.”
Innovation in marketing
Over the course of this year, the word ‘innovation’ has cropped up a lot. Quite often, this is associated with the development of new products, new features and even the incorporation of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
From a marketing perspective, innovation on the product side can really help when it comes to showcase a particular element of the game. Hammon noted that innovation comes in various different forms, so this really must be taken into consideration when creating your marketing strategy.
“Having a quality product and something innovative to discuss or showcase certainly helps to create an appeal and unique marketing angle.
“Innovation comes in many forms and the representation of this really depends on what angle you want to highlight. If it’s graphical, then what makes it special or what the narrative is that makes it exciting should be highlighted – if it’s mechanical, what is unique and why a player should be excited are focus areas.
“Accentuating the USPs of a product has never been more important. As a supplier you need to ensure a player understands why this is good to try and operators understand why it is a good thing to market.”
As the industry continues to adopt more and more advanced technology, however, it’s going to be a challenge for marketing teams to keep up with trends.
According to Hammon, marketing will undoubtedly need to change and evolve at a similar, if not faster, pace than the business to ensure that messaging remains both relevant and engaging. You wouldn’t want to use a two year old social media trend to promote a newly-released game, for example.
She said: “Marketing always needs to be ahead of the curve to ensure that products truly stand out; that key messages are correctly positioned, and that targeted audiences are delivered to as intended. Adequate planning and a 360° approach is key to making this happen.
“Marketing has the principal job of bringing the company brand to the operator and customer mindset but also a key role in presenting its suite of products and services. In a highly competitive market the role of marketing becomes even more essential in the success of the company.
”Supplier marketing also needs to look carefully at player and operator marketing behaviour and not just what ‘it knows’ – keeping up to date with these means that plans could be fluidly adapted if needed.
“Adaptability and speed at which it takes place is an important element to any mix. Being locked into a plan – or mindset – is a failed approach, in my opinion, particularly in a world and industry that moves at such a fast pace.”
As you might imagine, with a constantly changing landscape, it’s nigh on impossible to even begin to predict what might be the ‘next big thing’ in the world of marketing.
But, from what we’ve seen so far, Hammon is confident that we will see more suppliers begin to use affiliate marketing and video streaming as a way to engage players.
She concluded: “It’s not clear what the next jump will be, and trends are difficult to predict, but what we do know is that we are seeing an increase of marketing budgets allocated to affiliates and video streaming, along with perhaps a reduction on print media (although this is not the case for some markets – e.g US) and activities such as awards sponsorships.
“Again, these decisions often depend on the growth stage, goals and intentions of individual companies. This is why marketing has to be case-by-case and not a blanket approach applied to all.
“To say which channels will be the most important in five years is too far into the future, as things change daily. Focus should instead be applied to adapting to market needs and direction which is constantly changing.”
