A high-level look at video game marketing. We focus on identifying target audiences, building buyer personas, company archetypes and building a fundamentally-sound video game marketing funnel.

1. tWELCOME TO
VIDEO GAME MARKETING
ROBIN DHANJU, 2019

2. COURSE OVERVIEW
MAY 6TH, 2019
• INTRODUCTIONS
• FUNDAMENTALS OF DEVELOPING A GTM STRATEGY
• BUILDING BUYER PERSONA
• BUILDING YOUR GAME (COMPANY’S PERSONA)
• IDENTIFYING TOP, MID AND BOTTOM FUNNEL ACTIVITIES
• A/B TESTING AND LETTING THE DATA TALK
VIDEO GAMES ARE BAD FOR YOU?
THAT’S WHAT THEY ABOUT
ROCK AND ROLL.
SHIGERU MIYAMOTO
VIDEO GAME DESIGNER, NINTENDO

3. COURSE OVERVIEW
[ JUNE 4TH, 2019]
• STRATEGIES TO GROW AWARENESS FOR YOUR GAME
• DIGITAL MARKETING
• EMAIL MARKETING
• SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
• PPC
• INFLUENCER MARKETING
• TRADITIONAL MARKETING
• TRADESHOWS
• FOCUS GROUPS
• CROSS-PROMOTION PEOPLE DON’T BUY WHAT YOU DO,
THEY BUY WHY YOU DO IT.
SIMON SINEK
MARKETING CONSULTANT

4. COURSE OVERVIEW
[JUNE 10TH, 2019]
• DEVELOPING A MARKETING STRATEGY FOR YOUR GAME
• WALKTHROUGH DIFFERENT MEDIUMS
• USING FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM
• THINGS TO BE WARY OF
AMAZING THINGS WILL HAPPEN
WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THE
CONSUMER.
JONATHAN MILDENHALL
CMO OF AIRBNB

5. ABOUT ME
ROBIN DHANJU
AREA OF SPECIALIZATION:
DIGITAL / SOCIAL
STRATEGY
Journalism
Weins Canada Inc.
Shepherd
GameX
Enthusiast Gaming
JSF Group Inc

6. t
YOUR TURN

7. FUNDAMENTALS

8. WHAT CRITERIA DO YOU FOCUS ON?
1. DEFINE YOUR COMPANY’S
ARCHETYPE.
2. WHAT DEMOGRAPHIC ARE YOU
GOING AFTER?
3. SELECT A COLOUR PALETTE AND
TYPOGRAPHY THAT MATCHES YOUR
AUDIENCE.
4. SELECT THE MEDIUMS THAT YOU
WANT TO ADVERTISE ON.
YOUR BRAND
SONY VS NINTENDO
1. DEFINE THEIR BUYER PERSONAS.
2. DO YOU WANT TO TARGET A SPECIFIC
REGION?
3. WHAT ARE THEIR INTERESTS &
BEHAVIORS?
4. WHERE DO THEY GO TO CONSUME
CONTENT?
YOUR AUDIENCE
DEMOGRAPHIC

9. DEVELOPING YOUR
COMPANY’S
ARCHETYPE:
WHICH OF THE
FOLLOWING
ARCHETYPES
WOULD YOU DEFINE
THAT GAME AS?

10. EXERCISE
PLEASE SPLIT INTO GROUPS OF FIVE
DEVELOP COMPANY’S ARCHETYPE FOR THE FOLLOWING GAMES:
CLASS WILL GET 20 MINUTES TO COMPLETE THIS.

11. DEFINING YOUR AUDIENCE’S BUYER PERSONA:
WHY IS IT
IMPORTANT?
IT HELPS YOU DEFINE YOUR
TARGET AUDIENCE.
YOU WOULDN’T BUILD A
CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE A
MARIO GAME THE SAME WAY
YOU WOULD A RESIDENT EVIL
GAME.

12. WHAT WERE THE DIFFERENCES?
CHARACTERS
COLOURS
MUSIC
SHOT SEQUENCE, EDIT POINT AND MUCH MORE

13. EXERCISE
IN YOUR GROUPS
IDENTIFY THE DIFFERENCES FOR THESE GAMES:
• FORTNITE
• APEX LEGENDS
• POKÉMON LET’S GO PIKACHU
• MORTAL KOMBAT 11
DEFINE:
• DIFFERENCES IN CHARACTERS
• THE TONE OF THE GAME (MUSIC, COLOURS ETC.)
• FIND A COMPARABLE MOVIE THAT FITS A SIMILAR CRITERIA
CLASS WILL GET 20 MINUTES TO COMPLETE THIS.

14. EXAMPLES OF THE BUYER PERSONAS

15. EXERCISE
IN YOUR GROUPS
DEVELOP BUYER
PERSONAS FOR THE
FOLLOWING GAMES:
• MOCK NAME
• AGE RANGE
• GENDER (IF APPLICABLE)
• INTERESTS
• WHAT THEY DO IN THEIR SPARE
TIME
• PERSONALITY TRAITS
CLASS WILL GET 30 MINUTES
TO COMPLETE THIS.

16. UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING FUNNEL

17. UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING FUNNEL
AWARENESS:
• EARLY STAGES BRAND RECOGNITION
• MAKE YOUR PRODUCT STANDOUT TO YOUR AUDIENCE
HOW?
• PAID: FACEBOOK / INSTA CUSTOM & LOOKALIKE AUDIENCES
• ORGANIC: INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, EMAIL MARKETING ETC.

18. UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING FUNNEL
FACEBOOK / INSTA PAID CAMPAIGNS:
• SET UP EMAIL CAPTURE ON YOUR WEBSITE.
• CAPTURE EMAILS AT TRADESHOWS.
• VIA AUDIENCE BUILDER: TARGET GAME INTEREST WITHIN YOUR NICHE
• USE EMAILS TO CREATE LOOKALIKE AUDIENCES.

19. UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING FUNNEL
HOW?
• FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH FACEBOOK BUSINESS / ADS MANAGER
• WE WILL COVER FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM PAID ADS IN FUTURE CLASS

20. UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING FUNNEL
CONSIDERATION:
• GET AN ENGAGED AUDIENCE TO CONSIDER YOUR PRODUCT
• DEVELOP SHAREABLE CONTENT TO GROW AUDIENCE

21. UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING FUNNEL
HOW?
• ADS BASED ON PAGE / POST INTERACTIONS
• AFFILIATE MARKETING WITH INFLUENCERS
• THIS COULD BE INFOGRAPHICS, LIMITED EARLY ACCESS PASSES ETC.
• YOU COULD CREATE POLLS TO SEE WHAT TYPE OF CONTENT THEY WANT

22. UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING FUNNEL
CONVERSION:
• ONCE YOU BUILD THE HYPE, LAUNCH THE GAME AND GET CONVERSIONS
• CREATE MESSAGING AROUND THE VALUE OF YOUR GAME

23. UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING FUNNEL
HOW?
• REMARKETING ADS
• EMAIL BLAST
• ORGANIC CAMPAIGNS

24. UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING FUNNEL
LOYALTY:
• HOW DO YOU KEEP THEM COMING BACK?
• WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE MOBILE GAME?
• HOW OFTEN DO YOU PLAY IT?
• WOULD YOU SPEND MONEY ON MICROTRANSACTIONS?
• CONSIDER THESE QUESTIONS WHEN BUILDING CAMPAIGNS

25. UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING FUNNEL
ADVOCACY:
• GET PEOPLE TO TALK ABOUT YOUR GAME
• WORD-OF-MOUTH IS STILL EXTREMELY IMPORTANT
HOW?
• CREATE A PRODUCT PEOPLE WANT
• LISTEN TO YOUR AUDIENCE

26. EXERCISE
IDENTIFY FUNNEL ACTIVITIES FOR:
IN YOUR GROUPS
CLASS WILL GET 30 MINUTES TO COMPLETE THIS.

27. UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING FUNNEL

28. A/B TESTING
VERY IMPORTANT FOR REFINING A MARKETING STRATEGY

29. A/B TESTING
HOW SHOULD YOU DO IT?
• PICK ONE VARIABLE (COLOUR OF CTA BUTTON, HEADLINE ETC.
• SEND MINOR TEST TRAFFIC TO THAT PAGE (LESS THAN 40%)
• DEFINE YOUR GOAL (MORE LEAD CONVERSIONS)
• LET VARIANT RUN FOR DEFINED TIME AND COMPARE DATA.
• KEEP CHAMPION, UPDATE VARIANT, RINSE AND REPEAT