Ever thought of pairing your marketing efforts with video games? You just might after reading this.
Video games have seen a significant upward trajectory for the past few years. Much of the growth was due to the increase in player base, the mobile gaming boom, e-sports, and streaming platforms like Twitch. The number of eyes going towards video games has continued to capture the attention of brands trying to effectively get in front of their audience. Video games have slowly, but surely found ways to promote ads through their medium.
Here are a few examples of how to advertise in video games:
in-game billboards and posters.
Modern video games include billboards, posters, and signs in virtual worlds. Brands can pay for ad space on these in-game assets. These advertisements can be static images or even videos, making them highly visible to players. Planning truly needs to be at the forefront of this marketing strategy because video games are a worldwide medium so the brand should be worldwide as well for this to really be effective.
product placement.
Brands can negotiate product placement deals with game developers to have their products or logos featured within the game’s environment. This can include items, vehicles, or clothing that prominently display the brand. Pretty cool, right?
sponsored game content.
Brands can sponsor specific in-game content, such as events, challenges, or game modes. Time to pick your favorite level!
sponsored streams.
Brands can negotiate terms with popular streamers about promoting their product or service through the streamer’s channel to reach their specific audience. This can include logos throughout the stream, in-channel ad breaks or an ad read from the streamer like a podcaster would.
branded virtual items.
In some games, players can purchase or earn virtual items like clothing, accessories, or skins for characters or objects. Brands can create branded virtual items for players to use in the game, increasing brand visibility. It’s swag time.
playable ads.
Some mobile games offer playable ads where players can engage with a mini-version of the advertised game within the ad itself. If players enjoy the mini-game, they may be more likely to download and play the full game.
interactive advertisements.
Interactive ads can appear on loading screens, pause menus, or as part of the game’s storyline. These ads may require players to engage with them in some way, such as clicking, swiping, or solving puzzles.
video ads.
Short video advertisements can be shown to players as they progress through a game or during natural breaks in gameplay. These ads can be skippable or non-skippable, and they often reward players with in-game currency or other benefits for watching. An example of this would be Amazon’s video game streaming service Twitch which is comparable to how Google’s YouTube video ads work.
native advertising.
Some games incorporate advertising seamlessly into the game’s narrative or environment, making it feel like a natural part of the gameplay. This can include characters using real-world products or references to real-world events. Ready to explore your game-writing abilities?
advergames.
Advergames are video games created specifically for marketing purposes. These games often feature branded characters, themes, or products and can be used to engage and entertain potential customers.
live events and tournaments.
Brands can sponsor or host live in-game events or tournaments, where players compete for prizes or recognition. These events can be streamed on platforms like Twitch, expanding the reach of the brand.
the end game.
It’s essential for brands to choose the right games, streamers and/or advertising methods that align with their target audience and marketing objectives. You don’t want your marketing to feel forced or out of place. Additionally, respecting the gaming experience and ensuring that ads enhance rather than disrupt gameplay is crucial for the success of in-game advertising.
Now plug in that X-box and get going!
before you go.
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about the author.
Alfred is the Digital Marketing Manager at Threshold, which means he’s basically a wizard when it comes to all things digital. When Alfred’s not monitoring and activating digital services for our clients to deliver the best possible results, you can probably find him playing video games, visiting local Austin breweries, and playing rec sports with his friends.
He also loves to cook, but isn’t a fan of doing the dishes that accompany cooking a meal – but really, who can blame him?
Digital marketing should be in your real estate marketing mix if it isn’t already. Whether you’re marketing a new lease-up looking to drive brand awareness or you’ve been established for a while and want to maintain a steady online presence, your property will benefit from digital marketing. The goal for any marketing campaign is to target the right audience, optimize towards conversion rates and continue to improve on them, increase customer loyalty, and gain better credibility. We’ve compiled a list of the top 8 digital marketing trends for 2023. Let’s take a look!
Gather 1st Party Data Through Forms
The trend to own your own data is growing. Being more proactive on attaining and implementing 1st party data is paramount in today’s day and age. Digital privacy laws are in place across the globe and it shows no signs of slowing down as users are looking to big data providers to become more private with the information they share. Forms are a great way for you to own user implemented data; the form used is a great way to keep the users engaged and to have a better success rate in gathering that data.
Build Your Email Marketing List
Email Marketing is a trend that continues to rise. 89% of marketers use email marketing as their primary method for generating leads. Being able to reach out to users who have subscribed to your email list but have not bought anything yet is a great way to reconnect with an interested user. Plus, you can leverage the first party data you’ve collected to personalize content for more accurate targeting email campaigns. .
Stand Out From The Competition
With many digital applications and tools out there, finding a way to use that application or tool in a new, creative way will help when it comes to real estate marketing. To find a way to get noticed and have users engage with your marketing efforts, you have to stand out among the competition. Consumers are looking for more personalized experiences and content curated specifically for them and their interests. Focus on collecting user generated content for short-form videos for TikTok and social media posts, or utilize surveys in stories or in email marketing to encourage engagement and gain valuable insights into what your audience likes or dislikes. Don’t be afraid to get creative and try something new. The data speaks for itself and will let you know if your efforts are working and resonating with your audience.
Incorporate Real-time Messaging Feedback
Real-time messaging would not be on this list 10 years ago. Consumers expect to get information as quickly as possible, and if you are not utilizing tools that collect information and provide instant responses, you may be missing out. We’re not just talking about answering phone calls. Most consumers prefer to interact with business digitally. Make sure you’re providing communication outlets on your website (chatbots), through social media, and texting.
Get The Most Out Of Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing is continuing to boom and doesn’t show signs of slowing down. Through social media funnels like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, users have built “relationships” with influencers and that trustworthiness is what makes Influencer Marketing a success. As of now, ROI is about $5.50 for every $1 spent. One thing to keep in mind is that influencers are usually in niche spaces so aligning your product to their channels is ideal or your message may fall flat among their audience. Want to dive deeper into how utilizing influencers in your marketing strategy can benefit you? Check out our blog about How The Rise of Influencer Marketing Could Enhance Your Real Estate Marketing.
Provide Online Shopping Gratification
Similar to real-time messaging, consumers want what they want, and they want it now. We recommend removing any blockers that will hinder the customer’s online journey and cause them to look elsewhere. Utilize data from Google Analytics to understand where customers are dropping off on your website and find out ways to help answer questions that might stop them from buying. For example, offer virtual tours on your website or provide video walk-throughs for those who are not able to meet in-person, ensure you have a functioning website and applicant portal, and provide information on your website for those frequently asked questions, like pet fees, parking fees, etc..
Digital Marketing Agencies Are Growing
Outsourcing is a great way to get more done and free up your leasing teams to complete the most important step; converting the lead into a lease. Don’t let limited in-house resources hold you back from expanding upon your marketing efforts. Outsourcing to marketing agencies, like Threshold, could be the difference in small to large growth in your first year. When trying to find the best real estate marketing agency for your goals, consider Why You Don’t Need a Local Real Estate Marketing Agency Partner when making your decision.
Chatbots Increase User Experience
Building upon real-time messaging, Chatbots also have had time to mature. They help answer FAQs, collect first-party data, and provide the user instant information in a digestible way. Plus, they can take care of some of the communication that doesn’t need involvement from a real person, like scheduling a tour.
Influencer culture is not going anywhere anytime soon. Influencer Marketing grew to approximately $13.8 Billion in 2021, with Instagram and TikTok leading the way. About 3/4 of Gen Zers and Millennials follow influencers on social media and over 50% say they trust the influencers they follow, according to The Influencer Report. In an Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report in 2021 with over 5,000 surveys with marketing agencies, brands & other relevant professionals, Influencer Marketing Hub found that 59% admitted to having a standalone budget for content marketing & 75% of them now intend to dedicate a budget to influencer marketing in 2021.
5 Reasons Why People Advertise Through Influencers:
People buy from people because it feels personalized & authentic
People want to see content that relates to them
People research on bigger commitments
People are more likely to buy if they come to you
People will read/view your content because they already cared to start with
Like, Subscribe & Growing
In the world of real estate marketing, shows like “Selling Sunset” on Netflix are popularizing real estate influencers or agents using their strong social media following. With the rise of niche micro-influencers since the pandemic started, and marketing platforms and agencies growing by more than 3 times since a few years ago, influencers will continue to entertain and establish a trustworthy relationship with Millennials, Gen Zers, and those who follow.
If Threshold’s skilled residential marketing designers only cared about getting the most information to the customer, our websites would look a lot like this blog post. We’d see a whole lot of text and the sites would have very little visual appeal.
That approach works well for blog posts and articles, but websites are a sensory experience; a virtual market where people spend their time enlarging floor plans, scrolling down lists of amenities and clicking through gallery images.
Of course, many prospective residents don’t spend much time on websites at all. Marketing to Millennials is all about keeping their attention, but plenty of lost customers see the homepage and immediately click away after deciding the property isn’t for them. In today’s post, we’re going to take a look at the most important elements to keep residents interested in your property, and get them to click on those important action buttons.
Animation
Animation helps communicate messages with style, drawing the user’s eye towards moving images instead without them having to load a video or click a “play” button. Animation can be as simple as rotating sliders on a homepage or as complex as animated water in a resort-style pool. Even the most simple movement can be the difference between grabbing and losing a customer’s interest.
Material Design and Beyond
As anyone in the digital marketing industry knows, when Google makes changes, the rest of the web follows suit. Google was the first big company to take “Flat Design” and turn it into something with depth and layers. Material Design pairs geometric shapes with shadows, movement and overlays to create visually appealing websites and web apps. That’s not the say that Material Design is the only way to make websites, but it’s certainly a look that internet users are familiar with and understand intuitively, which is always a positive. Speaking of making sure users can understand your website…
Navigation
Most property sites need the same standard pages in the navigation bar: About Us, Floor Plans, Amenities, Gallery, and Apply Now. Obviously, there are some exceptions, but every property website needs to cover those basic pages before moving on to anything else. Navigation doesn’t have to only happen via Navigation Bar though. In fact, more and more websites are using the “long-scroll” look, where all pages are accessible when the user simply scrolls down from the top of the homepage.
The whole point of a website is to get the prospect to take action, so keeping the complex navigation to a minimum helps steer prospective residents toward the “Schedule a Tour” button or the “Apply Now” button without too much extra fluff. Most properties sell a lifestyle just as much as they sell an apartment, so it’s important to convey that lifestyle with big, bold images and impactful design. People will locate the amenities and floor plans if they are interested in learning more, but they won’t be interested in learning more without a simple, impactful message on the home page.
Customized Google Maps
Most of your website’s visitors will be familiar with the look, feel and functionality of a Google Maps plug-in, it’s very common in residential marketing. So much so, that they may just glaze right over it. Customizing your Google Map, however, offers prospective residents a totally new experience with a tool that they’re already familiar with. At Threshold, we often highlight certain locations around the property, such as restaurants, shopping centers, gyms and coffee shops. This gives residents an idea of what life will be like living in the neighborhood.
The best website designers know how to quickly — and beautifully—convey the lifestyle promised at every property. This is where animation, navigation tools, and customization come into play. Each element helps create a feeling within the website visitor that (hopefully) convinces them to explore the website and property further.
Is your property’s website up to date? Let Threshold’s designers come up with some creative marketing ideas for apartments in your portfolio. Our website development team will then create a responsive websites that drive traffic to your front door.
At this year’s SXSW music/film/interactive festival here in Austin, a company set up shop to collect unwanted promo items and then donate the items to area homeless shelters. Read the story here. While great for the shelters and a clever recycling campaign, probably not where these brands intended their promo items to end up.
With the leasing season at its peak, you’re probably in the middle of re-stocking your promo inventory. How do you ensure your promo doesn’t get trashed and your marketing dollars are well spent?
As with many student housing marketing strategies, it’s market dependent. Make sure you’re tapped into the local scene and trends. Is neon still popular on campus? Are students passionate about environmental products? Trucker hats used to be in, then were out, and now I think they’re back in. And get your student staff feedback before you order items. Encourage them to come up with new ideas every year.
Remember that promo items are extensions of your brand. What does hand sanitizer or air freshener say about your brand? That you’re dirty and smell bad? Also make sure your items are high quality and actually work. You don’t want to be known as that-apartment-community-that-gives-out-broken-pens.
Go with items that are extension of your marketing message and lifestyle brand. Think beach towels (resort lifestyle), water bottles (fitness center) and sunglasses (style). To connect your brand to university athletics, consider rally towels, foam hands or boom sticks.
There is also a fine line between stingy (“Only take one pen!!”) and excessive (“Hey little sister and little brother, take these bags filled with $15 worth of promo”). Find the right balance that fits your budget and leasing velocity. Make sure your entire staff understands the policy. Also know which events (housing fairs, orientations) are worth the expensive items (t-shirts, tote bags, mugs). Save the less expensive items (pens, cups) for your daily marketing efforts.
Also consider limited edition items that are only given to future residents or renewals. Actually print “limited edition” on the item to create buzz. And because these students have already chosen your community, chances are better they will actually use the items.
Finally, make sure to re-examine your promotional product strategy every leasing season. Just because something was popular last season doesn’t mean it will be popular next. It also doesn’t hurt to check Goodwill or the campus dumpster for your items.
Alfred Perez – digital marketing manager.
Alfred Perez – digital marketing manager.
Written by Alfred Perez, Digital Success Manager
