Most gaming PR campaigns fail in epic proportions. Why? One word: homogenization. They all assume every gamer is the same. This could not be further from the truth. Gaming audiences have become extremely diverse in recent years. We are now looking at 3.3 billion gamers globally, after all. Audience behavior can make or break your next PR campaign. A successful campaign always starts with a deep knowledge of your target audience. This is where a specialized gaming PR agency differs from general PR agencies. We’ll show you exactly how to understand gaming audience behavior for targeted campaigns.
What you’ll learn:
- Why Gaming Audiences Are More Diverse Than Ever
- The 4 Gamer Personas To Know
- Audiences Behaving Differently Across Platforms
- Tapping Into Community Culture For PR Success
Why Gaming Audiences Are More Diverse Than Ever
In the past, we had console gamers, PC gamers, and mobile gamers. And that was it.
Now, there are more gaming platforms, genres, and audience segments than ever before. For example, mobile gamers are now the largest player segment, with 65% of U.S. adults owning a mobile gaming device. Of these, nearly half (45%) play weekly.
But there’s more to this than meets the eye.
The Different Platforms Drive Different Audience Behaviors
Gamers on Twitch behave differently from TikTok gamers. PlayStation players have different expectations than Nintendo. And don’t get us started on treating all mobile gamers as one.
The problem with most PR agencies is that they create generic gaming PR campaigns without considering these unique audience behaviors across platforms. We call this segment-specific targeting or personalized campaign building in the gaming world.
The 4 Gamer Personas To Know
Let’s look at the four types of gaming audiences that matter to PR:
The Casual Gamer
These are your puzzle games, “I play to unwind” crowd. They make up a big chunk of the gaming population, but they’re tough to reach. How they find games: Social media and word of mouth.
PR Tip: Think lifestyle. Casual gamers respond to lifestyle-driven messaging.
The Social Gamer
These are your multiplayer crowd. Games to play with friends and family. In this segment, community is king. How they find games: Through friends and social circles.
PR Tip: Make shareable moments. Appeal to the social nature of this audience.
The Achievement Gamer
Esports fanatics, “git gud” community. This segment is all about skill improvement, progression, and competition. How they find games: They follow pros and influencers and also are interested in content about improving their gaming skills.
PR Tip: Showcase competitive elements, sponsor tournaments.
The Content Creator
Live streamers, YouTube gaming channels. This segment will gravitate towards games that are more fun to watch.
PR Tip: Offer early access programs and streaming collabs.
Pretty good, huh?
Knowing your type is one thing but also understanding where they spend their time is crucial.
Audiences Behaving Differently Across Platforms
Different platforms will always generate different behaviors:
Twitch
Audiences on Twitch are more hardcore. They’re also more likely to sniff out fake engagement and take PR with a grain of salt. However, they’re also much more willing to try games recommended by their favorite Twitch streamers.
TikTok
TikTok users discover games mainly through short-form videos. They have short attention spans but if you capture their interest, you can convert them.
YouTube
YouTube Gaming audiences do their research. Reviews, let’s play, and game guides. If your game has good reviews from trusted sources, this audience is likely to try.
Discord
Discord is where your hardcore fans hang out. These are people that already love gaming and are looking for more exclusive content or early access opportunities.
How to Decode Gaming Community Behavior
Communities across all platforms have unique cultures and etiquettes. Know the code, and you can enter. Don’t, and it’ll be a PR disaster.
Listening is key
Start by immersing yourself in the communities where your target audience lives. Reddit gaming subs, Discord servers, gaming forums. Learn the lingo, identify the influencers, and the rules. Don’t post anything at first. Observe. Learn. Then engage authentically.
Know the Hierarchy
Every community has a pecking order. The top pro players, the mid-tier streamers with a solid following, and the casual gamers with smaller audiences.
Create platform-native content
Your Twitch video shouldn’t look like your TikTok video. The community knows when you’re posting repurposed content. Adapt the style to the platform but keep your messaging consistent.
Tap Into Community Culture
The best gaming PR campaigns are those that feel native to the communities they’re targeting. Work with creators that are an organic fit with your game. Build authentic relationships.
Measure Engagement Quality
Finally, be aware that traditional PR success metrics like views and likes aren’t everything. Engagement quality, community growth, actual conversions, and player acquisition – these are the KPIs that matter.
Advanced Audience Behavior Insights
Most people stop at demographics. But in gaming, audiences can be sliced even further based on their behavior patterns.
- Genre-Specific Behaviors: RPG fans vs FPS players are not the same. Your campaign messaging must consider these micro-genre differences.
- Seasonal Patterns: Gaming communities have predictable seasonality. Build PR around key moments like back to school and the holiday season.
- Cross-Platform Journey Mapping: Gamers now discover, research, discuss, stream on different platforms. Segment accordingly.
Key Takeaways to Make You a Better Gaming PR Agency
Understanding gaming audience behavior is the bedrock of any successful gaming PR campaign. A few essentials to keep in mind:
- Audience types require different targeting strategies. Generic one-size-fits-all campaigns are doomed to fail.
- Audience behaviors differ across platforms. They expect different things from each platform. Plan accordingly.
- Authenticity and integration into community culture are always paramount.
- Community engagement always beats larger audiences that are disengaged.
Final Thoughts
Building great gaming PR is all about understanding gaming culture at its finest levels. Audience behavior is a huge component. We have now only scratched the surface. Gaming audiences are not a monolithic group. There are several behaviors within each of these. There are also segments that cut across these core audiences.
For example, there are more first-person shooters than role-playing gamers. You could argue this makes a difference in audience behavior, and we do. This is why some game genres are more lucrative.
Understanding gaming audience behavior gives you laser-like targeting for your PR campaigns. Remember: Your audience is already out there. Building a great campaign is about finding them, listening to them, and then joining the conversation in a meaningful way.
Wrapping It Up
Audience behaviors are no longer split into generalized gaming audiences. The 3.3 billion global users play very different games on different platforms and behave in very different ways as a result. This makes platform-specific and user-behavioral understanding more important than ever for gaming PR campaigns.
Success in this space comes down to how well you can leverage these audience behaviors. The greater this understanding, the more accurately you can target and reach potential players in the right way.
It’s all about reaching the right people in the right way. Are you up to the challenge?