Opinion: Egaming marketing predictions for 2015

1. In 2015 we will see a change in how agencies service the online gaming industry. We’ll see more and more SEO agencies re-brand as “content marketing” agencies to take advantage of the growing need for good editorial content in the sector. PR agencies will follow suit and build out their own content marketing divisions as both look to take advantage of the changing landscape of digital communications and inbound marketing.

2. The big watch-out is the emergence of the phrases: “content is SEO” and “look at content through Google’s eyes.” Jumping on the content marketing bandwagon and the growing need to replace outdated and forced link building strategies, these terms will be banded around regularly. But beware, you should always look at content through your customer’s eyes or player’s eyes, only this way will you have the highest quality and best performing content for your brand that will in turn deliver winning SEO results.

3. The early adopters of content marketing in the online gaming space will look to review their existing content strategies, their content onsite and the social platforms they are active on looking for efficiencies, improvements and new ways to innovate and stand-out. Meanwhile, the late adopters of content marketing and those who have published “SEO content” will have to perform content audits, clean-up old content, and will embark on a content push trying to plug gaps and improve their digital strategies playing ‘content catch-up.’

4. Next year there will be a concerted effort to build more brand loyalty in a drive to stand-out from competitors and become more human and less ‘face-less’ in the online gaming space. Loyalty strategies will be focused on building onsite communities and stronger content offerings. As part of this drive, there will also be a focus on more personalised CRM and joined up multi-touch customer strategies to better monetise players.

5. In 2015, those online gaming brands who have put a bigger emphasis on loyalty, content and CRM will also look to develop more comprehensive attribution models. Developing more reliable attribution models will see more brands ramp up their content, PR and outreach efforts as better attribution shows the cost effectiveness of these channels.

Sharon Flaherty is an award-winning content and marketing professional and the founder of Brand Content, a boutique content marketing consultancy