7 Marketing Lessons From the Video Game Industry You Should Know

Marketing lessons from the video game industry

To boost brand awareness, generate more sales and build customer loyalty, consider incorporating one or more of the following techniques into your company’s marketing mix.

1. Create a story.

Video games are immersive and highly interactive and they engage users in a visual and auditory way. The audience is involved in the story from the start. 

Take Baldur’s Gate 3, for example, which became the first video game to win every major Game of the Year award in 2023. As a story-driven role-playing game (RPG) in which player decisions affect relationships with characters and story outcomes, it’s especially engaging. So much so that even more people played the game in 2024 than in 2023, which is unusual for a single-player RPG, a type of game that most players usually complete and then move on to something else.

Just like the gaming industry, businesses can use brand storytelling to involve consumers. This isn’t new to marketing; it’s a common practice to use stories to sell products that might otherwise disappear in a sea of competitors.

For example, Dove’s storytelling has taken its moisturizing soap above and beyond a generic cosmetic product. The well-received and evocative “Real Beauty Sketches” campaign helped portray Dove as a high-quality brand that questions the traditional beauty standards that have been applied to women.

Stories have the power to engage and educate people. When you’re thinking of a story, put yourself in customers’ shoes and imagine the role your product or service could play in their lives. [Related article: A Guide to Creating a Customer Journey Map for Your Brand]

Build a story that engages people’s senses, embodies their values and connects with customers emotionally. This doesn’t necessarily mean keeping your story serious; humorous, poignant or fun stories work well. Think of the Red Bull Stratos ad showing Felix Baumgartner’s 125,000-foot plunge to Earth or Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” ad series.

Creating stories helps you come up with creative advertising concepts while conveying information. You can use these stories to breathe life into your brand from the customer’s point of view.

2. Update your content and marketing strategies.

Many great video games take years to develop and perfect. Even then, it’s normal for glitches and other problems to arise. Developers work hard to listen to the feedback from the gaming community and to improve games with patches.

A strong example of this is Paradox Interactive’s city building game Cities: Skylines II. The long-anticipated sequel to the series’ first entry was met with significant criticism about broken systems and unsatisfying gameplay. However, Paradox responded to their fanbase with a long list of patches, updates and new content, which has helped average monthly player volume to rebound. While many players still point out issues with the game, the consensus appears to be that it is now much better than it was at launch.

This is a great example for businesses to follow, for several reasons. First, it’s important to keep testing and finding mistakes. You should also listen to your audience’s feedback by using social media listening tools, gathering survey data and sending feedback forms.

“For businesses outside of gaming, leveraging customer feedback visibly and transparently can drive loyalty and shape more customer-centered products,” said Kaveh Vahdat, founder and CEO of RiseAngel, a generative artificial intelligence game creation company. 

Next, make sure your content is updated to reflect the changes in technology, trends and even laws. For example, when the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was implemented in 2018, businesses immediately had to make privacy policy changes and add pop-up forms to get explicit consent to gather information on websites.

Another example is when WordPress updated its core software by creating the Gutenberg block editor. This change affected millions of sites and businesses and users needed to ensure that everything functioned as usual. Tutorial sites for WordPress also had to go back and change hundreds of pages or create new ones.

Whether driven by customer feedback, regulatory requirements or advances in technology, your company needs to make adapting a priority. Matt Edelman, president and chief commercial officer of Super League Gaming, warned that businesses need to push past their instinct to stick to the status quo or else risk falling behind. 

“Marketers love data, but even in the face of compelling numbers, they can be slow to shift strategies,” Edelman said. “Sometimes that’s because their strategies are working or working well enough. Sometimes it’s because they do not have an organic understanding of how to activate within new channels and the unknown is unnerving.”

Finally, your marketing strategies, especially for content marketing, should be ongoing. It’s important to track your old blog posts and pages and to make sure you update and repurpose old content and images.

3. Foster discussions and community.

While the games themselves form the core of the gaming industry, there’s another element that makes gaming incredibly engaging: the community. 

The complex and immersive experience of gaming naturally leads to discussions online. Gaming platforms also support discussions and the sharing of images, videos and text via forums. This sense of community is another reason gaming works as well as it does; it helps connect millions of people around the world.

“Game companies don’t just create products; they build vibrant communities where fans feel ownership and connection to the brand,” said Vahdat. “Businesses can replicate this by fostering real, interactive relationships with their audience.”

Take a live service game like Helldivers 2, for example, in which players contribute to a galaxy-spanning war effort in which the forces of Super Earth’s managed democracy take on hostile alien and robotic factions. Each player contributes a small amount toward the achievement of “Major Orders,” timed missions that provide rewards to all players. 

The result is a vibrant community that has spilled over into third-party forums like Discord and Reddit, where players coordinate efforts and discuss the broader campaign. Players have even developed their own applications for tracking the war effort on the go.

Large businesses, such as LEGO, Starbucks, Nike and many more, already have enthusiastic brand communities like this, with which the companies actively engage. However, many other businesses can also benefit from creating communities around their brand.

Here are a couple of the advantages of building an online community:

• A free customer service and technical team: People often ask specific questions in community forums that other members can answer. These questions and relevant answers often make it to the front page of search results, leading to more traffic to the brand’s website.
• A space for people who identify with your brand: An online brand community can foster a sense of closeness to and identification with your brand. Your core audience is more likely to share your content, participate in events and bring more attention to your content on social media.

There are several ways you can begin building your brand community. It helps to start early since it can be a long process. Here are a few practical ways to build a thriving community:

• Create social media groups and pages that your audience can join or follow.
• Build a membership site exclusively for your audience and provide these loyal fans with gated content and forums to have conversations. This will build a feeling of group association that creates value for your members.
• Engage on other platforms, such as Reddit and Discord and any other area that makes sense for your business. Set up a group in such places so you can moderate the discussion early on.

Remember that regardless of whether you build a community actively, a discussion will happen about your business online. Instead of waiting to see what happens, be proactive, get involved and guide your community’s growth by engaging with people.

4. Add gamification.

At the heart of video game marketing is a system of goals and rewards. This creates a feedback loop in which users return to gaming as a way to relieve stress and experience the dopamine hit that comes from achieving a gaming goal. Consider the compelling format of many mobile games, which quickly provide players with level-ups and rewards to increase the likelihood that they continue using the app.

This system is called gamification, and it’s a way to reward users for carrying out actions you want them to — for example, subscribing to your blog, sharing content on social media or buying your product. Customer loyalty programs are a common example of gamification. Brands, such as Sephora, Starbucks and many others, give users points, badges and other rewards for buying from them.

You can offer something similar by creating points that are redeemable on future purchases. Another simple way to add gamification is by adding a pop-up form where users can “spin” an online wheel that lands on a prize. They can then access the prize, such as a discount or free trial, by adding their email address. The key is finding something that genuinely motivates your customers.

“Gamification is about enabling an outcome that matters to the person who is playing the game,” said Edelman. “It’s not just about compelling a target customer to solve a puzzle or complete a quest. The result has to resonate emotionally or economically with the individual you are trying to acquire and they need to feel like they have accomplished something worthwhile.”

5. Involve your audience.

Video games are inherently interactive but, as the industry has evolved, video game makers have excelled at involving their audiences in new and exciting ways that turn casual players into passionate fans. There’s a great deal that brands can learn from the immersive and interactive experience of gaming.

“The interactivity at the heart of gaming is a powerful model for all marketing,” said Vahdat. “Game marketers use immersive storytelling, interactive content and rewards to keep players invested. Any brand can take a page from this playbook by focusing on experiential campaigns and storytelling that let customers ‘experience’ rather than just observe the brand, enhancing both engagement and retention.”

Your company should look for ways to turn your customers from passive consumers into an integral part of your brand’s story. Engage with your audience outside of the marketing space and in the real world, such as through events or competitions. Also, invite your customers to take an active role in your brand’s development and promotion.

“Gamers are given space to help shape their favorite games and brands could do well to follow suit,” said Hannah Eates, senior strategist at Waste Creative. “Brands like McDonald’s are already exploring this — letting fans create their own menus and inspiring social trends by letting fans turn a beloved mascot into a nightmare fuel. They relinquish control and follow the fans.”

6. Let your fans do the talking.

The hard truth is that no matter how great your marketing, nothing beats a word-of-mouth opinion. The gaming industry has reaped huge benefits from the popularity of online influencers and streamers on platforms like Twitch and YouTube. Your business should take note and make use of fans and influencers to market your product.

Letting your fans do the talking provides a level of authenticity that traditional marketing efforts often lack. User-generated content, such as product demos and unboxing videos, highlight your product features in a genuine way. Creators will talk about the pros and the cons, so when they say there is something they love, audiences tend to believe them. 

However, you don’t want just anyone creating content about your brand. If you work with an influencer, it should be someone your audience already knows and trusts. The content should also feel authentic. If you sell outdoor gear, for example, it wouldn’t make much sense to work with a beauty content creator. 

“By partnering with creators, game companies create genuine connections with audiences who trust their favorite streamers,” said John Higgins, CEO of OS Studios, a global marketing agency specializing in video gaming and esports. “The takeaway for other businesses is clear: Be authentic to your target demographic by collaborating with influencers who resonate with them.” 

Marketers should also pay attention to the emerging style of popular fan-created gaming content. While these videos might not look anything like traditional ads or promo videos, they are quickly becoming the norm.

“The emerging creator class consists of young people who express themselves through 3D experiences born from their imagination,” said Edelman. “They do not care about being on camera, and, in fact, generally abhor the idea.” 

Instead of trying to force creators to adopt a style or tone set by your marketing department, allow your fans to generate the kind of content they prefer. Let them have fun with it and it will be sure to make an impact. After all, your fans know better than anyone else what message best sells.

“This is new territory for marketers, but also a massive opportunity to support the next generation of creators,” Edelman said.

7. Build hype.

The video game industry turns new game releases into buzzworthy events. They invest time and effort into building hype, bit by bit, so they have a hungry audience ready to pounce on the game when it comes out. 

“The game industry’s ability to amplify launches through ‘buzz-building’ is a lesson in pre-launch strategy,” said Vahdat. “Teasers, beta tests, influencer collaborations and user-generated content create anticipation, making the launch an event that fans are invested in. For any brand launching a product, treating it as an event rather than just another release can transform engagement and sales momentum.”

Businesses can emulate these prelaunch strategies by sending new products to exclusive early access groups. This is a great time to involve influencers as they can preview your product online, generating buzz and demand. When appropriate, you could use other tactics, such as planned leaks or a teaser campaign. 

Whatever you do, make sure your product lives up to the excitement. You don’t want your campaign to backfire, so don’t promise a palace when you’re selling a shack. 

“Be careful not to overhype,” said Eates. “Stick to a few promises you can keep.”

Learn from the video game industry and grow your business

The gaming industry offers many lessons that businesses in any sector can apply to their marketing efforts. By engaging your customers through interactive storytelling, building an active community, creating customer loyalty programs and ensuring your brand and content remain relevant, you’ll be taking steps to improve your marketing and ultimately grow your business.

Tom Anziano and Mark Fairlie contributed to this article.