Mastering Influencer Marketing for Mobile Games: A Guide

The mobile games market is projected to reach $19.61 billion in the United States by the end of the year with a projected market volume of $23.87 billion by 2027, according to Statista. Gaming brands looking to capitalize on this growth are increasingly finding success by leveraging influencer marketing to reach their target audiences. Let’s break down how to implement influencer marketing for mobile games and examples of mobile gaming influencers.

Best practices for influencer marketing for mobile games

To successfully navigate the world of influencer marketing for mobile games, it’s crucial to understand and implement certain best practices to maximize your campaign’s effectiveness, reach, and overall return on investment.

Identify your target persona

Before searching for influencers for your campaigns, you’ll need to identify who you’re trying to reach and where they spend their time online. 

Identify some additional characteristics of your buyer persona, such as:

• On which devices do they typically game?
• What types of games do they play? 
• On which social media channels do they spend the most time on? 
• Who do they follow and trust in terms of influencers? 
• What is their income and how do they spend their disposable income?
• Where do they live?
• Do they have children?
• Do they work, and if so, in what industries?
• What are their values?
• What do they do for hobbies (skateboarding, reading, watching YouTube) beyond gaming? 

With a solid buyer persona, you can better choose influencers to reach your audience and create resonant, authentic content.

Define your objectives

Your influencers’ content should align with your brand’s goals for each campaign. Defining your objectives will also help you determine which KPIs to use to measure if your campaign is a success. Here are some common objectives when collaborating with influencers on mobile gaming:

• Promote downloads of a new or existing mobile game
• Earn reviews of mobile games
• Promote upgrades or new features of an existing game
• Gather user-generated content (UGC)
• Gain followers for your brand on social media
• Earn views on influencer-created tutorials for a mobile game

Tap into 3 types of mobile game influencers

To effectively engage with your target audience, consider collaborating with different types of influencers, each offering unique perspectives and connections within the gaming community.

Social media influencers who are mobile gamers

These creators’ social media audiences will likely share your target audience based on their niche, but you’ll need to ensure that their followers align with your buyer persona to increase engagement and drive action.

Look at their reach, engagement, and past campaign experience and success rates. 

Start by checking detailed influencer platforms and databases, such as IZEA’s Marketplace, which lets you find and hire influencers based on filters like follower count, niche, location, demographics, cost, and social channels. 

Thought leaders in the gaming industry — and beyond

Thought leaders in the industry can include designers, developers, or simply experts in their field related to a mobile game. Need some examples? 

• Watch a car mechanic play and review a car mechanic simulator game on YouTube.
• Watch an interior designer review and promote a home design mobile gaming app on TikTok.
• Watch a cooking influencer play and review a cooking simulator game on YouTube.
• Watch a game designer review a mobile game (with which he has no association) on TikTok.
• Watch business expert recommend the best video games for entrepreneurs on TikTok. 

AI-generated influencers

You’ve probably seen at least one AI-generated influencer. These algorithm-created fictional characters are popping up all over the Internet, especially in the mobile gaming industry.

Here are a few worth checking out to get a feel for how AI influencers work:

• Aitana Lopez is the 19-year-old virtual influencer designed to look like a model but claims she’s a “gamer at heart & fitness lover” on Instagram and X. 
• Emiky describes herself as an “Endless Twitch streamer” on TikTok and Instagram.
• Lil Miquela Sousa, is a 19-year-old woman of Brazilian-American heritage who is a singer and social media influencer on Instagram, X, TikTok, and YouTube. 

You may even want to consider generating your own AI influencers with FormAI.

Analyze your campaign results

To know if your influencer marketing campaign was successful, you’ll need to analyze the results with the right KPIs and analytics tools. A comprehensive influencer marketing platform, IZEA Flex gives users access to an all-in-one dashboard that allows teams to find influencers, create briefs, manage contracts, negotiate with creators, send payments, and track performance. 

IZEA Flex has a suite of AI tools designed to assist your campaign, tracking links, association tools to aggregate performance data across links and social handles, and integrations with Gmail, Shopify, and Google Analytics.