Audience engagement is a critical element that makes the world of gaming function. Choosing the right social media channels and posting consistently are crucial steps toward building your audience engagement.
Follow the steps below to ensure audience engagement and develop your brand while growing as a gamer.
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Overview of eSports and Gaming
You might think eSports are a relatively new development in the gaming world, but that could not be further from the truth. The early days of competitive gaming harken all the way back to 1952, with the implementation of “XOX” as a computer game.
Twenty years later in 1972, the first official video game competition was held, and in the 1980s, competitive gaming became mainstream with the Space Invaders Championship drawing over 10,000 players.
Today, eSports is firmly established all over the world, and most competition takes place on computers. It continues to grow each year with new games and tournaments being added all the time.
The Importance of Audience Engagement in eSports
Audience engagement and the use of social media is important for developing and growing as a gamer. Additionally, it is crucial for your eSports team and for eSports organizations in general.
For you personally, receiving feedback on your performance in games can be helpful. In a broader sense, when viewers feel closer to the gamers they are watching, they are more likely to tell others about your team or eSport in general.
This helps you gain traction and build your brand while also advancing eSports as a whole.
Tips for Developing an Audience for an eSports Team
Developing an audience for your eSports team can seem like a daunting task, but it’s not as complicated as it seems, especially if you follow these helpful tips:
- Understand the target market for your audience. This is the first and arguably most important thing you can do. For example, if you are playing first-person shooters but marketing toward a player versus player audience demographic, you are not going to be successful in building your audience. Determining what kind of games your target audience likes and catering to that will help you reach your goal much faster.
- Work with influencers. This is a great way to spread the word about your eSports team but be careful to choose the right influencers for your brand. You should make sure the influencers’ target audiences are similar to your own and be certain the influencer has a good reputation.
- Choose the social media channels you are going to use. This sounds simple enough, but you should consider this decision from every angle. What platforms are your consumers using? What platforms does your competition not use? Be aware of how you can maximize the platforms you select before you make a final choice.
- Form partnerships. This goes beyond just influencers. Partnership opportunities are available for eSports teams with investors, marketing agencies, and more. These partnerships have played a significant role in the growth of eSports in recent times, so securing one or more could be huge for your team.
- Hold team events. This is a great way to engage your existing audience and build on it at the same time. Podcasts, mini tournaments, and team meetings are all options for showing a different side of your eSports team and its players.
- Host contests and giveaways. This elevates social media engagement as long as you promote it well before the launch date and follow the rules of your chosen platform(s). Making sure the parameters of the contest or giveaway are clear from the start will boost your brand’s reputation.
- Use consistent marketing strategies. This is where many eSports teams and other organizations fail in terms of growing their audiences. To continue to expand your following, you must be consistent in how and when you post. An abrupt change in tone or content is likely to make your audience smaller, not bigger.
Stream on Channels Like YouTube and Twitch
Twitch and YouTube are great platforms to stream on and build your engagement. When streaming on Twitch, gamers have direct interaction with viewers, and viewers can easily access the streamers they want to watch. YouTube and Twitch also both allow the archiving of VODs, which means your audience can watch your content even after you are no longer livestreaming.
Create a Fan Discord Where Fans Can Discuss Matches
Discord is a fantastic place to gain engagement if you are an eSports gamer. When you make your own Discord channel, you are offering your audience a place to go and talk about your streams, tournaments, and more.
Having an account also allows you to interact in fan channels, offer incentives that are Discord exclusive, and spread the word about anything you have going on.
Maintain social channels for the Team and Post Frequently
As mentioned above, posting regularly and consistently is important for building engagement in the world of eSports. Many gamers struggle with knowing what to post, however, which can lead to “dead” social feeds.
Some easy content ideas include shout-outs to dedicated fans, event announcements, screenshots of videos from upcoming games, and in-game updates.
Monitor Social Channels for Fan Feedback and Respond Quickly
Responding quickly to fans who post feedback on all social media leads to more loyal viewers and gives you a competitive advantage over other teams. By bettering your engagement, you are giving the fans a personal connection that they will not be able to get anywhere else, and they will value that.
Additionally, the algorithms of many social media platforms tend to give more attention to accounts that have fast response times.
Encourage Fans to Share Team Successes Using a Hashtag
Using hashtags is one of the easiest ways to boost engagement and increase exposure. Specifically, using trending hashtags when talking about team successes will increase your following overall and bring in more likes and comments.
It may also be a good idea to create a team hashtag that fans can use when reposting and talking about your content.
I hope you benefited from this information about community engagement in the world of eSports. Do you have any ideas for creating community engagement? Let us know in the comments!
