Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, Apex Legends, Call of Duty — do you recognize any of these titles? According to Steam Charts and Epic Games, these are some of the most popular online games in the US right now. ActivePlayer.io reports over 1.3M online players of Fortnite at the time of writing this article. While not everyone playing these games is likely to be your target customer, imagine if you could reach half or even a quarter of those players with a highly relevant, engaging, and seamlessly integrated ad for your product or service. Welcome to in-game advertising, a fast-growing way to reach engaged audiences across mobile, PC, VR, AR, and console games.
Why Consider In-Game Advertising?
According to StackAdapt, “The gaming audience is larger than that of Netflix, Disney+, HBO, Hulu, and ESPN combined.” On average, gamers spend about 8.5 hours each week playing games, with an average session duration of 1 hour and 20 minutes. This means there is a ton of opportunity for your brand to reach relevant users.
How Do In-Game Ads Work?
Programmatic advertising within online video games most often uses blended in-game ads, which insert ads without interrupting the gaming experience. This type of advertising typically uses display ads (an image or photo with copy) or video ads.
From branded soda cans and player jerseys to in-game billboards, there are countless ways to connect with players through blended in-game advertising.
An example of how brands can seamlessly place blended in-game ads into video games.
Source: Anzu.io
Tips for Better In-Game Advertising
To make the most of your campaign, consider these practical tips that can help your in-game ads land with impact:
Choose The Right Game Genres
Sports, racing, open-world, casual mobile games, and simulation games work best for blended in-game ads. A player may associate your brand with a specific game or game type, so making sure the genre fits your brand and its values is important.
Target The Right Audience
Make sure the games in which your advertisements will appear align with your target audience. Know the general age range, gender breakdown, and location of people who play the games you wish to target prior to getting started. Pro tip: If you don’t know how to find this info, let us know! We’re happy to help.
Make your Ad Feel Natural
Seamlessly incorporate your brand into the game world in a way that aligns with the setting and gameplay. For example, if you sell energy drinks, branding a beverage cooler or billboard in a sports game makes sense. But placing that same ad in a medieval fantasy game would feel out of place and break immersion, which players and streamers are quick to notice and dislike.
Mastercard’s blended in-game ad in League of Legends
Source: Riot Games
Test & Optimize
Like many things in digital marketing, it’s important to test multiple creative options and formats to see what performs best for your brand. A/B testing inside the game environment is one way to do that. Maximize impact by optimizing for viewability metrics, which better reflect real audience exposure than impression counts alone.
Track & Learn
Track key metrics such as impressions, viewability, engagement time, and lift in brand awareness and ad recall. There are different tools available to do this, but we like brand lift studies best.
Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew
It’s perfectly fine (and often smart) to start small with in-game advertising. Run tightly targeted test campaigns with a modest spend to learn what works before scaling up.
Be Mindful of Brand Safety
Control where your brand appears, making sure it’s shown only in appropriate and non-disruptive contexts.
Start Your Journey Today
In-game advertising lets you connect with audiences in the virtual worlds they love without disrupting their experience. With the right strategy and creative approach, your brand can blend in naturally and make a lasting impression. Ready to explore the world of programmatic gaming ads? Our experts are here to help. Let’s talk!
Sources:
- StackAdapt, https://www.stackadapt.com/.
- ActivePlayer.io, https://activeplayer.io/fortnite/.
