Fan Engagement in the Midst of Change
User experience matters more than ever before
The last decade has seen a surging success in the esports industry. Seemingly scattered centers of activity on the online gaming arenas and various tournaments and events, — Europe, Americas, South-East Asia — would go their own way manifested in the trends of gaming culture of those respective regions. But this time we may strip the current notion of trends in esports of its cultural context since the change in the industry is more immense and implications of its growth are so far-reaching, that they fundamentally alter the way the entire entertainment industry is headed.
Seeing change on the outskirts of esports, it’s worth noting how the audience growth rate in 2020 surpassed expectations of many experts, of how engaging esports can be for people that were previously never interested in video games. Many new fans join in esports events, but this pendulum may swing back in the future. Whatever the future may hold, the trend is set for a new era of entertainment in terms of how business tactics to engage the audience are changing rapidly. In 2020 esports audience was nothing like what it’d used to be before the ensuing economic and social challenges the world faced last year. The fact is upstanding, but what exactly does it mean for the fan engagement strategies and the industry at large? How has growth changed the rules for the business side of esports? And what are the ways for dealing with fan engagement today?
The esports audience is growing and it poses a challenge for its coverage capabilities from the business standpoint. There are more fans and they grow more attracted to tournaments according to all kinds of esports statistics sources. They may come to stay, or they may not. The upshot of the situation on the market: what’s going to attract the audience long enough to stay engaged and retained in the marketing grid of companies, when the market plateaus out?
The reason these challenges of fan engagement are eminent today more than ever lie in the strategies esports companies historically deployed on a consistent basis. Lack of interaction with fans outside events has been there from the start. Supplying fans with content that can keep them engaged before, during, and after an event or tournament, is a new field of endeavor all marketing departments throughout the esports span are going to stick to for years to come. Broadcasting tournaments on third-party resources is another wrench thrown into coverage capabilities because it reduces site traffic and makes it less attractive for fans. There’s also a considerable lack of maintaining interest in the companies in the intervals between tournaments. And as a result, there is a decrease in the number of engaged fans, which leads to an increase in spending on advertising and announcements before upcoming tournaments.
Regardless of the scope of a problem and the magnitude of challenges listed above, 27 Nerds is up for a task with any of them. We have a proven track record of success in dealing with every single problem in the question. Here we list solutions for fan engagement and gamification, with their effectiveness proven in our expertise, which your company could enjoy:
- Content is important, and there are different types of it that need to be deployed at different moments. News, entertainment, informational and attention-grabbing content before the tournament. Watching streams, tournaments, and highlights from Twitch and Youtube based on user preferences and tags are reserved for the on-tournament time. Highlights and related content after the tournament ought to be based on global live and recorded content on Twitch, Youtube, Team websites, Broadcasters, Streaming portals, etc.
- Find what truly motivates your fans to stay with you 365/24/7. Enable tournaments & fan entertainment, reward systems with this gamification concept: users are rewarded for content viewing (watch X min of video — get Y points/drops/prizes), prizes (drops/giveaways) which may be custom-tailored to B2B partner business specifics.
- Let them stay connected with you through social media with your timely content update, news, and interesting insights. The ability to get important information and view the key moments of the latest tournament. This one really helps those whose busy nature deprives them of joy to be a witness to the whole show.
- Give your fans access not only to the schedule of future tournaments but also to the events of the past, to make sure your fans can always revisit their favorite moments and impressions.
We have our own mark in the way we service companies.
- We have made sure to support your preferred streaming platforms, server hosting infrastructure, and game engines.
- We allow game developers to create brand new interactive experiences for today’s viewers and players alike.
- We enable game developers to better understand their viewers and cater to their needs in real-time.
- We enable game developers to see viewers as customers, monetizable even when not playing.
Make sure your company reaps the benefits of astounding success the industry is currently experiencing. We are here to get you through the fan engagement boom and making your company a part of history by:
- Engaging audience year-round in addition to your tournaments;
- Building your long term brand presence in Esports 365/24/7;
- Launching your own esports content platform (with streams from Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, etc.);
- Selling more;
- Developing your personal brand ambassadors and advocates;
- You become eligible for multiple additional advertising opportunities.
2021 is an exciting and historical year for esports! Remember to share in the wave of the on-going surge of the industry. We’re here to assist you in striking targets, however ambitious they may be.
