- Level up: exploring the world of games on TikTok (and how to promote them)
- Published 02/02/2024
- 5 min Read
- Written by Anastasia Zaichko
Table of contents
According to the latest statistics, TikTok has already crossed 4.7 billion downloads globally, with 770 million downloads in the first quarter of 2023 alone. The platform has huge potential for promoting goods and services, mobile games and applications. TikTok is known for entertaining videos, but the platform is becoming more and more popular for promoting computer and mobile games.
In the new article, Fametsers experts overview the growing part of TikTok gaming section and the ways to promote gaming content on TikTok.
TikTok: main advantages as an advertising platform
According to Statista, by the end of 2023, the number of TikTok users will reach approximately 834 million, and by 2025, it is forecasted to grow to 955 million. Given this fact, the business felt that it was time to quickly connect effective advertising channels on the platform.
Advantages of TikTok as an advertising platform include:
- Huge opportunities for experimentation with a low cost per click compared to other social networks.
- Large library of accompanying music.
- Platform users are an engaged audience.
- Wide selection of tools for brand presentation.
- Maximum native advertising in a user-friendly interface.
However, before you engage in brand promotion on TikTok, you need to skillfully integrate advertising through the daily interaction with users.
Popular advertising formats on TikTok are:
- TopView – a full-screen banner that appears when you first launch the application.
- Brand takeover – full-screen banner with a countdown of approximately 5 seconds until the close button.
- Hashtag challenge – a flash mob on behalf of the brand for several days.
- In-feed video – a campaign with a video up to 15 seconds in the user feed.
- Brand effect – branded filters in 2D or 3D format.
There is a sixth way. Integrations with influencers. One of the most famous and standard methods of placing your advertising – is integration with content creators that today make up the growing part of the TikTok gaming section. Selecting the right influencer, it is worth paying attention not to the number of subscribers, but the number of likes, views, shares, and comments. The algorithms of this platform work simply: if users at least once like one of the influencers’ videos, then new videos of this creator will appear in the feed user recommendations.
It’s difficult to say which promotion format works best on TikTok. However, marketers highlight three universal tips for promoting on the platform:
- Use creativity.
- The speed of consumption must correspond to the dynamism of the platform, where content changes very quickly, which means the user’s attention needs to be captured in the first seconds.
- Trends are the main thing to focus on.
How do games on TikTok work?
Since the very beginning, TikTok has been very popular among video game fans, who are now more numerous than ever. Today, both hardcore gamers and casual gamers regularly log into TikTok to scroll through the feed and watch short videos.
The gaming community can’t do without creativity, just like Mario can’t do without Luigi. The short video format is perfect for demonstrating gameplay and allows players to share both moments of triumph and disappointing defeats with other users. On TikTok, gamers show off their crazy skills, dedicate ballads to their favorite games, dance to themed music, and even cosplay some characters.
In other words, the application allows users to express themselves and share everything they find interesting in the world of video games, and advertisers can show ads only to the target audience.
Ads in the TikTok feed are bright, clickable videos 9-15 seconds long, which are natively placed in the recommended videos section and launched from your brand profile. Users can like, comment and share the promotional video, or immediately click on the call-to-action button to go to the application page (or any other resource).
For the most optimal use of your advertising budget, it is recommended to choose advertising with an auction payment model. A low entry threshold, a flexible purchasing system and complete control over bids are all advantages of advertising on TikTok. Another important advantage is the ability to optimize advertising campaigns on the go. TikTok also allows you to reserve ads in your feed (reservation ads), which is great for those who need to get a guaranteed amount of traffic at a flat rate.
Both professional online gaming marketers and beginners will find it easy to figure out how to set up an advertising campaign, as TikTok Ads Manager walks you through the entire process step-by-step. As ad material, you can use short videos of gameplay or an overview of new features, as well as any other content. On the platform, you will find all the necessary tools to create catchy advertising videos with high engagement. Show the most exciting moments of the game, smart characters, and new sound effects, let users know how much fun they will have in the application, and then your advertising will definitely not go unnoticed.
However, it’s not all about entertainment. Feed advertising can be customized to suit your goals and objectives. To increase brand awareness, increase clicks, or increase sales, use tools like precision targeting and in-app event optimization (AEO).
Case study
Flaregames is a mobile game development company based in Berlin. The studio wanted to increase awareness and downloads of its new release, Zombie Gunship Survival. At the same time, Flaregames planned to go beyond installs and simultaneously achieve growth in in-app purchases.
This can be easily achieved by app event optimization. The feature allows you to further optimize advertising and target only those users who are most likely to take an action in the application, for example, a purchase.
The advertising video demonstrated gameplay elements that were intended to interest users. By optimizing for in-app actions, the company was able to attract only the most valuable (i.e., the most profitable) players.
Result: 32,000 new users, RPI (revenue per install) increased by 22%, and conversion (purchases) increased by 17%.
Wrapping up
Content on TikTok is very suitable for game advertising. With the right approach, you can successfully promote various game types, as well as gaming apps. In case you wish to promote your game on TikTok by applying the influencer marketing techniques, let the Famesters’ experts know – and together we will develop the perfect strategy to spread the word about your solution.
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