GAMING INFLUENCERS: PROMOTIONAL ROCKSTARS OF THEIR

GENERATION
I. Warm-up – answer these questions about gaming influencers.

1. Which fashion/social/gaming influencer do you follow and why?

2. Have you ever bought anything a gaming influencer has promoted?
3. Have you ever given money to an influencer? Why or why not?

II. Read the test and answer the questions below.

Influencer marketing is a topic that has gained perhaps more traction during the pandemic
than any other form of promotion. Brands looked at online channels during the lockdown,
and influencers welcomed them with open arms.
New data from market research company YouGov shows that over four in ten of the entire
global adult population now follow an influencer, and almost one in ten follow a gaming
influencer.
However, how do the gamers stack up against other influencers? Plus, how big of an impact
do gaming influencers and streamers have on their audiences?
The answers to these questions are available in the latest YouGov whitepaper on the
business of influencer marketing in the esports and video game industry. Although gaming
influencers might not be as widely followed as their colleagues from the fashion and food
industries, these individuals make up for it in growth. The rise of the gaming influencer is
apparent. In the third quarter of 2019 there were 4.3m Twitch channels that produced
content. In the second quarter of 2021 there were almost 12m.
Hours watched on the platform also steadily increased from 3.8bn in 2019 to more than 9bn
this year combined with a rapidly rising number of events live streaming (and restreaming)
on the platform every day.
Reaching the notorious 18 to 34 demographic
When looking at target demographics, gaming influencers are entertaining a part of the
audience that is hard to reach by other forms of marketing. The much-coveted 18 to 34 year
target demographic is notoriously difficult to reach with traditional marketing, and even
digital platforms like Facebook and Instagram struggle to find a way to connect with it.
Although gaming influencers hold 11th place when it comes to the overall number of
followers, if we take a closer look at the age range of 18 to 34 in males — gaming influencers
are number one, according to YouGov’s research.
For men in the mentioned age range, there’s really no other influencer (or topic) they enjoy
more than gaming. In 12 out of the 17 countries surveyed by YouGov, gaming influencers
take the top spot.
In the United States, gaming influencers also top the charts when it comes to teenagers, but
the real market for gaming influencers is in Asia.
Gaming influencers are valuable to brands and marketers
It’s vital to talk about the audiences that follow these influencers. In YouGov’s research, it’s
shown that gaming influencers actually have the highest number of followers who do not
follow any other influencer. To be precise, that’s three percent more than lifestyle
influencers, and six percent more than travel influencers. Gaming influencers tend to reach a
‘unique untapped audience’, stated YouGov in its whitepaper.
Considering the fact that this audience represents around one percent of the entire
population of the world – gaming influencers have immense potential. The popularity of
esports also needs to be mentioned – almost all of the high-profile esports players today are
influencers in their own right, and interacting with them and their respective audiences is
still a marketing solution that is not being utilised properly.
“While the vast majority who follow gaming influencers are already playing games
themselves, influencers can help to deepen this relationship, and that sense of connection
and belonging can ultimately be of high value to marketers looking to have a conversation
with these audiences.”
Simply put, YouGov concludes in its research that gaming influencers are becoming
‘promotional rock stars’ of the influencer marketing community. Although one in 10 people
follow gaming influencers on a global scale, in several key markets such as Asia and the USA,
the numbers are higher. And the numbers are only going to go up from here.
Adapted from: https://esportsinsider.com/2021/11/gaming-influencers-yougov/
Questions:
1. How many adults follow an influencer? A gaming influencer?

2. Which industry has the most exponential growth in influencing? In the number of
followers?

3. Approximately how many Twitch channels produce content today?

4. What kind of marketing strategy finds it difficult to reach the 18-34 demographic?

5. What demographic reaches the top spot in following gaming influencers (age,
gender, geographical situation)?

6. What is so specific about the type of influencer this demographic follows?

7. How does the popularity of eSports impact the influencers’ profiles?

8. What does game influencing provide that no other marketing strategy can?
III. Vocabulary activity - choose the right synonym for each of these words or
expressions from the article.

1. Stack up against 5. Struggle

- Beat - Find it difficult
- Collaborate with - Manage
- Compare to - Succeed

2. Make up for 6. Untapped

- Loose - Not ignored
- Negotiate - Not trusted
- Compensate - Not exploited

3. Steadily 7. Deepen
- Rapidly - Intensify
- Regularly - Reduce
- Slowly - Change

4. Much-coveted 8. Belonging
- Rare - Feel connected to
- Desired - Feel unfamiliar
- Difficult - Feel important

IV. Speaking activity

1. How do you imagine the future of game influencing?

2. Why does the article compare the gaming influencers to rock stars?

3. Would you like to be a gaming influencer? Why or why not?