How to work with Press & Influencers
Your team has worked so hard, now it is your time to shine: Spread the word, content is coming!
You have only one shoot at it; There is usually no second try, so your strategy must be clearly defined for you to succeed.
“Bad games” can make a lot of money thanks to a great strategy, and unfortunately lots of “great games” are unknown and failed because the strategy wasn’t good enough.
Let’s have a look at how you can increase your chances of getting your product known by more players.
- Intro
- Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them
- You Guys are Getting Paid?
- Writing a Press Release
- Track your campaign
Intro
Influencers & Press people receive dozens and dozens of press offers in their mailboxes daily.
If you want to be noticed, get the most out for your game and give your everything in that first contact…
… but don’t be too different and eccentric either! You need to represent your company’s culture while promoting your product.
► So how do you get noticed by players?
► Why should you pay for external coverage while you can simply share the content yourself on your own social Media?
► And how to find the best people to talk about your product?!
► What should I tell them, Lenny?! WHY? AND WHEN?! LENNY!! 😬
Ex Trion Worlds’ CEO Scott Hartsman & young me at Paris Games Week 2016
Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them
The Search for Press & Influencers, and how to contact them
As with everything, there are pros & cons of working with Influencers & Press, here are the biggest ones:
Pros
- Targeted advertising, if you have done your job well
- Word of mouth, the most powerful type of advertising
- Trust associated with the Media. Users will usually believe the Media when they say your product is worth it
- Reach players who are resistant to traditional forms of advertising on social Media
Cons
- Bad advertising because of the media’s reputation, if you haven’t made enough research
- Bad advertising if the Media is honest and your product simply is not worth it at the moment, let’s make it plain
- Cost
- Difficulty in obtaining an accurate Return on Investment
“Let’s pay a top influencer a lot of money then! They will ensure that I get the maximum possible coverage!”
Yeah, but no… but yes! But, not really.
Companies must do a lot of marketing research AND thoughts before choosing to work with selected Press & Influencers.
- Is the Media’s audience demography relevant to your product?
- How big is their audience?
- Note that the number of followers is NOT the best metric.
- 💡 Prefer to analyse the Potential Reach, Engagement Rate, Average Views, Media’s Growth, Cost, and of course the Content Quality to see if it fits your brand image
- How are they going to promote your product? In what form?
- Is their audience open to possible forms of advertisements, or will they make your life harder?
- What is the risk vs. reward?
- At the moment in 2022: Tik Tok > Instagram > Facebook > YouTube > Twitter > Blogs > Twitch || Press are the best places to find great coverage.
There are multiple ways to calculate Engagement Rate.
“Engagements” are Likes, Comments, Clicks, Shares
- (ENGAGEMENT / POST’S REACH) * 100 → More accurate for a given Post, and to me fairer to the Media because the algorithm is not really helping 🙂
- (ENGAGEMENT / FOLLOWERS COUNT) * 100 → Will be lower than above because depending on the algorithm + other factors, not every followers will see the Post.
▲ All these details are cool but… where to find these Media, these “Press & Influencers” you are talking about?
- Google – As one of my teacher used to say: “The best tool of man is the hand”, and.. well… hey, he’s right you know! ^-^
- HootSuite – A powerful feature helps you discover influencers by monitoring content relevant to your industry across multiple channels.
- LevelUp Analytics – I really enjoy the Content Creator discovery tool, useful for PRs & Influencer Managers
- Twitter Analytics – Highlights some great information, showing you top Twitter accounts following you, those who helped you spread words, etc…
Make a list of the Press & Influencers you want to keep.
Then have a look at their content, do more research, and sort by preference. Shortlist the selection.
💡 Look for creators who generates plenty of organic, non-paid content to keep followers interested, enthusiastic, and engaged.
▲ And when should I contact them?
It depends on your Product strategy.
You might want to contact them early, 1-2 months before release, so they can start working on content.
💡 There is a balance to be found between “is the product good enough in its state before release?” and “I need to give time to the press so they can create their content without rushing it”.
While you might need Non Disclosure Agreements for Content Creators, professionals usually don’t always need one and you can safely share the information they will need to create great content. It’s up to you, but some influencers could feel a bit insulted if you don’t trust their work.
Give them an embargo date, it will be enough. They will maintain their reputation and keep their content & information for them until the date you have provided them with.
💡 You can also simply publish your own Press Release on a hub for Journalists, like GamePress, but I don’t guarantee results as the press will have to pick up the information and then share the details if they want to. Select a few Top Press and work with them. Then other Press websites will then pick up the news and increase the Resonance with a source.
▲ How should I contact them?
Start by interacting organically with their posts (content creators, press authors, …).
Whether it’s a comment on YouTube, a quote of a tweet, an engagement on Instagram, a response on Discord, … Like their content.
Comment with your brand or personal account only when appropriate. Do not be pushy, be natural.
When you feel like it is the good moment, a mail or a Direct Message will be a great start. Take a more personal approach (don’t be weird though), do not send mass mails.
💡 While it may take a bit longer to write a personalised message to each Media you are contacting, trust me it has its effect. As a content creator, I want to be considered, unique, and not part of mass mail sent to other “randoms”.
In your message, provide them with some information about your brand, but of course don’t write a novel.
Tell them what you hope to accomplish with your campaign, and make it clear how they will benefit, beyond the money.
💡 Don’t call them influencers. Call them YouTubers, Journalists, Blogger, or even better: Content Creator.
If the deal is struck, congratulations! The collaboration begins.
You heard me well: Collaboration. Do not direct the Media. They will write about your release in their own words and distribute the information to their socials.
Provide them with important keywords (thank you SEO), assets via a Media Kit / Influencer Kit, press release, and links.
Unless it’s a Livestream, Content Creators will usually send you their content before they publish it but I noticed it happens more often with YouTubers.
Journalists & bloggers will usually release their article once the embargo has been lifted, and you will discover the articles during that time.
If REALLY there is something that bothers you in the article like a typo in the brand’s name, feel free to contact the journalist. But don’t criticise their articles. Take notes, thank them for their time, be courteous. Always.
Factors that make Influencers likely to work with a brand more than once:
- Creative Freedom
- Competitive Compensation
- Respect
- Understanding of Media’s content
Be human, you are talking to real people who will play with you, or possibly against you if you are not kind enough. Do not steer bad press.
You Guys are Getting Paid?
Much like you, Press & Influencers need monies to eat, drink, sleep, and play games.
I will be upfront with you: campaigns can be costly.
- €50-€150 could deliver some acceptable content for a content creator
- €250-€350 will give you an experienced person working on the content
- €400-€1000 are for the top Content Creators, if your goal is Conversion
- €500-€3,000 will give you the best Press articles with a full focus on your brand
- €3,000-€10,000 are usually for the top biggest influencers if your goal is Brand Awareness
- The average on my own Press & Influencer spreadsheet is about €2,500 per influencer for a campaign
💡 Personal hot take, do not insult professionals by hiring someone from Fiverr. Please.
Rates should be based around a Media’s engagement rate & follower count (a Reach metric might be better), but there are many extras that could influence the cost.
Personally, I prefer when payments are done by campaigns rather than per posts. It makes things more complicated, and also costlier.
Keep in mind that the biggest content creators often have things to pay like renting the studio, hiring a hairstylist, photoshots, an agent, … that’s why payouts can spike rather quickly.
From Hootsuite, it applies well to the prices I’ve seen:
The unspoken industry standard is $100 per 10,000 followers + extras for type of post (x # of posts) + additional factors = total rate.
– Of course, your brand goals will be a factor as well in determining which influencer will offer the most value.
– If you want to maintain ownership of the content you create with an influencer, so that you can use it on other platforms or down the line, this will likely impact the influencer’s rate.
– Most contracts include an exclusivity clause, in which the influencer agrees not to work with competitors for a determined length of time. Since this could cost influencers prospective deals, it will affect the cost.
– Many influencers are represented by managers or agencies such as Crowdtap, Niche, Tapinfluencer, or Maker Studios. These companies will typically charge handling fees.
– Depending on how much time a brand gives an influencer to create content, a rush fee may be applied.
💡 Press & Content Creators could have their own defined payout requests of course.
Calculate whether the numbers add up well, and check if it is above or below the cost you had calculated.
If it is above, renegotiate courteously. I’ve heard once €20k for a 3 hours Livestream on a famous Twitch channel, not sharing names but it’s way too much for the ROI.
If it is below you may just accept… or propose them more: They will feel rewarded and do an even better job.
Writing a Press Release
A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considered a primary source, meaning they are original informants for information.
A press release is traditionally composed of nine structural elements, including a headline, dateline, introduction, body, and other components. Press releases are typically delivered to news media electronically, ready to use, and often subject to “do not use before” time, known as an news embargo – Wikipedia
You can use Press Release for new Updates, Product Launches, Events, Partnerships, Rebranding, Awards, and usually massive news for your Company and/or Product.
- Headline // A clear and short title with the game’s name and the topic. Here, we had released the Update called Bloodtrail.
- EMBARGO // Usually, Press release have these heads up “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE”, “HOLD UNTIL”, etc…
- Dateline // Nice, France – 03/12/2020, this was a “surprise” update to shake a bit the community
- Introduction // What is Wolcen, what is Bloodtrail, “it is coming today!” effect
- Body // The Update’s content
- Resources // Video Gameplay, Trailer, Patch Notes, Discord, Twitch Drop, and all the assets needed by the press to write an article
- Contact
It is not that hard to craft a compelling Press Release, once you have mastered the format.
An example of a Press Release I have written for Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem
💡 It is generally better to keep Press Release in a single page, here, I couldn’t help myself and the image took some space as well ^-^
Press Release are a digest of information, so here are some tips:
- A clear headline, so users keep reading
- Keep it short, but be specific
- Go from the most important information to the least important
- If you can share known names within your company, that is great because it will give weight to the information
- 💡 Even better, try and get a quote from them and what they have to say about the information
- Share the Press Release to the main Hubs used by Journalists, like GamePress, Newswire, or JustReachOut.
- 💡 Also reach out individually to your key press contacts, at least one day before
- Keep an eye out for the Press actually sharing your news on social Media!
This will create a second “free” wave, simply retweet & share what the Press think of the update, their stories.
Track your campaign
Setting and keeping track of specific metrics will help ensure that your influencer marketing campaign is successful.
▲ Prepare your Spreadsheets, here are what I mostly use to centralise the information.
Content Creators
- Feedback // A simple colour and check if the influencer was great on a scale of 1 to 5
- Name
- Type // YouTube? Twitch? Others? With a simple logo of the main platform
- Channel Link
- Language
- Followers
- Average Views
- Suggested Cost // The one I calculated with the formula + extras
- Requested Price // The one requested by the influencer
- E-mail address
- Notes
Press
- Websites Names
- Language
- Main Contact Name // Usually the chief editor, or main author
- E-mail address
- Second Contact Name
- E-mail address
- Details
- Requested Price // Usually between €500 to €3000, but I’ve seen up to €4000
▲ UTM links are also a way to track the visitors that influencers sends your way.
Assign each influencer their own unique links with UTM URLs will help you measure how their Engagement performs: Return on Investment.
- This is a link: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/ck3-dev-diary-89-1-5-0-fleur-de-lis-patch-notes.1509587/
- This is an UTM-ed link: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/ck3-dev-diary-89-1-5-0-fleur-de-lis-patch-notes.1509587/?utm_source=twitter-owned&utm_medium=social-owned&utm_content=post&utm_campaign=crki3_ck_20220208_for_dd
- This is a shortened UTM-ed link: pdxint.at/3LhbNpA
When a user clicks on an UTM-ed link, your analytics will catch that and allow you to measure specific metrics.
There are five different UTM parameters, and the first three ones are mandatory as required by Google Analytics. The two others are optional, to track paid campaigns for example.
Source → Medium → Campaign → Term → Content.
Shorten your UTM URL then to make it more appealing visually, with bit.ly for example.
If you want to learn more about UTM, read How to UTM from HootSuite.
▲ Hashtags can help you measure the impact your campaign had on social Media.
Create a specific hashtag for your event and then analyse it via your preferred social Media tool.
You could get the number of posts, the percentage of positive/negative sentiment contained in the messages, reach, engagement, and more.
