本文原作者：Georg Broxtermann 译者：游戏邦ciel chen

近日，独立游戏开发者和主要的几家发行商似乎都把影响者营销当做了灵丹妙药，追着那些Youtube\Twitch\Instagram\Snapchat上的网红不放，希望他们能推广自己最新发行的游戏。

每个人都在谈论着一个成功大事记：当Felix Kjellberg aka PewDiePie在“Let’s play”直播节目中让他的4800万订阅观众去下载他的最新手游时都发生了什么？

没错，这款游戏以火箭般的速度登上了App Store的热门排行榜首。然而每个最佳实践方案都有着无数次失败的尝试：

网红（影响者）的粉丝或者网红自己会嘲弄被推广的游戏

影响者没能在游戏发行时及时上传视频或者在最后一刻完全放弃了有关游戏宣传的合同。

游戏在本应成功的宣传活动后没有足够的流量和安装量。

为了不在影响者营销上经历不好的体验，你可以看看我们根据经验列出的以下影响者营销上需要避免的内容。

mario kart 8(from gamasutra)

1，别光顾着只找最大牌的明星

也许你会觉得你的游戏品牌有必要让那些大牌网红来推荐，你还可能觉得让那些少数但大牌的网红来做游戏推送会比让很多名气小的网红做推送来的省时又划算。

但是，记住：网红名声越大，竞争越大，想获得他们的注意越难。他们很有可能因为众多的推送请求变得不耐烦，从而推送代价会被炒高。把目标瞄准那些刚出道的网络明星吧，因为他们更好说话也更有可能忠于你的事业。

并且，你在小众市场的宣传做得越好，获得的用户质量就越高。这种方法的额外好处就是：你没有鸡蛋都放在同一个篮子里，所以你不会因为单个影响者的表现失利而全盘皆输。

2，试试基于绩效的偿付来保证视频收视率

大部分超有名气的影响者在“Let’s Play”或者其他视频节目中做内置广告都是收取固定费用的。不过你要是更多地是去接触那些名声没那么大的影响者或者深入你的小众市场里的话，你花出去的钱会更有保障。

其中一种比较让人接受的模式就是让影响者按照Youtube视频每千次观看来计费，而大部分影响者都不会愿意按照安装量来计费的。

3，认真对待影响者

这些影响者可能不会那么容易总是按照你习惯的方式回复你的邮件——但是这并不意味着他们不够专业。

要时刻记住，这些家伙们能号令一个相当大的群体，他们是网络的明日之星，所以他们希望被认真地对待。

从另一方面来说，你要寻找的是商业伙伴，而不是去跟网络红人交朋友。所以在方法和给出的报价要足够专业，反过来你才可以有同样的要求。

还要记住，提供你自己游戏里的高级货币未必是一种非常有吸引力的支付方式，所以别把这个当做offer。你希望把游戏展示给这些网红的观众，这是一种有价服务。

要有付出合理代价和非常规附加条件的心理准备：国外游、酷炫的活动邀请、收藏品、接触开发的权限、给你游戏中的角色配音等等。

4，至少放弃某些方面的控制权

影响者的行为就像记者一样：你提供信息和进入游戏的权限，但是你不能控制他们在游戏中的行为。当然了，你提供了大概的活动概要和材料，但是要如何赋予游戏生命力并将它的魅力展现给观众终究是影响者的创作自由。

有很多游戏公司和影响者的双方合同泄露出来过，这损害了双方的名誉：影响者的行为如同PR一般向他们的粉丝做推销；而游戏公司的行为则好像他们对自己的游戏品质没有信念。

就让影响者自由发挥自己的想法是最好的。他们之所以能吸引上百万的粉丝是有理由的。

5，按照规则办事

然而我们都在致力于：确保影响者公开赞助方。这不仅是正确的做法，而且是合法的行为，因为这样双方都可以以付费/收费来制作内容并将其作为独立的意见公开发表的名义被起诉。

还要注意，无论是通过影响者的文本覆盖还是口头声明，这种公开的方式只要能在视频中直接体现出来就可以。

6，确保影响者跟游戏的匹配程度

一些影响者会专注于某些特定游戏或特定类型的游戏。如果一个频道主要出名的游戏直播内容是《英雄联盟》教程或者《Minecraftlove》故事，那最好还是不要在这里推送你的亚洲类型游戏了。

试着去找那些可以有信服度地展示你的游戏和有相似游戏品味的影响者。

然而，一个频道里从来没有你游戏所属类型的直播视频的话不代表这里是你游戏推送的禁区。你自己想想:你会只玩一个游戏吗？应该不会对吧，那么其他玩家也是如此。

尽管能推送你游戏的频道选择性很小，但观众总有多样化的游戏品味。到最后，一切都会化作：“这个主播所表达对新游戏的兴趣是不是可信的？”

7，要有做这件事的决心和态度

影响者营销不太适合作为“实验性尝试”来做。因为你要面对的对象是人，而不是网络广告平台。

一旦这样的宣传开始，即使你对结果没有百分百的满意，你也没办法半路叫停了。并且这样的宣传方式也会比去Facebook的Power Editor建立一个广告宣传活动来的费时得多。

所以如果想办好一场影响者宣传活动，就要做好投入大量时间和精力的准备，或者你可以跟一个能帮你处理好这些事情的人一起工作。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或者咨询微信zhengjintiao

Influencer marketing seems to be the cure these days with indie devs and major publishers chasing after YouTube personalities, Twitch streamers, Instagrammers and Snapchat celebrities to promote their latest game.

Everybody is talking about the big success stories: what happens when Felix Kjellberg aka PewDiePie does a Let’s Play of his latest mobile game and ask his 48 million YouTube subscribers to download the game?

The game skyrockets to the top of the App Store of course. But for every best practice case there are uncountable failed attempts:

Stories of a streamer’s audience or the streamer himself mocking the promoted game

Influencers not delivering a video in time for a game’s release or backing down from their contract altogether at the very last moment

The lack of (relevant) traffic or installs after a supposedly successful campaign.

In order to not have a bad (first) experience with influencer marketing, have a look at this list of things we’ve learned to avoid when spending money on influencer marketing:

1. Don’t just go for the biggest stars

It may seem desirable to attach your brand only to the big names, and you might feel it’s time-saving and thus worthwhile to only work with few big influencers instead of dozens of smaller ones.

Aim for upcoming stars as they are easier to reach out to and probably are more loyal to your cause.

But remember: The bigger the star, the harder the competition for his or her attention. They will most likely be a lot more jaded and more expensive. Aim for upcoming stars as they are easier to reach out to and probably are more loyal to your cause.

Also, the better you hit a niche the better the resulting user quality will be. An additional upside to this approach is that if you do not put all eggs in one basket, it won’t hurt your campaign if a single influencer underperforms.

2. Try to pay performance-based and get video views guaranteed

Most influencer superstars work on a fixed price basis for Let’s Plays and other types of integrated advertising. But the more you approach smaller ones or go into your niche, you get guarantees for your money.

One of the more accepted models by influencers are payments on a CPM-basis for Youtube video views, and most influencers are no fans of getting paid on a CPI basis.

3. Take influencers seriously

They may not always answer your emails as readily and in a manner you might be used to – but that doesn’t mean they aren’t professionals.

Always keep in mind, these guys and gals command huge followings, they are the new stars on the web and they want to be treated accordingly.

On the other side, you are looking for a business partner and not to befriend an internet star. Be professional in your approach and your offer and you can demand the same in return.

Influencers act like journalists: You provide information and access to your game but you can’t control what they do with it.

Also keep in mind that premium currency in your game is not a very sexy payment method, so don’t offer it. You want to get in front of their audience, that’s a service with a price.

Be prepared to pay a fair price and offer non-standard extras: Trips to foreign countries, cool events, collector’s stuff, access to development, voicing a character in your game etc.

4. Give up control – at least some

Influencers act like journalists: You provide information and access to your game but you can’t control what they do with it. Of course, you provide proper briefings and materials, but it is the influencer’s creative freedom bringing it to life and making it appealing to their audience.

There are a number of contracts between games companies and influencers that leaked to the public and tarnished the reputations of both sides: Influencers acting like PR and selling out to their fans; companies acting like they had no faith in their game’s quality.

Let the influencers do what they think is best. There’s a reason why they command a million of fans and don’t.

5. Play by the rules

While we’re at it: Make sure the influencer discloses the sponsorship. It’s not only the proper thing to do, it’s the lawful thing to do as both sides can be prosecuted for giving/taking money to produce content and presenting it as independent opinion.

Also note that the disclosure has to be placed directly within the video, either as text overlay or verbally stated by the influencer.

Consumer protection agencies such as the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stated it is not enough to disclose the video’s sponsored status under YouTube’s “Show More” section as the disclaimer would not be visible on videos watched through Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sources.

6. Make sure it’s a match

Some influencers are very focused on a specific game or genre. If a channel is known for great League Of Legends tutorials or Minecraft love stories, it is probably not the best pick for your Asia grinder.

Influencer campaigns are not well suited for “trial runs”. You are dealing with humans, not online advertising platforms.

Try to find someone who can convincingly showcase your game and who has a fitting taste.

However, if a channel has never played something within your game’s genre that doesn’t have to be a red flag. Think about yourself: Do you only play one game? Probably not and so do most gamers.

While the channel might be very narrow, the audience will have more diverse taste. In the end it all comes down to: “Is the channel owner believable when he expresses interest in a new game?”.

7. Only do it if you mean it

Influencer campaigns are not well suited for “trial runs”. You are dealing with humans, not online advertising platforms.

If you start a campaign it cannot be paused, halted or canceled halfway through because you’re not 100% satisfied with the results. It’s also a lot more time consuming than to set up an ad campaign in Facebook’s Power Editor.

Be prepared to invest quite a lot of time and effort to set up an influencer campaign properly, or alternatively work with someone who can handle it for you.（source：pocketgamer.biz ）