Gaming on Twitter is a whole new playing field for marketers

The gaming industry has come a long way since the ‎#retrogaming days of Atari and arcades. Today, gamers are modern-day renaissance men and women. Take Albert Chang (‎@thealbertchang). While Albert is a gamer at heart, he’s also a musician, a magician and a cosplaying, lock-breaking fund-raising member of a vibrant gaming community on Twitter.

Performing and teaching some beginner magic tricks for the holidays ;) https://t.co/wHfygDw1Au pic.twitter.com/uUvJpZx0eq

— Albert | SleightlyMusical (@THEalbertchang) December 24, 2018

People like Albert are redefining how the rest of the world sees gamers. Once relegated to a basement culture where the occasional LAN party took place, the gaming community has blossomed into a rapidly growing audience of ‎#streamers, ‎#creators and ‎#esports legends.

Now, they’re tweeting about the biggest releases, the most epic highlights from their favorite esports events, and the latest trends happening across the industry. Gamers are connecting with one another on the platform, all while engaging with the brands that they love. In fact, 42 percent of people of Twitter users follow gaming brands, according to a Twitter-commissioned study, demonstrating a desire to discover more as they lean into the conversations.

Twitter is opening the doors not only for a new generation of gamers but for marketers looking to engage with the most influential members of the gaming community. If today’s brands want to have a voice in the industry, their best bet is to ‎#StartWithThem.

A whole new level of engagement

One of the reasons gamers are racing to Twitter faster than the next player on the sticks is to see what the biggest gaming icons have to say. Esports legends like Tass (‎@fazetass) are igniting new conversations, and changing what it means to be a professional athlete. Perhaps most interesting is that these engagements often transcend the world of gaming. Tass also attracts some of the most devout soccer fans from across the FIFA leagues.

The esports athlete is all about sparking conversations. With just five words, he can bring people from around the world together to debate, converse and put their stakes in the ground to fight for their favorite players.

Messi is still better chill

— Tass (@FaZeTass) June 5, 2019

These conversations are taking engagement to a whole new level of influence. The conversations happening are more than just discovery, hype and a splash of trash talk.

Yet, Tass and Albert are just two of the hundreds of thousands of gamers on Twitter who are moving the needle to drive the culture forward.

Why does this audience matter?

On Twitter, gamers are open to sharing their opinions and aren’t afraid to tell it how it is. In fact, a Twitter-commissioned study found that 49 percent of gamers on the platform are more likely to share views and recommendations versus gamers on other leading social media services. But above all gamers on Twitter are hungry—and they want that ‎#chickendinner.

For marketers looking to engage with today’s savants, mukbang magicians or esports athletes, there’s only one arena to find the modern-day Da Vincis: Twitter Gaming.

The article Gaming on Twitter: Start with grandmasters first appeared on Twitter.