Gaming marketing companies have had to adjust dramatically since the start of this century, but particularly since the start of this decade, we have seen podcasts become an integral part of how gaming companies get their brands out to a mass audience.

With dynamics shifting away from legacy media like TV and billboards and toward podcasters and influencers with large followings, how gaming companies put together their marketing campaigns and allocate their budgets has also changed dramatically.

Today, we are going to look at the scope of games that have found the most success with contemporary marketing and podcasters, those genres that seem to capture the largest audience, and how the marketing sector might shape up a decade or so from now.

Matching The Audience’s Appetite

Any industry is only as successful as its individual parts, and in gaming, the biggest titles can achieve the mass adoption and pop culture impact we see in some of the biggest films and TV shows. It’s important not to understate just how impactful landmark games can be in shaping marketing and how marketers approach the broader industry.

Call of Duty is an excellent example of this. Back in the early 2010s, it was the biggest game in the world, and with all its titles combined, it remains the biggest-selling home video game console ever. The eSports market that has emerged on the back of Call of Duty’s success hasn’t quite mirrored the overall success of its gaming titles, but it continues to grow.

A good indicator of the strength of a gaming market and the corresponding eSports that underpin it is the betting odds, or the size of the betting market that bubbles beneath it. Bovada Call of Duty odds provide a good insight into the dynamics of this market and how the depth of the market generally correlates with its popularity from a broader eSports betting perspective.

From a marketing perspective, podcasters are now among the biggest target markets for gaming companies looking to advertise their games. Gambling platforms that offer Call of Duty odds usually identify specific gaming podcasters with large followings who have a history of working with gambling companies.

We’ve seen other markets crossover too, with NFL betting overlapping with casino games, and eSports ideas influencing slots. As long as there is a market and audience interest, then these ideas will be explored.

A Shift In Marketing Demands

Those who play games like Call of Duty are a younger, more contemporary audience, generally people under 35. People in this bracket are shifting their focus from TV and traditional advertising to podcasts and social media marketing. We’ve seen it with streaming companies spending billions to bring sports into the digital, borderless age, and TV companies slowly losing their grip on sports markets as the market becomes more diversified.

So, when people talk about shrinking advertising budgets and costs in traditional media such as TV and newspapers, it’s not that the audience has lost interest; it’s that they are shifting their attention to bespoke media that better match their preferences. Podcast marketing is experiencing a boom, as millions of people switch to podcasts as their primary source of gaming news and entertainment.Instead of having to watch a game review show once a week on TV or read a generic gaming magazine that covers the entire market, podcasts now offer a way for people to talk solely about the games they most enjoy and the genres they are most attached to.

This includes podcasts that focus on fantasy games, as well as those with much higher budgets that can afford long-form interviews with some of the most influential names in the gaming industry. Ultimately, a higher demand for podcasts means more listeners, and it’s this audience size that determines the budget that companies have when they look to partner with some of the biggest names in the podcast industry.

Podcasts To Dominate In Years To Come?

Podcasts are already revolutionizing the way marketing departments operate. In a global market, it’s about embracing contemporary media to ensure as many people as possible see the product. Today, we talked about Call of Duty, which sits in a unique bracket alongside a handful of other games that don’t need much marketing.

We’re talking about Grand Theft Auto, NFL Madden, and these types of games that spread like wildfire on social media anyway. However, for smaller games or companies that want to muscle in on the party, they need to explore every possible avenue to get as many eyes and ears on their product as possible.

Podcasts don’t just offer a way to do this, but they can speak directly to the podcaster on social media, not have to go through convoluted and expensive talks like they often have to with traditional advertisers, and in an age where clippable, viral content is currency, it only takes the right podcaster and the right advert to establish a game in the market. A decade from now, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see podcasts become one of the primary forms of gaming marketing.