Gaming is for Professionals
While the pandemic has negatively impacted many industries, it is fair to say that gaming is not one of them. Traditional gamer stereotypes have been obliterated, so think beyond 16-year-old boys locked in their dark bedrooms. Gamers are 31-year-old fashion conscious women on mobiles, Gen Xers and Millennials rediscovering a long-lost love and B2B C-level professionals looking to relax and switch off. Yes that’s right, senior decision makers at a corporate level are gamers too.
In the UK and US, 88% of our B2B audience said they are playing more video games than ever before. This is 3 times higher than general consumers globally, and the key reason they game is to relieve stress and relax.
What kind of gaming?
Our global B2B audience over-index as esports fans. Their favourite genres range from first person shooter and adventure formats to racing and strategy games, with sports coming in 6th place.
Furthermore, they are 3x more likely to have played a popular esports franchise such as F1, Overwatch and Starcraft in the past 12 months. But with over a third of our audience being Gen Xers, they are also twice as likely to have played more nostalgic franchises such as Star Wars, World of Warcraft and Sim City.
Social gamers
Perhaps the most surprising findings are their gaming behaviours. Our data shows that nearly half of our B2B audience are playing with friends, sharing, participating and over a quarter are even streaming themselves.
So why is this relevant?
Many B2B brands market to their audiences in the same traditional way – often dry, boring content that lacks differentiation. B2B audiences are people too and as such want to be entertained. So how about problem solving games showcasing the power of AI products or tower defence games linked metaphorically to cyber security services?
When planning B2B campaigns, listen to the data and use a little bit of imagination as gamifying could help unlock a new wave of customers.
Data: GWI Q4 2019 – Q3 2020
