Project Overview:
Walmart Canada engaged my team to develop a comprehensive content marketing strategy that would appeal to gaming audiences and build a separate brand identity, while also retaining transactional function.
Our solution involved the creation of SwitchedOnGamer – an independent platform focused solely on video games programming, complementing Walmart Gaming. We onboarded and led a team of internal staff and freelance gaming industry staff writers, and built a website, multiple social media properties, and a live event promotions platform.
Challenge:
Walmart needed to expand its targeted gaming audience to complement Walmart Gaming programming, but had little “cred” in gaming communities.
They needed an aggressive content marketing, SEO, and audience engagement program to establish a brand new platform and the team to make it work.
Walmart also needed help deploying its budget against securing the right team and talent.
Solutions:
We designed and prescribed the SwitchedOnGamer program to Walmart leadership, securing the budget, veto, and green-light for a completely new, satellite brand to complement Walmart Gaming.
We deployed the budget to build a team of content writers, visual editors, web design, SEO, and outreach talent.
We designed, pitched, developed, and launched the SwitchedOnGamer website, developed technical integrations with our previously launched theHUB editorial content platform, and launched YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and a content calendar to support platform growth.
We then executed a platform for live event participation and officially launched the platform at E3 2019.
Outcomes:
- Launched SwitchedOnGamer community platform at E3 2019 with tremendous success
- Wrote and producted more than 40 exclusive event articles live in LA
- Secured 26 exclusive developer and publisher interview videos, demos, and first-look engagements
- Forged collaborative partnerships with every major AAA studio and title publisher in our market, such as Nintendo, EA, Ubisoft, Bethesda, Activision, Microsoft, Sony, and more
- ca launched to more than 10,000 daily visitors and grew beyond without a single dollar of paid placement/PPC.
- Regularly commanded front page trending article placement on niche gaming community sites like Reddit (/r/gaming) and N4G
- Increased direct traffic to Walmart Gaming retail landing transaction pages by 15% during launch week and continued to drive 3-5% CTR from articles to product LPs
Learns:
- Building a targeted content marketing strategy is crucial for businesses looking to expand and engage with gaming audiences
- Creating a distinct and independent brand to focus on video game programming can help companies overcome corporate stigma and establish credibility with gaming communities
- Aggressive content marketing, SEO, and audience engagement programs are essential for launching a successful gaming platform
- Investing in a strong team of content writers, editors, designers, SEO and outreach specialists is key to executing a comprehensive content marketing strategy
- Developing a content calendar and utilizing multiple social media platforms can help drive growth and increase followership
- Live event promotions can be highly effective in generating buzz and creating exclusive content for the gaming community