Data-Driven Sales Optimization in the Gaming Industry
In highly competitive markets such as video games, sales optimization increasingly depends on highly targeted, data-driven strategies.
Prime 8 was engaged by a leading gaming company that risked losing sales because of inconsistent cross-channel marketing execution.
To address the situation and ensure more consistency in sales offers, our consultant developed a data-driven and agile process to work across events and channels.
It wasn’t that long ago that gaming was considered a kind of sideshow in the entertainment world — a niche market skewing male and young. Well, forget all of that.
According to market analyst Newzoo, the global games market is now worth well over $185 billion — bigger than Hollywood and the music industry combined.
Predominantly young males? Barely. According to the Entertainment Software Association, 48% of people who play games identify as female, and the average age is 33.
As the world becomes more digitally oriented — with more time spent online, on mobile phones, and on streaming services — the gaming market is only going to keep growing and get more competitive. Success increasingly depends on refined, highly targeted, data-driven sales strategies.
For a look at what it takes to thrive in gaming today, take a look at this Prime 8 Consulting success story where we were the catalyst for a leading gaming company's sales transformation.
We accomplished this by:
Unifying sales strategies across channels.
Implementing data-driven sales optimization — including optimizing operations and influencing product plans, programs, promotions, and business goals.
Boosting profitability through data-driven insights and agile methodologies in sales — maximizing revenue through all channels and storefronts while increasing retailer satisfaction.
The Challenge: Unifying Tentpole Sales Strategies and Resolving Retailer Frustration
Our client and its channel partners had seen great success over the years through tentpole marketing — building marketing campaigns or promotions centered around specific events or moments, ranging from major product or feature releases to holidays, entertainment awards shows, high-profile sports matchups, and more.
These are colloquially known as "tentpole events" because, like tentpoles, they are seen as the main support structures for the campaigns.
Tentpole marketing can deliver powerful results, using the heightened attention and engagement generated by these events as a “multiplier” to drive increased visibility and sales. However, any tentpole marketing effort requires careful planning and execution to ensure that the strategy is relevant and well received by the target audience.
LACK OF CHANNEL BUY-IN AND COORDINATION
In particular, when multiple channels are involved, tentpole marketing requires a high level of cross-channel buy-in and coordination. That was a key element missing for our client.
To find out why, Prime 8 consultants started by conducting an initial operational assessment in sales strategy to identify the root cause of the inconsistency in sales offers.
We found the following:
Lack of coordination across our client’s online store and third-party retailers.
Growing frustration when retailers saw different levels of discounts and better promos than they could offer.
An increasing risk that retailers would reduce their participation in key tentpole events, dragging down gaming revenues.
The Solution: A Data-Driven Approach to Sales Parity
To address the situation and ensure more consistency in sales offers, Prime 8 developed a process for creating a consistent tentpole marketing strategy that would work across events and channels.
SALES METRICS AND AGILITY
Prime 8 recommended and got buy-in on a data strategy focusing on key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to monitor operational performance and propel data-driven sales optimization. Metrics included social engagement, search engine rankings, website traffic, and, of course, sales. But the metrics also included retailer participation and satisfaction.
To ensure continuous improvement, we also implemented a set of agile methodologies in sales including setting up a work breakdown structure (WBS).
A WBS can be used across a wide range of efforts to help divide work into smaller tasks, making projects more manageable and approachable. In this case, the WBS would be shared across channels to determine when offers would land and allow sufficient time for regions to prepare — a key complaint in the past.
This solution enabled stakeholders from different regions and departments to access real-time information about current and planned promotions. Our consultant facilitated effective stakeholder management and collaboration by providing a single, authoritative source of discount data.
The Results: Increased Revenue and Praise From the Field
The optimized sales strategies and unified sales roadmap delivered real bottom-line results. Since implementing the new resource for managing discounts and promotions, there has been a significant improvement in retailer relationships.
Importantly, no retail partners have dropped out since the introduction of this resource. This improvement was especially noteworthy given that some retailers had previously put sales on hold or expressed reluctance to engage in future deals due to past issues with inconsistent discounting practices.
Our consultant’s solution helped rebuild trust and partnership with these retailers, demonstrating the project's success through improved business relationships in the form of successful sale setups and increased retailer satisfaction and participation, leading to a substantial boost in revenue.
The gaming company could now confidently say that for every dollar spent on the program, the ROI was significantly higher than before.
Can Data-Driven Sales Optimization Work for You?
Prime 8's expertise in business operations, program management, and data analysis was pivotal in transforming the gaming company's sales strategy. Their agile, data-driven approach led to streamlined operations, improved retailer satisfaction, and increased revenue.
Are you facing similar challenges in your business? Prime 8 Consulting can tailor a solution to meet your specific needs. Reach out to start a conversation about how we can help you.
