From Gaming to Marketing, Mobile Will Continue to Advance

Mobile’s dominance is changing the world, transforming everything from how we work to how we play to how we shop. The gaming industry, once the exclusive domain of young men, is in the midst of a revolution already rippling across industries.

Right now, the marketing world is scrambling to figure out how best to reach a new, expanding audience so hungry for games that the mobile segment will likely overtake the console industry in the worldwide market this year.

The ubiquity and rising quality of smartphones and tablets are largely responsible for that revolution. High-quality graphics processors, specifically those produced by Snapdragon, have enhanced mobile gaming capabilities to the point where players are devoting equal time to mobile and console titles, and money spent on electronic amusements is divided roughly equally between smartphones, tablets, PCs and TVs.

A winning combination of accessibility, portability, and quality has markedly broadened the potential audience for mobile gaming. In fact, adult women now make up the dominant video game-playing demographic in the U.S.

This shift in the gamer demographic matters to developers and marketers because women drive 85% of household buying decisions in this country. They drive $15-20 trillion in consumer spending and control two-thirds of consumer wealth. And as of 2015, they’re downloading and playing mobile games in droves.

Developers obviously have a vested interest not only in reaching women but also in capturing their loyalty. That’s where developers’ interests overlap with marketers’. Reaching female players via in-game advertising and other modes of communication is a huge priority and for good reason.

Surveys show that almost half of moms with children ages 5-12 have reported making at least one purchase motivated by ads they saw while gaming. That matters when you consider that 80% of mothers play mobile games once a week, and nearly as many pregnant women play multiple times a day.

In-game ads aren’t the only way that developers and marketers are harnessing the power of this demographic. Games themselves are changing to be more appealing to women. There are now more titles with strong female protagonists than ever before. More puzzle games. More RPGs. And yet, industry experts find that marketing to the modern gamer isn’t as simple as switching on ads and giving a game a story-driven plot.

As easy as it is to assume what women gamers play and how they spend their money, player tastes can vary widely. For all of the women who open up the app store to scope out titles like Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, there are plenty who gravitate toward epic action-adventure games like Chaos Rings.

Consequently, it’s unclear whether marketers will develop a strategy to target women gamers specific to the demographic, or whether the demographic’s dominance will force changes in how advertising works across the industry that will impact players of every stripe. In either case, all signs point toward this being a great time to be associated with the mobile gaming industry.

More consumers are spending more dollars than ever before, and there are more chances to connect with the most influential American demographic when it comes to spending. Women are taking the mobile gaming world by storm, and for those of us with something to sell, it’s definitely a welcome change and a welcome challenge.

What are your thoughts on the evolution of mobile in the gaming industry?