“Content has to provide value”

Exclusive interview.- Focus Gaming News speaks with Martyn Hannah, director of marketing agency Ghostfoundry, about driving growth on a limited budget.

Operators and suppliers have drastically cut marketing budgets as a result of the pandemic, but now is not the time to take their foot off the gas. If anything, they should be putting more resources behind their marketing activity. 

Content marketing offers a cost-effective way to engage audiences, allowing operators and suppliers to drive growth despite shrinking budgets.

Martyn Hannah, director of Ghostfoundry, talks to Focus Gaming News about what content marketing is, what makes it effective for the gaming industry and how to do it successfully on a budget.

“Content marketing is about building trust and a relationship with people over time.”

Martyn Hannah, director of Ghostfoundry.

Content marketing is about offering value upfront with a long-term mindset without expecting an immediate sale, Hannah says, whether that’s in the form of video showcases, podcasts offering tips and advice or written thought pieces.

He suggests to game suppliers: “Instead of hard selling to operators, you can showcase games using a streamer. It’s more fun, it’s more natural and people will just enjoy the content anyway.

“It allows the operator or casino manager to see the games being played and it’s more effective than hard-sell marketing.”

“Content marketing can be done to any budget.”

Martyn Hannah, director of Ghostfoundry.

Best of all, he says it can be done on a limited budget by starting in-house.

“People behind the company are experts in the space,” he says. “They know what needs to be done. They can use a blog or a content hub, or any other sort of platform they that think would engage with who they’re targeting.

“Whoever you are, whether you’re an operator or a supplier, an affiliate, you have the knowledge. You understand your business and what you can offer.

“Where it differs to more traditional marketing is that you’re giving away some of that information without expecting anything back.

“But you don’t have to give everything away; you give enough away that you genuinely can provide assistance or answer a question, but ultimately the person engaging with that information slowly realises that you’re probably the best person to do what you’re trying to help them to do.”

He says planning is key, starting with choosing your medium. Hannah suggests taking it six months at a time and breaking that into monthly segments, but always being flexible enough to react to change.

“You need to take a strategic approach to it,” he says. “Driving that should be a real clear understanding of who you’re trying to target and where their attention sits.”

He recognises that if you have a lot of content on many different platforms at some point you might want to bring an agency in to fill some of the gaps in your own team’s skills, but he suggests always ensuring you find an agency that knows and understands the sector. 

He mentioned that media platforms such as Focus Gaming News offer an ideal place where content can be shared. 

He said: “So long as what you’re saying isn’t salesy, platforms such as Focus are ideal.

“If you’re a supplier or operator and you want to share your thoughts, opinions, discuss topics and trends, a YouTube channel like this is a great platform to do that.”

“Content has to provide value.”

Martyn Hannah, director of Ghostfoundry.

Just be sure to prioritise quality over quantity.

“With content, it really is about the quality of it,” Hannah says. “Don’t just create huge volumes of stuff that people aren’t going to engage with.

“Underlying all of this there must be the realisation that your content has to provide value. The minute that your content stops providing value, people are not going to engage with it.”

He added: “The best content marketing and the most successful content marketing is done from a position of honesty and being genuine with the people you’re trying to connect with. People are savvy and they know when they’re being marketed to.”

Check out the full interview with Martyn Hannah on the Focus Gaming News YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe!