SteelSeries has fueled the gaming industry by creating innovative new products, designed specifically for eSports and passionate gamers everywhere. However, SteelSeries had reached a point where further, substantial market share growth could no longer be achieved by simply investing more media budget into the lower funnel marketing activities. Together we’ve evolved SteelSeries’ media strategy to embrace the full customer journey, acknowledging the consumer path is a journey and the first step isn’t a purchase.
Implementing a full-funnel messaging and buying strategy to raise their brand awareness
The Approach
Having built a sound lower-funnel marketing foundation, it was time for SteelSeries to start focussing on the brand’s long-term growth. Together, SteelSeries and DEPT® joined forces in rethinking the media investment and strategy, ultimately implementing a full-funnel messaging and buying strategy to hone in on raising brand awareness and, ultimately, meeting SteelSeries’s ambitious growth targets. A project that started with a structured KPI approach that gave us the possibility to measure the branding activities for each step of the customer journey.
By measuring success on each step of the customer journey, the marketing budget was optimised between lower-funnel marketing activities and upper-funnel branding focused activities. A keystone in the project was the company’s “tried & true” channels: Facebook and Instagram. We also took it a step further and introduced the brand to a new social platform: Snapchat. We tailored the messaging to better speak to new users who were unfamiliar with the brand. We prioritised video ads and tested new, engaging ad formats like Instagram Story polls and Snapchat Story ads. With humour and catchy slogans, we built a new tone of voice and brand story.
During the project, we continuously made improvements and gathered learnings along the way which ensured that the strategy only grew stronger as we progressed. This, together with smart bidding, real-time pricing strategies and ongoing analysis based on the KPIs we set from the outset, ensured that we outbid the competition and that SteelSeries maximised the impact of every dollar spent. By combining all assets in a knowledge bank SteelSeries is now equipped with best practices around creatives, formats, platforms, audiences and strategies. This will ensure the full-funnel messaging approach and strategy will only grow stronger throughout the year and into the next to come.
This is just the first step in implementing a full-fledged marketing strategy which will now be implemented widely across the full marketing strategy, including YouTube as well as other channels, now that SteelSeries have tested and proven a solid foundation for its long-term growth plans.
Questions?
Strategy Director
