The video game industry is constantly innovating and evolving.  New technology constantly drives change, whilst the creatives maintain a compelling narrative.  It’s this respect for the narrative that has drawn in consumers time after time despite the changes in functionality.
Sports rights holders can learn some valuable content marketing lessons from an industry that has always placed a premium on innovation to engage, influence and grow audiences.
Here are 5 key lessons:

Tell a story

What’s one thing that the greatest video games have in common?  They all include rich, compelling storylines. By allowing users to actively participate in the story, they increase engagement and investment in the game.
Take time to develop a captivating angle for your content.  For example, consider creating content revolving around the common struggles faced by athletes or teams, how to overcome them, and put them at the heart of story.

Challenge your audience

Challenge your audience with new and possibly contentious content. Rather than continuing to recycle the same concepts, challenge the status quo with fresh, unique content that’s more informative and takes a fresh slant.

Build a human connection through content

We often forget about building a human connection through our content.  Video games take time to create an emotive story with well-developed plot points and characters.  These really help form a meaningful relationship with your audience.
When thinking about how to create a more emotive angle in your content, go beyond your topic to find a way to make a human connection. Put athletes and people of interest at the heart of your stories.

Mix it up

After a while, your audience will get tired of the same content types and could potentially lose interest.  Staying with one content type rather than adding many different kinds to your arsenal can put your sport in a weak position.  By varying your content types you can reach a larger audience while delivering your content in interesting ways.

Visuals matter

In the video game industry, it’s becoming more common release or re-release games with high definition graphics.
With less and less time on their hands, your audience are skimming more and more over visual posts online. Take the time to consider what you could be doing to make your content stand out from the crowd, even if it’s simply including an engaging image or video with every post.
We can learn a lot about creating interesting, varied, and emotionally-driven content from the video game industry. After all, these games are bestsellers for a reason.
Sports rights holders of all sizes have an opportunity to tell captivating stories to engage their audience.  Let’s take these lessons from the video game industry and make sport the most compelling entertainment product in the world…