The video game advertising market is growing.
But there’s one segment of the market that’s seeing the most growth: the women in advertising.
The numbers are changing, too.
In a study released today by Nielsen, video game ads account for about 10% of all ad revenue generated by connected TV advertisers.
But as connected TV has expanded and advertisers have been encouraged to reach out to more women, they’ve been seeing an increase in female consumers in their ad campaigns.
The study, conducted by the Media Research Center, found that the average amount of time spent by female gamers was an additional 10 minutes on average during their first 24 hours of play, versus about 10 minutes for male gamers.
This shift, combined with a growing number of connected TV ads, is creating a new segment of advertisers that has become more competitive with traditional TV advertising.
But, it’s still a relatively small one.
For advertisers, this shift comes with a new challenge.
While women have historically made up most of the connected TV market, they have struggled to earn a premium price.
In some cases, they can only earn about $3 per minute.
The problem, according to Lauren Johnson, vice president of consumer insights at the Media Review Group, is that many women in the market aren’t necessarily targeting video games specifically.
She says this is the most problematic segment of advertising because it has to be seen in context.
For example, a lot of connected TVs are targeted to families, Johnson explains, which means it’s difficult to target younger women.
So while the ads might focus on how much money women make, there’s little to no marketing that specifically targets younger women to help them buy more connected TVs.
Johnson also says the women who are targeting connected TV may be spending a lot more time playing video games.
“They’re playing it for the entire time of their gaming session, which makes them not as likely to spend as much time on advertising,” she says.
“There’s a disconnect between what’s being sold and what’s actually being sold.”
That disconnect could have implications for the advertisers.
It could mean that, for example, they’re paying more attention to women who spend more time in their home, or they’re spending less time on social media, because that’s where they might see the most potential for growth.
“There’s more than one way to sell,” Johnson says.
And, in some cases even, the ads may have different goals.
For example, some ads could focus on getting a woman to spend more money on connected TVs, but also to buy more video games, or maybe to encourage her to watch a particular genre of video game.
If you’re not targeting a specific demographic, you’re going to miss out on some opportunities, Johnson adds.
“It’s a lot harder to target someone who might have more social or mobile interests than you would if you’re trying to sell a particular video game.”
As the gaming market matures, advertisers will need to do a better job of targeting these women, she says, especially if the women they’re targeting are not gamers.
“A lot of people are going to be disappointed when you see ads with women in them and then they don’t play a specific game, but they’re buying a connected TV, so you have to make sure they’re not a gamer,” Johnson explains.
“A lot more marketing will have to be done to get that message across.”
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