What Brands Still Get Wrong About Influencer Marketing in Gaming

Pablo Camacho — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 09:42:27 +0000

Over the past months, I’ve been building SocialPro, a talent management and influencer marketing agency focused on gaming, esports and iGaming.

Working with brands across Europe and LATAM, I’ve started to notice some clear patterns in how influencer marketing actually performs — and how most brands are still getting it wrong.

Here are a few key things I’ve learned from real campaigns:

1. Smaller creators are massively undervalued

In several campaigns we’ve managed, creators with 500–2k average viewers consistently delivered better conversion rates than larger streamers.

Why?

Because their audiences are more niche, more engaged, and trust their recommendations more.

Big creators bring reach.

Smaller creators bring results.

2. One-off campaigns are usually a waste of budget

Many brands still approach influencer marketing like paid ads:

one campaign
one push
one result

But in gaming, trust builds over time.

We’ve seen much better performance when creators integrate a brand across multiple streams instead of a single mention.

3. Most brands are tracking the wrong metrics

Impressions and views look good on paper.

But they rarely reflect real performance.

The campaigns that actually work are the ones focused on:

retention
engagement
repeat exposure

Not just raw numbers.

Right now, we’re working mainly across Europe and LATAM, helping brands connect with high-performing creators in niches like CS2 and Valorant.

The biggest shift we’re seeing is simple:

👉 Influencer marketing in gaming is moving from visibility → to performance.

And most brands are still stuck in the old model.

If you're working in this space, I’d be curious:

What’s working for you right now?

You can check more about what we do at: https://www.socialpro.es

DEV Community: Pablo Camacho

What Brands Still Get Wrong About Influencer Marketing in Gaming

1. Smaller creators are massively undervalued

2. One-off campaigns are usually a waste of budget

3. Most brands are tracking the wrong metrics