Jumping to Tactics Without Strategy

After 26 years in video game marketing, I’ve seen one mistake repeated over and over—by junior marketers, seasoned executives, and even entire companies. It’s the tendency to jump straight to tactics without a solid strategic foundation. 

It’s easy to see why it happens. The pressure to move fast, fill a calendar, and show momentum leads many teams to focus on "doing" rather than "thinking." But this approach inevitably leads to underperformance, misaligned messaging, wasted spend, and unclear direction for internal and external partners.

The highest-performing campaigns I’ve worked on always started with deep research, clear audience segmentation, comprehensive competitor analysis, and a well-defined positioning framework. These foundational elements lead to targeted, high-impact marketing that resonates with the right audience.

Without giving away the game this was an example of a launch where I tried to advise strategy and the team went forward anyway.

Two years ago a mid-sized studio was preparing to launch a multiplayer shooter into an already crowded market. Excited to generate hype, they jumped straight into an influencer campaign and heavy performance marketing spend without clearly defining their audience or differentiating their game.

What went wrong?

-No audience segmentation: They treated all FPS fans as a monolith instead of targeting a niche within that audience.

-No competitor positioning work: They failed to articulate why their game was different from established competitors like Call of Duty or Apex Legends.

-No messaging strategy: Influencers promoted the game with generic “check this out” messaging instead of focusing on the game’s unique appeal.

-Misallocated budget: They spent heavily on streamers whose audiences didn’t align with their ideal player profile.

The result? An initial spike in awareness but poor retention and conversion. Players checked out the game but didn’t stick around. By the time the team scrambled to adjust, the game had already lost its launch momentum.

Before you spend a dollar on marketing, ask yourself:

-Who is our ideal player? (And no, “FPS fans” or “MMO players” isn’t specific enough.)
-What problem are we solving for them?
-How is our game different from the competition?
-What messaging will make that differentiation clear?
-Where does our audience actually spend their time? (Hint: It’s not always Twitch or TikTok.)

Tactics without strategy are just noise. The best marketing campaigns aren’t just creative or flashy—they’re grounded in deep audience insight, clear positioning, and thoughtful execution.