The Hidden 90%: How Brands Can Find Even Bigger Influence Outside the Social Feed

By Yuriy Yarovoy, SVP, Revenue of Medal

Brands are chasing the wrong influencers. The creator economy’s projected growth to a $480 billion industry by 2027 is undeniable, fueled by the Internet’s biggest personalities. Brands are eager for a slice of this pie, particularly drawn to creator marketing’s 5x ROI and gaming’s hold on Gen Z.

But by focusing solely on the spectacle of top creators, marketers are missing out on the true engine of influence within gaming: the vast, peer-to-peer networks and digital communities that quietly dominate the creator economy.

While top influencers certainly command impressive viewership and reach metrics, impressions alone often fail to sway the behavior of the young consumers brands want to connect with most. If your creator strategy stops at the visible tip of the iceberg – the celebrity influencers or those with the most followers – you’re missing the critical mass hidden beneath the surface.

A survey of the 8 million gamers who use Medal monthly to clip, save, and share video game moments with their friends reveals what really drives consumers – especially gamers –  to action. When it comes to gaming, this audience is actually less likely to get information from livestreams, influencers, bloggers or review sites. Instead, they seek information from and make decisions based on friends’ recommendations, digital communities, and the shortform clips shared within their trusted social circles.

Just because this audience is becoming harder to reach doesn’t make it any less valuable. We’ve learned that our users spend between 10-22% more on in-game purchases than the average gamer, and nearly 2x more on consumer electronics, travel, fitness, and dining – all despite their lower-than-average disposable household income.

But how can brands tap that value when impressions alone don’t compel gamers to action? By embracing the larger cultural shift in content consumption.

Young consumers are increasingly retreating from this algorithmic sea into private, tight-knit social circles – group chats, private servers, and direct messages. Just as friends share photos or memories privately, gamers are capturing their most epic moments and sharing them directly with their peers (or saving them to watch later).

Instead of embracing the doomscroll, young consumers – and especially gamers – are becoming digital curators for their peers. Medal’s data reveals that the majority of gamers see themselves as passive spectators on mainstream social media platforms – but for the 85% of the gamers on the platform that are active on Discord regularly, these communities are where they become grassroots influencers amongst their peers, creating and sharing content catered to these micro audiences.

Not only do the brands that embrace these audiences find their way into these hard-to-reach digital communities, but they’re already seeing strong returns. We see the weight of an interaction with a trusted peer outweighs the influence of a snippet from a popular streamer by over 2x amongst young gamers, and that drives conversions that influence your bottom line.

So as you revisit your influencer marketing strategy, don’t just ask if you’re showing up for these young, gaming audiences, but how and where you’re engaging with them.