LiveOps Marketing Manager: What You Should Know
Live Ops stands for Live Oppositions.
You must keep these people on your radar if you are Kendrick Lamar and/or Vince Staples.
Wait.
That is opps with two ‘p’s.
Ok, let’s get to what you clicked for.
What is a LiveOps Marketing Manager?
LiveOps means Live Operations.
It is a marketing position in live service games with “live operations”.
Working in this role means you will likely be working for games that have active events.
These are the biggest games.
Games like Fortnite, Genshin Impact, Pokemon Go, Valorant.
As a LiveOps Marketing Manager you will keep players hooked.
You'll communicate updates, interact with the player base, and work with the product team to create engaging events.
Now let’s take a look at the exact responsibilities of a Live Ops Marketing Manager
What are a LiveOps Marketing Manager’s Responsibilities?
As a LiveOps Marketing Manager, this is what your responsibilities will be:
Be the expert - You will need to know every aspect that players enjoy about the game.
Develop marketing plans - Plan in-game events that keep players excited. and communicate the updates to the player base through in-game news, blogs, and social media.
Collaborate across teams - Work with marketing, product, and other teams to develop marketing strategies that resonate with the audience.
Analyze performance - use these insights to optimize future marketing activations.
Relationship management - Build and maintain relationships internally and externally.
Keep things fresh - Keep up with trends in mobile gaming and digital advertising.
Now you know the responsibilities, but what are the requirements to get the job?
What are the requirements to make this your life?
What are the Requirements for a LiveOps Marketing Manager?
Experience in a live service mobile game environment, is essential
Project Management tools: JIRA, Asana, even Notion.
IP Management within brand standards
Communication is key because you will be working with game producers, designers, marketing agencies, and external partners.
Data driven decision making in understanding market trends, player behavior, and the effectiveness of marketing strategies.
A love for mobile games. If you are applying for a game company, you will need to be a player of their product.
Now let’s look at what yours target would be as a LiveOps Marketing Manager.
What are the Metrics, KPI, and Targets for a LiveOps Marketing Manager?
Player Engagement
You will be looking at participation rates, duration of engagement, and feedback.
Conversion Rate
Analyze how many players participate in events, use new features, and how these are improved (or not improved) by you marketing efforts
Player Base Growth
Attract new players and re-engage players with retargeting campaigns.
Retention Rate
Measure how your strategies retain players over time.
High retention indicates engagement and connection between the game community.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Calculate the total value a player brings over their entire Life. This helps in understanding the long-term impact of your marketing strategies.
In-App Purchases:
LiveOp games drive revenue through in-app purchases.
It will be your job to make sure the events you activate are driving those purchases.
Player Feedback
Analyze quantitative and qualitative player feedback. Use this data to inform your future activations.
Brand Alignment
Ensure that all marketing activities align with the game’s brand. This is especially important when working with IP (intellectual property) that is not your own.
Project Efficiency
Track the efficiency of managing projects, including timelines, budget adherence, and resource allocation.
What will you get paid as a LiveOps marketing manager?
What is the Salary Range of a LiveOps Marketing Manager?
Here is a quick guide to the salary at each career stage of a LiveOps Marketing Manager:
Entry-Level Positions:
As an entry-level job seeker, your salary will be between ¥4,000,000 to ¥6,000,000.
At this stage, you're learning.
This means you are assisting the senior team members and handling the runoff of their tasks.
Mid-Level Positions:
With several years of experience, you can expect to earn between ¥7,000,000 and ¥10,000,000 annually.
In this position, you'll be leading projects and managing a small team.
Senior-Level Positions:
For experienced professionals, salaries can exceed ¥11,000,000 per year.
You're expected to lead major marketing activations, drive strategy, and oversee the company's marketing operations about the live operations of the game.
Ready to apply? Use this link to reach out to us!
Before you do, here are some tips to help you land the job.
LiveOps Marketing Manager Resume Tips
The key to a great resume is tailoring it to the position you are applying for.
Here are 6 tips that are important for the LiveOps Marketing Manager role:
Showcase Relevant Experience: Detail your experience in marketing, particularly in live service mobile games. Mention specific projects where you led initiatives from start to finish. This shows your capability to handle the complete lifecycle of marketing campaigns.
Demonstrate IP Management: Discuss how you’ve successfully navigated brand standards and managed brand feedback and approval processes.
Emphasize Analytical Skills: Illustrate your data-driven approach with examples. Mention any specific instances where your analysis of market trends or player behavior led to successful marketing strategies.
Express Your Passion for Gaming: Let your passion for mobile gaming shine through. Talk about any relevant experiences or personal projects that showcase your deep understanding of and enthusiasm for the gaming world.
Adaptability and Problem-Solving: Provide examples of how you've adapted to fast-paced environments or solved unexpected problems, particularly in a hybrid work setting.
Team Collaboration Experience: Highlight experiences where you effectively worked with cross-functional teams. Demonstrate your ability to communicate and collaborate with various stakeholders, which is crucial in this role.
LiveOps Marketing Manager Interview Tips
Discuss Specific Marketing Campaigns:
Be prepared to talk in detail about marketing campaigns you have led, especially in a live service mobile game context. Discuss the strategies you employed, the challenges you faced, and the results you achieved.
Showcase Your Game Knowledge:
Display your understanding of the game you’re applying to. Download and play the game to get familiar with its mechanics, audience, and the current trends in mobile gaming.
Explain Your Approach to IP Management:
Discuss how you've worked within brand standards approval processes. Even games that operating with an original IP will have collaborations with external IP holders.
Highlight Analytical Abilities:
Discuss how you use data to inform marketing decisions.
Give examples of how your data-driven approach impacted campaigns or projects.
Demonstrate Language Proficiency:
In Japan, part of the interview is a language test. Be prepared to speak about yourself, your experience, and everything else I mentioned in this section in Japanese.
Exhibit Adaptability and Problem-Solving Skills:
Share examples from your experience where you've successfully adapted to rapid changes or solved complex problems.
Team Collaboration:
Talk about your experience working in cross-functional teams.
Discuss how you collaborate effectively with different stakeholders, such as game designers, producers, and external partners.
LiveOps Marketing Manager FAQ
What is the difference between a Live Operations Marketing Manager and other marketing roles?
A Live Operations Marketing Manager focuses on live game operation marketing efforts. Things like in-game events, updates, and new features.
This means you are marketing to an existing player community, whereas other marketing positions target new customers.
How important is it to have a gaming background for this position?
Having a gaming background is required for gaming positions.
Relevant experience is always preferable.
Having said that, this does not need to be purely in professional environments.
Build your experience by running a discord for a game you love, this still counts!
Do I need to be a gamer?
Being an active community member of the game you want to work for is a good idea.
You will gain an understanding of what is exciting about the game and what can be improved.
This knowledge will make you effective in creating events and updates that resonate with the player base.
What are the challenges that LiveOps Marketing Managers face?
Live ops games move fast.
This is a challenge.
You will need to be on top of what developments, events, and updates are rolling out and when.
This is an environment of constant innovation. You have to keep the players engaged by using data driven insights to know what will work and what won’t.
How does a Live Operations Marketing Manager measure success?
The 3 major KPI for a LiveOps Marketing Manager are:
player engagement
conversion rates from marketing initiatives to active gameplay
player retention
Can you make the transition from a different industry into a Live Operations Marketing Manager role?
It is possible.
My advice is to find ways to build experience in gaming community engagement outside of work.
Manage a discord for your favorite live service game. Start a YouTube channel or TikTok to talk about what changes you would like to see in the game. Even being an active modder gets you opportunities in gaming.
How does this role contribute to the success of a live service game?
Your goal is player engagement.
This means that if you are successful the game will be successful and players will be active.
How do I apply to be a LiveOps Marketing Manager?
If you are in the Tokyo area, message us using this link to find out what positions are open!