Maximizing Digital Growth in Gaming | Ben Joy from Etch

Ernesto Quezada: Welcome to Pathmonk Presents, the place where business owners and marketers share their insights on digital growth. In every episode, we discuss real strategies—why they worked and why they didn’t—so you can get insights from real experience and save yourself a whole lot of time and money. Let’s get to it right now.

Before we get started with today’s episode, let’s have a quick look at what Pathmonk is all about. If you are winning leads, demos, or sales through your website, then Pathmonk might be interesting for you. Pathmonk is an extension to your website. It watches each visitor as they’re moving through your page and builds up their interest in your product or service in real-time to deliver a great uplift in conversions from your website. Usually, the buying journey can be divided into three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision-making. Pathmonk figures out in which stage a given visitor is by watching every action they do on the website and provides them with micro-experiences such as notifications, case studies, and introduction videos, helping them move to the next stage in the buying journey towards a conversion.

Ernesto: Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Ben from Etch. How are you doing today, Ben?

Ben Joy: I’m very good, thank you. How are you doing?

Ernesto: I’m doing great, great. It’s good to have you. We’re talking a little bit about Etch, and it’s a big company there. In your own words, tell us a little bit more.

Ben: Yeah, so I work for Etch, which is a digital agency consultancy. We provide marketing services and advice to companies. We work in hospitality, financial services, and gaming, which is the division I’m a part of and where I focus most of my time. We help customers and clients with strategic design, product design, consulting, and data-driven marketing services.

Ernesto: That’s important. So our listeners can get a good understanding of Etch, what are the key problems you solve for clients?

Ben: On the gaming side of the business, we focus a lot on acquisition and retention. We work with video game clients to market their games—getting players interested and converting them to wishlist or purchase the game. We also work with game studios, which is a bit different. For studios, we focus on growing their brand, getting their name out there, and sometimes supporting recruitment efforts. We help with positioning, finding the right talent, and making strategic decisions.

Ernesto: That’s important. And so those industries you mentioned—hospitality, financial services, gaming—are they your ideal ICPs?

Ben: Yes, those are our main verticals, but we also do some work in education and the charity sectors. Gaming is my specialty, and we approach everything with a customer experience lens, aiming to improve digital growth and customer satisfaction.

Ernesto: Awesome. How would those industries typically find out about Etch? Is there a top client acquisition channel?

Ben: A lot of our exposure comes through events. Especially in gaming, we attend industry events, both business-focused and consumer-focused. We often participate as speakers, panelists, or roundtable participants to share our expertise. Referrals are another big channel for us. When we do good work for a client, they’re happy to refer us to others. Our website is a great tool to showcase our success stories and validate our expertise.

Ernesto: That’s great. For our listeners who want to check you out, they can visit etchuk.com. What role does the website play in client acquisition?

Ben: The website is content-focused. We showcase success stories, highlighting the problems we solved, how we did it, and the results. It’s more about validating what we can do rather than generating leads. We also use the blog to share thought leadership and insights, giving potential clients a taste of the value we bring.

Ernesto: That’s smart. Any tools or tips for website lead generation?

Ben: Leverage social platforms. We promote content through LinkedIn and other relevant platforms to drive traffic to the website. It’s all about creating content that’s valuable and getting it in front of the right people.

Ernesto: Great advice. Let’s talk about you. What does your day-to-day look like?

Ben: My role is strategic. I oversee all the gaming projects, manage client relationships, and ensure our work aligns with their goals. I also focus heavily on analytics—understanding data from websites, media campaigns, and gaming telemetry to improve outcomes.

Ernesto: That sounds like a full plate. Let’s jump into our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready?

Ben: I’m ready. Let’s go.

Ernesto: What’s the last book you read?

Ben: The new Alan Partridge book. It’s a comedy from a UK TV character.

Ernesto: Great. What’s one thing your company is focused on most?

Ben: Data. It’s getting harder to collect with privacy changes, so we’re focusing on understanding and leveraging what we have.

Ernesto: If there were no boundaries in technology, what would you fix?

Ben: A platform that seamlessly integrates data from all sources—websites, media platforms, CRMs, and game telemetry.

Ernesto: What’s one repetitive task you’d automate?

Ben: Estimates. They’re unique to each project but time-consuming.

Ernesto: Finally, what advice would you give yourself starting out as a marketer?

Ben: Specialize, but don’t corner yourself. Understand a broad range of marketing aspects while becoming an expert in one area and one industry.

Ernesto: Great advice. If someone forgets everything from today, what’s the one thing they should remember about Etch?

Ben: We help gaming studios promote their games, understand their players, and maximize sales through creative, data-driven campaigns.

Ernesto: Perfect. Thank you, Ben, for being on. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. I’m looking forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot, Ben!

Ben: Thanks, Ernesto!