Nine Tips to Market your Game Successfully

1. Social Media is your friend.

As much as it sounds, Social Media is the first step to promoting your game! Get on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, anything that will get YOU around THEM. It all starts with:

-Twitter; It’s your number one social media site for gaining insight on a game and to gain followers who are interested in development. There is also an easy way to track which follower is real and which isn’t through Crowdfire!

-Facebook; It comes up close behind due to Facebook’s Timeline Algorithm making it harder to know when something is posted but none-the-less it does gain it’s fans.

-Promoting through Youtube and Developer blogs.

The only limit is yourself. A community needs interaction and to gain followers, the development team needs to promote the game constantly through all channels of communication until the game is released. It may seem like a huge time invested but that’s because it is. You’ll feel great in the end.

2. Websites are the Hub.

People need something to go to when they want to see your work and updates. A good website is a good home. The website design needs to be clear, easily understood, and can reflect the overall style of the game that’s being promoted. If people can’t understand the website, then they won’t come back to the site in the long run. A good page with contact information helps people such as the press get information on you and contact about offers. All links and icons to additional social media sites need to be linked here for this should be the main trafficked area.

-People like images and colors. Provide screenshots and videos of the game being worked on to keep people interested.

-Develop a little bio about your team and show people who you are.

Good Websites:

Blitz Game Studio

http://www.blitzgamesstudios.com/

Bad Websites:

Ingenfeld

3. Audience holds your fate.

The fate of the game is in the audience! In order to get the most out of your audience you need to post on every media site and remain in contact with the community almost on a daily basis. They need to know you’re alive and that they have something they can invest in. This could simply involve asking questions, posting development processes, and posting images/videos to keep the audience enlightened. This often is the hardest concept for people to grab.

4. Read all about it.

The press. The diamond in the rough. This simply is found as the most crucial part of networking and promoting your game! A journalist or youtuber has connections to a wide array of people everyday so the best thing to do is create a standard list of people who are willing to share your game. Once that’s done share with them your game and have them review it or ask questions for interviews in their articles. If you’re curious about who to contact, check out this list of Indie Friendly Promoters: IndieGameSites

5. Spreading the news.

At this point you should be in the clear, right? Wrong! This is one of the most tiring parts of promoting a game in the indie community. In order for people to know about your game, every notification and update has to be consistent all the way to the release date. People need to know they can trust in you. If it’s too much for you, bring on someone who only does public relations and they can spread the news for you!

6. Community judges you.

The number one test for computer games is through the Steam Greenlight program. It’ll help you find out whether your game will make it far or not. It costs a 100 USD for the first submission into Steam Greenlight where your game will be put out in the open for people to judge accordingly.

-Great videos help the game ten fold.

-Consists of images, back story, and how the game will go.

In addition for those brave enough to venture out, PAX and E3 are the largest source of promotion for anything. In the process of promoting your game, PAX should be first and E3 should be second. Start with a small community and build up into that final establishment by setting up a booth at the E3 Convention.

7. Kickstart your Game.

If you’re strapped on funds and just want that extra push to complete your project then move on to Kickstarter! Kickstarter helps build up funds for all kinds of projects through crowdfunding whether from Video Games to Clothing Brands. However, if your project is in its early stage then it may not be your best option. A properly setup project will be well past it’s 75% mark so the community knows they are invested in something real. The best way to utilize Kickstarter is to set the funding goal to the least realistic amount of money as possible because if the goal isn’t made then no money goes towards the project. People want to see backer rewards for making a certain amount of money. Before Kickstarter is made live make sure you have enough supplies and rewards to give back to the community for potentially helping. It’s the best way to make a happy community.

-A project potentially has a better success rate with a video

-Featured Projects usually have an 89% success rate.

-A shorter time period is better than a long one. Set it to 30 days instead of 60.

-Unsuccessful Projects tend to be ones with a higher and unrealistic goal.

For trailers, the average attention span is a minute. Put everything you want to go over in under a minute and let the least important content trickle out over time. People will tend to remember it the most.

8. Promote Promote Promote.

If your game ended up successfully funded, congratulations! You are one step closer to successful marketing! With a successful Kickstarter, your fan base will be significantly bigger; However, this doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax. The last drive is a BIG one and people need to know what you’re going to provide and they want to see it NOW. How to proceed with it:

-Promote your project on your website with your kickstarter logo.

-Share the news among your community on all social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, and even Youtube.

-Have youtubers spread the funded game across the video community.

-Additional Press coverage helps.

9. Release Date.

A successful game usually doesn’t always mean a successful release date. Most sales happen within the first month of the game’s release and then trickling out into the year. To better know your audience, it would involve knowing when to release your game for the biggest sales. Most sales that occur during the year happen between April and October due to there being more activity. If the date is right, then the game has a higher chance of success, and that means a win. So if you make it this far then congratulations! You successfully released your first well-marketed game!