Presented by Xsolla
The biggest challenge for a smaller game studio is to consistently stand out. Join GamesBeat’s Dean Takahashi and other industry professionals in this VB Live event to learn about the latest and greatest best practices for increasing a game’s visibility from the ground up.
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Now that game development has been democratized, a growing number of new content creators have been able to market their games alongside the larger studios. But now developers are faced with an incredibly crowded space where getting noticed has become a huge challenge – especially for studios without the deep pockets needed to buy their way into the public consciousness through marketing, advertising and acquisition.
The race to the bottom in pricing makes that even more difficult – the average price of an indie game on Steam is $7.8, making it difficult to generate the profits needed for effective marketing. And while established platforms like the app stores can be a boon for distribution, they also make it very difficult, if not impossible, to develop a direct relationship with your players and understand who they are. But that connection is the foundation of any successful game marketing strategy, said Chris Hewish, president of Xsolla.
“I firmly believe that building that direct relationship allows you to build your grassroots player base and establish your niche within that ecosystem and stand out,” Hewish says. “There you gain insight into who your users are, what your value proposition is and where you can share it.”
Here’s an overview of some of the most effective marketing strategies, even if your marketing budget isn’t as big as you’d like.
Developing player relationships
It sounds pretty simple: just talk to your players, listen to them and build relationships. But the reality is that too many studios don’t put in the time it takes to develop a robust strategy to actually connect with their user base.
“The same way you would create a business plan or game design, specify your game mechanics and your core loop, you need to spend time figuring out how to interact with your players,” Hewish says. “That means understanding who your players are. Understanding the value proposition that your game, app or experience offers them. And then creating the right message that connects that value proposition to that specific audience, in the channels where they actually spend time .”
It’s central to the user acquisition strategy: You can’t recruit users if you don’t know who they are, why they want to come to you, and where they are, he adds. That’s where diversity, equality and inclusion come in handy when identifying player cohorts. It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming your audience is homogeneous when there’s a wide ecosystem of players waiting to be tapped. From physical to cultural differences to marginalized identities, you need to understand that there is no one-size-fits-all user experience.
The ideal user acquisition strategy
An optimized user acquisition strategy is central to a game’s success. Again, it starts with defining your audience, creating effective messages and targeting the right channels. From there, it allows you to track the effectiveness of your efforts, lean on what works, and optimize from there. More and more tools can be picked off the shelf, for example Google Analytics.
And an often overlooked component is localization: make sure the assets you create can be easily localized to the markets you target. That small change alone can increase conversion by almost 25%.
On the paid media side, take the time to focus on search engines and search engine optimization, keeping abreast of the most effective keywords for your user acquisition campaign – they are constantly changing as the market evolves. Also focus on platform optimization – track which platforms are getting better returns. Hewish also urges developers to leverage social media and influencer marketing, as well as email marketing, as much as possible.
On the earned side, there are many strategies that are either free or cheap, such as simply asking for reviews, running referral programs to encourage word of mouth, giveaways and so on – all old-fashioned marketing strategies, but effective as ever. Digital press kits are essential here, to make it as easy as possible to access all the resources a reporter or blogger would need to write a piece about your game – game synopsis, testimonials, screenshots, etc.
From the get-go, you should think about building hooks into your game to make it easier for users to share their experience, whether that’s players connecting with their friends or influencers looking for ways to create engaging create content for their followers.
Start your engines early
If you’re on a tight budget, the most effective low-cost form of marketing and acquisition is building a community as quickly as possible.
“If you don’t have a big marketing budget, start inviting people into the tent early and start sparking those conversations,” Hewish says. “Start to delve into that deserved media side of it, where you can turn these people into advocates. And it’s not just talking to them. It gives them exclusive materials and assets, and the opportunity to go out and promote your game. That is really, to this day, a powerful thing. You see that many games succeed because of that.”
Ultimately, though, the most important piece of advice remains to have a clear understanding of your value proposition, who your audience is, and how you’re going to communicate all of that to the audience effectively.
“You can put a lot of money into user acquisition, but if you don’t have the right coverage or the right audience to bet it against, it just throws money out the window.”
To learn more about the most cost-effective, value-for-money strategies to successfully launch your game, don’t miss this VB Live event!
Registration is free here.
Diary
- How to make your game stand out in a crowded market?
- How effective UA strategy can make or break a game
- Where and how to spread the word about your latest release
- and more!
presenters
- Jon RadoffCEO, Beamable
- Chris Hewishchairman, Xsolla
- Dean TakahashiLead Writer, GamesBeat (Moderator)