If you're finalizing your game and you're on the lookout for strategies to help you reveal your creation to the world, welcome aboard!
It's time you learned a few things about marketing your game with a variety of digital communication channels. Sometimes even the simplest games when marketed right can become enormously successful – think Angry Birds. Here are top 5 marketing tips for game developers who want to spread the word about their game.
1. Get it going early
One of the major mistakes made by many game devs is starting their marketing campaign late in the game. If you think you can only launch your marketing strategy once you've got a ready product, you're making a huge mistake.
The truth is that the earlier you start, the better. You want as many people as possible to know about your game, so as soon as you've got something to show – a snapshot of the background, a character design, a photo of designers at work – don't hesitate to engage your audience with the process and keep them informed.
That's how you'll build a loyal community of followers who will genuinely care about your game.
2. Online branding
There's nothing more important for a game than a consistent online branding. Your game needs at least social media profiles – more on that later – but that's not all. A dedicated website or a Tumblr profile is not a bad idea.
The more online outlets you cover, the better – this way users can connect with your product on those they like to use most. Make sure they're all easy to find. They should all link to each other and follow the same tone and design style – strong brands are built on consistency.
3. Social media
About social media – it's an absolute must. Social networks are the best promotion tools you can get. You'll create a buzz about your game, network with people in the industry to get your name out there and build meaningful relationships with members of your audience.
Even if you're not a fan of Facebook, your presence on this immensely popular social network is essential. Twitter is another story. You can play with both your personal and business account there. You can interact with your followers, offer exclusive snippets of your game and build personal relationships that are insanely valuable for your marketing.
4. Reach out to press and bloggers
Being passive and hoping someone will stumble upon your game is not a good technique. Be proactive and reach out to both the press and bloggers. Asking for coverage, you're not making a fool of yourself – this is pretty regular for them.
To make things easier, prepare a press kit. Once someone decides to cover your game, they'll find all relevant information easily available. Reach out to major blogs, but small ones as well – they often have quite large and very loyal readerships.
5. Build a community
This is what all your marketing effort should be about. Building and engaging a community of users doesn't happen within a day – it takes a lot of time and a proactive approach to bring people closer to your product. One way to interact with your audience is asking questions on Reddit and Twitter.
Marketing a new game isn't easy, but if done right it's very rewarding. By launching your campaign early on you'll be on your way to creating a strong brand that will resonate with your audience and make your game really popular.
Submitted by Monique Craig of Oneflare.
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