So your game is coming along nicely and you are just about ready to start showing it off to the world, but where do you start? You know all ins and outs of development and you are an expert in coding but in the end that doesn’t really mean a whole lot if no one knows about you or your game. You need marketing to get your name out there and communicate with the players on what makes your game great and why they should play it. If you follow these 3 tips you will be well on your way to gaining an essential following to ensure the success of your game.
Social Media
The absolute number one marketing tool out there these days is Social Media. You have Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Blogs, Forums, and so many more forms of online communication at your disposal that it is insane not to be utilizing any of these. The vast majority of people are on some form of social media site and the more you can use the bigger your audience will potentially be.
Communication is key with your audience and you should be as open as you can be about the development and features of your game. The more people know, the safer they will feel in accepting your product. At the very least you should set up a basic website, a Facebook site and a Twitter profile. These three will give you access to a wide audience. Each can be used for different purposes as well. Your website acts as a hub for everything related to your game including an overview of the game, media assets for journalists covering your game and a news feed on your development cycle. The Facebook group acts as a communication outlet to announce new features and show off assets to your audience. The Twitter profile is a more laid back approach and offers you a great tool at communicating directly with your audience.
Attend Gaming Events
Whether it be a convention, a development meeting or just a gathering of gamers somewhere, attend anything you can to meet new people and start building a professional network with media partners. Conventions are a great way to show off your game and meet real people face to face and get their reactions.
Meeting other game developers can be key sometimes in gaining additional knowledge from people who have already gone through the processes of releasing games. The insight you gain from interacting with real people is priceless and the experiences you have at events is unlike anything else out there. Seeing people react to your game in real life is a wonderful way to get a gauge on how well your game will be received once you have a completed product.
Contact the Press
You can have the greatest game in the world on your hands but no one will ever see it without exposure. Contact all types of journalists or youtubers or bloggers and give them access to your game. Get out beta builds to the press so that they can play them and report on them. Let the gaming industry do the heavy lifting for you of informing players about your game. The more exposure through these outlets the more people see your game and the wider your audience grows.
Make it easy for the press to contact you and have assets readily available for them to use. Give youtube personalities access to your game before release so they can make video gameplay reviews.
Conclusion
There are thousands of ways to market your game and the resources are plentiful. If you start off with these three tips outlined, you are already way ahead of the curve and you can focus on polishing your game and releasing the absolute best you have to offer. Communication with your audience is an essential key to success and with the power of social media, event attendance, and press exposure- you will gain that communication line to the players to keep everyone informed and hyped for your game.
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