Successful Indie Game Marketing: How to Market Your Game with a $0 Budget

SUCCESSFUL INDIE GAME MARKETING
How to Market Your Game on a $0 Budget

© Indie Game Girl | Build Adoring Fanbases with Marketing | www.indiegamegirl.com

EMMY
JONASSEN
Founder, Indie Game Girl
@IndieGameGirl
emmy@indiegamegirl.com
www.indiegamegirl.com

Hi, I’m Emmy!
I help indie game developers
build adoring fanbases with
free marketing instruction.


Becoming a successful
indie game developer is hard.

FACT
95% of indie games are not proﬁtable.
80% operate at a loss.

- ConceptArt.org


FACT
Only 25% of iOS indie developers
have made over $30,000 in their lifetime.

- Streaming Colour Studios


But marketing can
seriously increase
your chances.


EXPERT ADVICE
“Marketing is one third of your
chance at success.”

- Joost van Dongen, Ronimo Games


EXPERT ADVICE
“…indies skew their efforts far too far
towards production and away from
marketing: this is one of the reasons why so
few games are a genuine commercial
success…”
- Paul Taylor, Mode 7 Games


EXPERT ADVICE
“Unfortunately, it’s no longer enough to
only create great content. In order to
differentiate yourself from the masses,
you must concoct a structured,
coordinated marketing plan.”
- Robert DellaFave, Divergent Games


If success is hard, but marketing helps,
why do so few indies invest in marketing?


Because many indies
believe in a myth.


MYTH
“Successful marketing requires a
gigantic budget.”


MYTH BUSTED!
Situation
3 months after Monkey Labour
launched it sold only 1K copies.

by Dawn of Play

Solution
Dawn of Play realized the need
for marketing and reached out
to review sites. Other than time,
the team spent $0 on this effort.
Results
In 10 days, Dawn of Play
secured 11 reviews and sold 6K
copies of Monkey Labour.


MONKEY LABOUR SALES
Sales Secured
By Marketing


MYTH BUSTED!
Situation
Hitbox Team had limited to no
marketing budget for Dustforce.

by Hitbox Team

Solution
The team had a friend manage
its marketing to keep costs low.
Its friend launched a teaser
campaign, generating hype
among the public and press.
Results
A week after launch, Dustforce
received 100 reviews. The game
was profitable in seven days.


DUSTFORCE SALES
Sales Secured
by Marketing


Sales Secured
by Marketing

Great, now I know it’s
possible to successfully market
games with a $0 budget.

But, how do I start?


3 Steps to Achieve Marketing Success:
☐ Create irresistible promotional materials.
☐ Score articles in top-tier publications.
☐ Build an adoring fanbase.


DEFINITION
Irresistible promotional materials are
pieces of marketing content so alluring
they compel sharing and discussion. Without
them, you cannot market your game.


AN EXAMPLE
Situation
After one year of development,
Sauropod Studio hadn’t created
any promo materials or grown a
fanbase for Castle Story.
by Sauropod Studio

Solution
The team created a tech demo
and posted it to Reddit.
Results
Within hours of posting the
demo, Castle Story amassed a
fanbase that has since grown to
over 40K members.


5 Must-Have Promotional Materials:
1.  Trailer Video
2.  Screenshots
3.  Press Release
4.  Landing Page
5.  Development Blog


#1 - TRAILER VIDEO
Best Practices:
1.  90 seconds or less
2.  Attention-grabbing intro
3.  Music/sound effects
4.  In-game footage
5.  Reviews (if possible)
- Guacamelle Gold Edition, DrinkBox Studios

6.  End with next steps


#2 - SCREENSHOTS
Best Practices:
1.  High resolution
2.  Excellent composition
3.  Well lit
4.  Engaging scene
- The Witness, Jonathan Blow


#3 - PRESS RELEASE
AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! – A
Reckless Disregard for Gravity 
"
January 30, 2009 – Watertown, MA –
Dejobaan Games, LLC has announced its next
game, AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! – A
Reckless Disregard for Gravity,” for
Windows desktop PCs. "
"
You dive off a skyscraper, relying on
quick reflexes to negotiate the intricate
triangle of girders that make up the City.
You perform aerial stunts at terminal
velocity before parachuting into the arms
of your cheering fans. While other
skydivers have it easy, you have to earn
the adoration of the crowds by gliding
within an eyelash of that glass super
skyscraper at 70 miles per hour."
- AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaaAAAAaAAAAA!!, Dejobaan Games

Best Practices:
1.  Grab attention and
summarize theme/
important info in first
paragraph
2.  Use quotes
3.  Company and contact info
4.  Send with screenshots
and trailer video
5.  Use in-text hyperlinks


#4 - LANDING PAGE
Best Practices:
1.  Remove navigation
2.  Grabbing headline
3.  Social sharing icons
4.  Strong call-to-action button
5.  Trailer video
6.  Captivating screenshots
7.  Testimonials/reviews
8.  Contact and press kit
- Beast Boxing Turbo, Goodhustle Studios, Inc.

buttons or links


#5 - DEVELOPMENT BLOG
Best Practices:
1.  Post x1 per week min
2.  Use images
3.  Link from home page
4.  RSS feed
5.  Email subscription
- Castle Story, Sauropod Studios

6.  Social subscription
7.  Social sharing buttons
8.  Promotion at posts’ end


þ Create irresistible promotional materials.
☐ Score articles in top-tier publications.


BUILD TARGET PUBLICATION LIST
1.  Research publications
you want to/should be
featured in
2.  Record publications in a
spreadsheet list
3.  Categorize publications
into three tiers based on
traffic


FIND WRITERS’ CONTACT INFO
1.  Visit each publication’s
site on your list
2.  Search for writers’ and
editors’ contact info
(look for an “Editorial
Staff” link in the footer)
3.  Record any contact info
in your spreadsheet


GET IN TOUCH
1.  Create an email
template to introduce
you and your game
2.  Make sure it answers a
writer’s most important
question: “why would
my readers give a shit?”
3.  Customize the template
toward each writer/site
4.  Attach screenshots and
your press release
- Monkey Labour, Dawn of Play


THANK YOU NOTES
1.  Thank any writer who
replies to your email,
republishes a press
release or writes and
publishes an article
2.  Email thank yous are
fine, but handwritten
notes go the extra mile


KEEP IN TOUCH
Hello friend!

1.  Maintain relationships
with media because you
never know when you’ll
need them again
2.  Check in often with a
quick hello via Twitter,
Facebook or email
3.  Comment on articles
your contacts publish
every now and then


þ Create irresistible promotional materials.
þ Score articles in top-tier publications.


Make Your Game Easy to Discover:
1.  Set up social media channels and post daily
2.  Become active in forums, blogs and other relevant sites
3.  Participate in game jams and other events
4.  Get involved with the local development community
5.  Start a crowdfunder


Convert Visitors into Fans with Content:
1.  Game and company updates
2.  Data and other insights
3.  Opinion pieces
4.  Interesting articles
5.  The occasional funny and random post


Nurture Your Relationship with Fans:
1.  Respond to comments and questions in a timely and
personalized way
2.  Initiate and engage in discussion
3.  Thank fans privately and publically
4.  Ask for and incorporate fan input
5.  Respond to criticism in a thankful and professional way


THANK YOU!
For more free, step-by-step
marketing instruction, visit
indiegamegirl.com.

Happy marketing!


Successful Indie Game Marketing: How to Market Your Game with a $0 Budget

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Successful Indie Game Marketing: How to Market Your Game with a $0 Budget