Talk Title: No-Budget DIY Marketing for Indie Games

Effective talk: Market with little budget

Year of Talk: 2023

Video Link: No-Budget DIY Marketing for Indie Games

1. The game's message:

   1. Make it clear what the most important part of your game is. Include it at the start of the description so people can easily understand. 

   2. An example being Amount Us is written as it is played in groups of 4-15 people online or locally. The target audience is people who want a new party game while allowing for coop/vs gameplay.

   3. It's important to define the audience. Whether it's players who like certain mechanics, genres, or story styles can be a few examples.

   4. Maybe the game is sports-related, so you can attract people who have hobbies and interests related to sports. Doing this lets you compare to games that are played by those groups and target them with your game description.

   5. Writing the pitch:

      1. A common tactic is to use the following phrase: “Verb in a Noun while you Verb.”

      2. If the play is to target specific genres, then you can adjust the following phrase: “Game Name is a Genre where you verb and verb.”

3. Bullet points to explain the game:

   1. It's useful to get a handful of bullet points about the interesting things related to the game. Maybe if it has a unique art style, world, or is story-heavy.

   2. This helps let players know what to look out for in your game and what makes the game unique.

4. Foundation of the following:

   1. How to build a following:

      1. Many smaller games/communities need to grow their community through people outreach. 

      2. Players might follow the game if they know the people working on it and that the devs are communicative.

      3. Try to cultivate a community and have people follow you and the game based on how you are as a person.

   2. Where to start:

      1. Create a website and a press kit for news agencies can quickly and easily find information about the game.

      2. Set up a Discord and a social media platform so you can more easily talk with people about your game and other things.

      3. Having a store page gives them a lot of visibility and lets them wishlist it for when the game comes out.

      4. Places like TikTok or Twitter let you make easily digestible content that people can see. Let you also reach an extremely wide audience with videos and GIFs.

      5. Meanwhile, going on Discord allows you to reach more dedicated fans who enjoy your games or your studio the most. You can show more detailed information as they would be the most interested.

      6. Steam (Or any other platform to release the game) is one of the more important sites as it's where everyone can buy your game.

      7. Steam also lets you know how well your game might be doing through engagement and with lists. (10-30% get converted to purchases in the first year)

      8. Going to events and sharing your game with people in person lets you reach a wider audience of people who aren't normally online.

      9. If you meet up with people regularly, try to mention what you're working on and let them see it.

3. Hour a Day Marketing Plan:

   1. Monday → Social Media, Tuesday → Press List, Wednesday → Network Festivals, Thursday → Steam Page/Devlog, Friday → Content Creation.

   2. Not a hardline. If something comes up on a different day, then it's fine to switch events around the week.

      1. Monday → Social Media:

         1. Schedule posts throughout the day/week. This helps with keeping content always appearing. 

         2. Take the time of day into account. If it's at night, many people might be asleep.

         3. Try to follow and engage with other people.

      2. Tuesday → Press List:

         1. Reaching out with streamers.

         2. Get a spreadsheet that shows who you talked with and who might be interested.

         3. Make it easy for people to reach you.

      3. Wednesday → Network/Festivals:

         1. Joining local dev groups or groups that talk about your knowledge.

         2. Submit to festivals.

      4. Thursday → Devlog/Steam:

         1. Devlog talking about changes for the game, or where you might showcase the game.

         2. Cross-post devlogs on a lot of other websites.

         3. Make sure to keep Steam updated with art, wishlists, or check for stats.

      5. Friday → Content Creation:

         1. Create videos or screenshots of the game. Try organizing it as well.

         2. This helps you be ready for next week and lets you determine the best features of the game to show off.

      6. There are more guidelines. You can spend more or less time on certain areas if you see fit.

4. Launch and Post Launch:

   1. Make sure to contact news sites so they know your game has been released. Giving them dates and marketing will help you reach a lot more people.

   2. On launch day, reach out to everyone you've been talking to so they know. Post on all your social media sites. Ask for reviews so that people can have third-party information about the game.

   3. Press releases help reach news sites that might not have noticed your game until then. This might allow you to reach to site you had intended to reach but couldn't for whatever reason. 

   4. Measuring success is important, even for small teams. Try to be realistic, it's hard to get huge success with game sales. So be honest with yourself and try to target certain numbers.

   5. Try to find your measurements of success, maybe get 100 followers, or get 200 wishlists.

   6. After releasing a game, it's important to plan out discounts or when updates will be released.

   7. Interacting with fans after the game releases helps keep them engaged until your next game. Some games can get more popular after release, instead of just after release.

5. Q&A:

   1. If you have some money, where should it go?

      1. Try to target the months before release, as that is the most useful time to get wishlists and sales. Especially influencers. 

      2. Trying to do targeted ads doesn't always help as much as expected.

   2. When should studios start expanding their marketing team instead of doing it solo?

      1. Depends on how much disposable budget. If the money you have won't help improve the game, then you can look into a marketing firm or hiring a dedicated person for a few months.

   3. Should you reuse marketing assets on different platforms?

      1. It's recommended to do so as it helps distribute the cost/time spent per item better.

   4. What if there is a preorder option & a launch day discount?

      1. It would be a good idea to have both be offered at the same price. This means people who might want the preorder offer don't feel cheated instead of waiting for the first day release.

   5. When is the best point to start marketing?

      1. Once you've announced the game. This lets you get the ball rolling on marketing and gives you lead time to get people interested.

      2. Usually, 6 months is the minimum amount of time needed to market your game.

   6. Clash between the tone of the message and the type of game?

      1. In small games, people will want to follow specific people. They won't always want to be interacting with a moody person and expect that you act more cheerful.

   7. When to release the Steam page? Even if the game might take multiple years.

      1. Useful to have it set up early, as you can get a bunch of wishlists.

      2. It also helps if you have a call to action towards the Steam page.

   8. How often should you be giving free copies of the game?

      1. Don't give out to everyone. Usually, some friends and family make sense, but you don't want to devalue the game by giving out a bunch.

      2. If people start asking for free games, try to slide them towards when the next sale might occur so they can buy it then.

   9. Are YouTube and Twitch good places for devlogs?

      1. Yes, it can reach a lot of people and lets you create longer form content compared to TikTok and Twitter.

      2. Usually requires more effort to properly do it.