The world of modern gaming presents marketing professionals with a wealth of advanced opportunities, but this does not mean casting the limelight onto a new game is easy.
The gaming industry is bursting at the seams with groundbreaking titles and exciting technological possibilities, so fierce competition awaits behind every turn.
There is still much hope for the indie developers out there, however, evidenced by the likes of the wildly successful Hollow Knight and Among Us.
If you needed a hand marketing your latest and greatest title to the gaming world, here are some top techniques to watch out for.
- Finding the Right Leads
One of gaming’s strongest (and unfortunately, sometimes weakest) aspects is its various communities.
In fact, the games as a service model adopted by many companies often rely on the community to sustain itself in the first place, as updates and hotfixes need to be catered to those who are actively consuming the content.
Suffice to say, this makes finding the right leads an extremely important part of the marketing process.
Building a strong, reliable database can greatly help out your efforts in this area, as it can allow you to keep track of your customers and better still, enable you to understand them and their buying habits.
Keeping a database updated can be tough work for anyone, let alone an indie game developer with a heap of tasks on their plate. A superb alternative is to think about outsourcing your lead generation efforts. You may wish to take a look at gsa-marketing.co.uk for a superb example of what to expect from the experts.
- Marketing to Influencers
Twitch and YouTube are huge platforms for gaming content, as many millions of viewers flock to watch their favourite influencers on a daily basis.
Marketing your game to the right influencers can help your popularity skyrocket, and hopefully, get your game noticed by an established community.
By offering benefits like early access and free merch to streamers, you could convince them to play your game for their viewers. This can be hugely beneficial, provided you partner with a reliable, professional streamer whose values reflect your own.
- Offer an Email Subscription to Customers
Offering an email subscription for people to receive your newsletter can not only ensure that you keep your audience hooked, but it can enable you to get hold of some important data to add to your marketing database, i.e., customer email addresses for follow-up marketing.
You could even think about establishing a feedback opportunity and setting up a Discord server for your fans to discuss your game. The more interactivity and engagement you can drum up between the community, the higher the odds you can generate a buzz.
- Networking with Developers
Even the mightiest indie titles started somewhere. Developers are likely aware of this, and they can be a powerful ally in your marketing efforts.
Reaching out to them via social media like LinkedIn can be a good way to grab their attention and (hopefully) convince them of your game’s quality.
If you can manage to get a few valuable contacts on board, you may even find a mentor who was in your very position.
