Engaging your fans - Indie Comms_101
There's nothing more terrifying to an independent game developer than a blank piece of paper with the word 'Marketing' written at the top. It's fear of this more often than not that drives Indies into signing their work away into the hands of a publisher. There are occasionally good reasons to make that decision, but fear is never one.
If you know nothing about the process of getting your game discovered, here's a quick backgrounder:
Marketing is a process... It doesn't just start when you're nearly ready to start selling the game. The good news is, using our system, everything flows from the game itself.
When should I start? As early as you can, ideally shortly before Alpha, when you have nailed down the basic game features. You should also have at least a topline idea of the content you are planning for launch.
Where do I start? You can't tell anyone about your game until you've worked out what it is that will enthuse and engage your audience. This we call "Key Messaging", a list of prioritised "bullet points" about your game that show what sets it apart from other games and are concise and communicable. If you like, this is your consumer pitch. Producing your Key Messaging is one of the four turnkey, fixed price packages we offer. If there is one thing you should do early, and do well, it's preparing your messaging. It will save you time and improve your consumer proposition no end.
But... Wait... Money... We feel strongly that all indie developers should create Key Messaging for their games. We've taught it at conferences, shared it with other projects, even other agencies. If you can't afford for us to create it for you, then we provide the complete 5-step methodology to do it yourself, right here (link to come).
OK, messaging complete, what next? Run a quick business audit for your game - not strictly speaking a communications specific thing, but you need to do it before you announce anything. We've written a checklist for you here (link to come).
If you know nothing about the process of getting your game discovered, here's a quick backgrounder:
Marketing is a process... It doesn't just start when you're nearly ready to start selling the game. The good news is, using our system, everything flows from the game itself.
When should I start? As early as you can, ideally shortly before Alpha, when you have nailed down the basic game features. You should also have at least a topline idea of the content you are planning for launch.
Where do I start? You can't tell anyone about your game until you've worked out what it is that will enthuse and engage your audience. This we call "Key Messaging", a list of prioritised "bullet points" about your game that show what sets it apart from other games and are concise and communicable. If you like, this is your consumer pitch. Producing your Key Messaging is one of the four turnkey, fixed price packages we offer. If there is one thing you should do early, and do well, it's preparing your messaging. It will save you time and improve your consumer proposition no end.
But... Wait... Money... We feel strongly that all indie developers should create Key Messaging for their games. We've taught it at conferences, shared it with other projects, even other agencies. If you can't afford for us to create it for you, then we provide the complete 5-step methodology to do it yourself, right here (link to come).
OK, messaging complete, what next? Run a quick business audit for your game - not strictly speaking a communications specific thing, but you need to do it before you announce anything. We've written a checklist for you here (link to come).