Stiff - Valentin Thomas Promote indie game

10 things to promote your indie game (from most effective to almost useless) – Part 4 : crowdfunding & often forgotten marketing ideas

(5 minute read)

 

In this 4 parts article, we’ll talk about 10 marketing actions you can use to promote your indie game, ranging from super effective and trendy to less effective, wishlists and sales wise (but they have other qualities). Here’s the last part, presenting crowdfunding and some ideas that are sometimes forgotten by many.

Have a good read, and I’m here if you need a marketing professional to promote your indie game, we’ll get back to that.

 

Part 1 (Steam next fest, festivals & content creators)

Part 2 (Gaming media)

Part 3 (Social media)

Part 4 (this article)

 

DISCLAIMER: This marketing 101, for those who have almost no idea on how to market a game. If you’re advanced in marketing, this article might be boring. If you’re average, you may learn a couple of things there. And if you’re an absolute beginner, you will learn a lot.

 

Thing to promote your indie game #6: Crowdfunding

This is only number 6 because you might need all the previous things to run a good crowdfunding campaign. But it can bring a whole lotta money.

 

I only led one crowdfunding campaign in my career, and it was a long time ago (and yes, it was successful) but what I have learnt over the years reading and chatting about it, is it’s the middle of your community building, not the beginning. And it’s a lot of preparation. You need pretty polished things, and preferably at least a playable demo to get your backers hooked and give them a reason to hand you a fistful of dollars/euro/local currency. You need a somewhat long promotional video, not just a trailer. You need to write emails in advance if stretch goals are achieved, because you’ll have a ton of things to do while the campaign is running. In a nutshell, you have to prepare for the best, and be ready to push things up if it doesn’t happen soon enough.

 

You also need the beginning of a community to boost algorithms and back you when the time comes. Here’s a cheating code : in 2024*, kickstarter’s algorithm boosts campaigns based on the number of backers, not the amount of money spent. It also promotes more projects that achieve their objective in 24 hours. So ask for just enough and invite your relatives to contribute for 1€  (yep, I’m european) or so and tell them they can withdraw later on. Chances are they will not, and some will even give a little more because well, your relatives are supposed to love and support you. Total strangers will only give 1€ (not everyone loves you) but it will lead to other people that might enjoy your game more.

 

*I’m mentioning the year when I wrote the article because algorithms change. So it might not be the case when you read this piece, sometime in 2042 when I’m a famous and overbooked marketer.

 

Thing #7: sales (ie discounts)

I don’t have much to say about sales. They just work. Most people only buy games when they’re on sale. Just don’t over discount your game at first, and discount it more as it gets older.

 

Now is the time for less interesting actions, sales and wishlist wise. They have other objectives, but don’t expect a huge sales bump doing them.

 

 

Thing #8: Devlogs

Be it on your steam page or on your website, devlogs can be very interesting for retention. Understand that most often, loyal players appreciate having news on your development, who the team is behind the game, your day to day challenges and so on. These people can become ambassadors on your social media, and, why not, backers for a potential kickstarter campaign.

Note : a huge announcement might lead to a wishlist/sales peak, if you already have a reputation.

 

Thing #9: Micro content creators & Small press titles

Same objectives, same effect on your sales, but different format.

 

By micro creators, I mean content creators having less than 10k followers (generally accepted definition). They won’t bring you much sales, but can offer you a solid live playtest you are attending to. Don’t forget to be online if it’s a scheduled stream, their enthusiastic reactions when they play your game will melt your little heart. You can also ask them questions if you feel like it, and you’ll see what questions they are asking, revealing potential problems or blurry lines in your game design/narration/you name it. It’s good to send it to them before you try your luck on bigger creators!

 

Small press titles offer the same thing, except it’s in the shape of a blog article. It might melt your heart again or make you sad if they don’t like the game, but life is full of risks, and so is marketing.

 

Final Thing to promote your indie game: Steam curators

Did you ever buy a game because it was recommended by a curator ? Chances are, no. But it can be used as a social proof that your game is good, so sending a couple of keys through curator connect can be a good idea.

 

I’m putting emphasis on curator connect here, because when you launch your game some scammers might send you messages asking to send them by email. Don’t. And this is my final advice.

 

That’s it for this 4 parts article, I’m glad I shared it with you. Whether you liked it or not, please shoot me a constructive message in the comment section to improve my craft or boost my ego. Both are equally fine with me. If needed, my social media profiles are in the contact section of this website (click “here” below).

 

Part 1 (SNF, content creators & Festivals)

Part 2 (Gaming media)

Part 3 (Social media)

Part 4 (this article)

 

Editor’s note: “Haven’t you forgotten something?” Said the rich folk in the room. Yes, I have. I didn’t mention paid ads here, which can also have significant impact on your wishlists and sales. But I have very little experience with that and this 4 part article would have been a 5 parts article with 11 things, which was too much to my taste. But feel free to comment with sources on how to manage paid ads and maybe I’ll sum it up in an article someday.

 

You can also subscribe to my brand new newsletter below which only subscribers are me, another email address of mine, and my girlfriend.

 

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Good luck have fun (with marketing),

 

I’m Valentin Thomas, and I’ve been a gamer since I was 5. I started my freelancer marketing career in 2014, and switched from “every project that wants my help no matter the industry, but preferably games” to “only good indie games I can promote” around 2020. I worked with studios, marketing agencies and even associations needing help to promote indie games one way or another.

 

You can join me here for a free marketing plan, a thorough collaboration or just a marketing question. See you soon !

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