What happens to a product that lands in the market with no previous information about it? That nobody knows what it is but they don’t even care. When you have a product it is important to let people know that you have it and to be clear about what makes it special. The same thing happens with videogames, everyday some random studio can be developing a different video game but the key is the thing that makes them completely unique. And apart from having that unique asset, you have to know how to sell it, you have to make people want it, your goal is to make your potential buyers follow all the updates of the launch of your video game and fall in love with what you are sharing.
It is all about creating a community before finishing the game, it doesn’t make sense to start creating the community once you already have the product done, it has to be from the beginning. It is important that you gain followers on social media and keep them informed of the whole project, and it is also significant to get the press and some small streamers talking about your game so it starts sounding familiar to your audience.
Another relevant detail is the following: sell the game, not the studio. When you are an indie studio like us, it is very common to try to sell the studio more than the game you are creating, but that is not the right move, if your game is successful, then people will start knowing about your studio.
Like Vladimir Lenin once said, “it is necessary sometimes to take one step backward to take two steps forward”.
To learn more about all this let’s talk to Monica Moreno, our Marketing Analyst and Community Manager.
Hey Monica! Tell us what is the most important thing about selling an indie game?
For me the most important thing is being realistic. It is easier to speculate once you already have a community built or a reputation that makes your video game stand out from minute one. But when you are an indie, that’s not given to you, in order for that to happen you have to work very hard and create a lot of content, that way, step by step, people will start noticing you and they will pay attention to your updates. The key is being constant and interacting a lot with the community. Asking for feed-back can be a good way to do this.
If it’s not much to ask, what strategy do you follow on social media?
At the moment, we are focusing almost all our attention on Instagram and Twitter, the first one to define a clear visual style and content and the second one to interact more, since the videogame community is more active on this last one. We try to post content almost everyday to remind our followers that we are there, working hard behind the screen from monday to friday. Our main strategy is creating content about the weekly posts on our blog and about the characters of our game, always showing the fanbase how we are constantly making progress.
Is it a must that the marketing person knows about videogames?
It is ideal, but it is not a must. If a person who doesn’t really play video games starts handling all the communication from the studio it will be necessary for that person to study the competition and the strategies that are used inside the videogame industry. You don’t have to be a pro, but you do need to know the basics. It wouldn’t make sense to sell something without knowing the basics of what you’re selling.
Some advice for someone who wants to be a part of the video game marketing and advertising world?
Be creative, get used to having ideas thrown away and remember that a community can’t be created from one day to another. Having a good organic community takes time, but is definitely worth it.