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“You need a huge budget to market your indie game” – this is one of the most common myths about indie game marketing that most developers buy into. But it’s just that. A myth. The truth is that you can market your indie game on even a shoestring budget by making sure that your efforts are highly targeted and that each penny is spent well.
At Campaign Cooperative, we are experts at marketing your indie game on your budget, no matter what it is. Here are 3 of our expert tips on how to make it happen.
1. Make the best use of your limited budget
A smaller budget leaves almost no wiggle room for experimentation. This means your marketing must be data-driven and highly focused on your target audience.
To do this:
- Base your marketing efforts around Steam events, because Steam is the primary way in which new players will find you. Make sure to streamline your focus on the Steam Next Fest and any other genre-specific Steam events so that your indie game gains more visibility.
- Use trackable marketing strategies (such as paid advertising) so that you know exactly where each penny goes and how effective it has been in terms of increasing your game's visibility. Tracking also lets you analyze and tweak your strategies so that you get the most bang for your buck.
2. Reach out to influencers organically
Gaming influencers and streamers hold a lot of sway over their audience. Collaborating with them will get more eyeballs on your game and give you a higher ROI (return on investment). So, make a list of influencers you want to target and reach out to them with a demo version or a trailer of your game. The idea is for them to be able to play the game during one of their live streams to create buzz and increase your wishlists.
Pro tip: Start by sponsoring smaller influencers (also known as nano influencers). Oftentimes, this will snowball into bigger influencers stumbling upon your game on their own.
Working with nano influencers will actually give you a better ROI because they have a highly targeted audience. i.e. players who strongly prefer a certain niche. So, by working with them, your marketing efforts will be hyper-targeted, leading to more wishlists and sales. It’s the same logic as marketing a mobile phone to a group of mobile phone enthusiasts vs. marketing it to a group of gadget enthusiasts, hoping that at least a few of them would want to buy your mobile phone.
3. Get your indie game on the press
Several magazines and online websites cover up-and-coming indie games. This press coverage bridges the gap between AAA and indie games, giving the latter better visibility and evening out the playing field a bit. So, reach out to journalists who cover news about indie games to get yourself some boosted visibility. But make sure to do this during major game development milestones, such as a trailer release, a demo launch, or a giveaway.