How To Promote Your Indie Game For $100

Today I'm going to share with you the exact process I use to market and promote my client's indie games.

And the goal with this technique you're going to learn has nothing to do with "getting your name out" and getting exposure. It has nothing to do with branding and getting likes. The goal is to get tangible results like getting 10,000 wishlists before game launch, or hitting 1,500 sales a month.

So in this article, I'm going to go through, step by step, my entire process -- so that you can easily follow and reach your own wishlist or sales goals.

But please know! Business is a risk. There are no guarantees. And yeah, my goal is to give you the fundamental steps to help you promote your game. But in the end, YOU have to put in the hard work. What you're about to learn is NOT easy. It's not a quick-fix. Starting and growing a new game studio takes more work than you think it does. So you gotta be ok that there is going to be a lot of work ahead.

And if you're good with that, then here's what to do...

Step 1: Prepare Before You Spend A Penny

Like me, you WILL make mistakes promoting your indie game. And when you're trying something new, it'll probably won't work the first time. So it's best to make those mistakes as cheaply and as quickly as you can.

So before I spend a penny on any paid ads, I need to prepare and get rid of any mistakes I can. I need to make sure that when it's time to open my wallet and pay money for an ad, that I'm going to get the best ROI on those ads.

Let me explain exactly...

To make an ad work, you need to find the best APPEAL for your game. You need to lead with your game's Unique Hook.

Having the right appeal is important because it's what will grab a player's attention, and motivate them to click your ad. And if they click your ad, you're one step closer to getting that Wishlist and sale.

But if you get the appeal wrong, then it doesn't matter if you spend $100 or $10,000... nobody is going to click your ad.

Just look at Google Stadia or Facebook Metaverse. There was very little appeal for those services. And not even millions spent on marketing could get people to use those services. The appeal has to be their first.

So that's what I do first. I try to figure out first how big the appeal is for the game. And then I try to figure out the BEST appeal to lead with when I pay for ads.

So then, how do you find if there's any appeal for your game? And how do you discover the best appeal for your game to lead with?

Well, often what YOU think is appealing to your game, isn't. That's because you're a sample size of one. Just because one person thinks something is cool, doesn't mean thousands will too.

So it's a bad idea to sit there by yourself and brainstorm what makes your game appealing.

Also, you might be tempted to ask other game devs, friends, or family to tell you what's appealing about your game. Or you'll sit around with your team, and try to come up with an answer.

Don't.

This is a mistake.

It's like asking people leaving an ice cream shop with an ice cream in their hand if they like ice cream. You'll get skewed results. It's the same with asking other game devs and people you know -- you'll get skewed results.

So who do you ask to find out what makes your game appealing?

The number one person who will give you actual, honest feedback about your game's appeal are the people who will BUY your game.

So that's what I do. I go ask potential customers about what makes a game appealing or not. I then use customer feedback to determine two criterias:

1. How much appeal is there for this game?
2. What's the best appeal to lead with?

Once I understand those two criterias, I then use that data to help me craft an ad that will grab attention.

The last thing I want to do is to pay for an ad and hope I guessed right. I don't want to guess. Guessing leads to mistakes. And it'll cost you.

So that's how I prepare. That's how I eliminate as many mistakes as I can. That's how I make sure I get the best ROI on my ads.

So how do I go find potential customers and ask them if your game is appealing or not? Let me show you that next...

Step 2: Figure Out What To Say To Potential Customers

Any question you have about your game can be answered through testing and collecting data. Yes, you can get some insights sitting around with your team, brainstorming. But the actual court of brutal truth is with potential customers.

And where is this "court of brutal truth"?

Well, I like going to Reddit to do all my testing and research. And I will eventually start going to TikTok. But for now, for me, the best place is Reddit because it's a forum where like-minded people come to hang out. TikTok is more like a carnival where all types of people come to hang out.

Anyway... let's start...

Remember, we are going to ask potential customers what's appealing about our game (not other devs, friends, or family).

To do that, we need to get organized, and prepare what we will say to them. Also, we need to know where to go. And we need to keep track of our feedback and data.

irst, let's work on what we will say to our potential customers (so we can get honest, brutal, feedback).

Now here's the script I use when approaching potential customers. Through trial and error, I found that the "opinion" question works best in getting people to respond. Ok, here's the script:

Let's say I'm making a Fallout-like game. Here's what my script would look like:

"Hey (their username here), can I get your opinion on the Fallout-like genre? What frustrates you the most with this genre? And what do you love the most?

I'm asking because I'm developing a Fallout-like game but it's a top down shooter, and it's not turn-based. And any insights you have about this genre will help me a lot!

And if you're curious, here's my Steam page: (link).

Thanks!"

MSG CODE: 001 (note don't add this code in your msg... it's just for your own reference)

Also you'll notice I have a "MSG CODE 001". I'd also recommend that you give your message a code number. What I mean is, I often test out different messages. And I like to track which messages I used and when. You'll see what I mean in Step 4, when I talk about tracking our data.

Ok, let me break this message down, and give you a formula you can use:

Hey (username), can I get your opinion on (enter your game's genre here). What frustrates you most with this genre? And what do you love the most?

I'm asking because I'm developing a (your genre here) game, but it's (what makes your game unique or different in your genre). And any insights you have about this genre will help me out a lot!

And if you're curious, here's my Steam page: (your link).

Thanks!

MSG CODE: 001 (note don't add this code in your msg... it's just for your own reference)

And, of course, you can change it up to match your own town. But make sure you're asking for their opinion, and to include what makes your game unique and different.

Good. Now that we know what to ask, let's work on finding our target players...

Step 3: Go Where Your Players Are Hanging Out

Because Reddit is a forum, people will gravitate to certain interests. This makes it really easy to go where your fans are hanging out by finding niche subreddits.

So for example, if I was making a Fallout-like RPG game, then I would go to:

r/fallout
r/Fallout2
r/rpg_gamers
r/CRPG

It's the same case for your game. Whatever genre your game is, there's going to be one or two subreddits for it. And also there will be a subreddit for big games in that genre.

And you might be tempted to go to huge subreddits like r/gaming or r/pcgaming. But I find the huge subreddits are hit and miss when it comes to getting people to respond. It's because there is such a mix of fans in those bigger subreddits, that it's hard to find that one person who specifically loves your niche genre.

So, it's better to find smaller niche subreddits, because you'll get more responses.

So, go find FOUR niche subreddits that align with your genre and game.

Now I'd find a new thread. Go into that thread. Find a user. Then send a Chat Request with that script you learned about in Step 2.

But don't start going guns-a-blazing and start DM'ing people just yet!

We need to get organized. We need to collect data. Remember, mistakes will be made. To eliminate mistakes, I like to prepare and get organized.

So before you start sending DMs, let's get organized. Here's how...

Step 4: Track Your Results Using This Spreadsheet I Made For You

Because remember, before you spend money on an ad, it's vital that you find that one big appeal that will resonate with the most people. And again, what you think is appealing about your game, might not be to people who will pay money for your game.

Ok, here's what to do...

I made a copy of the spreadsheet I use when doing market research. It's a Google Sheet, with all the basic fields you need to keep track of your data. You can open it here:

Blueprint: How To Promote Your Indie Game For $100

To work on this spreadsheet, save the spreadsheet, or copy and paste it onto your own Google Sheet.

Ok, I know this is going to be dry. But stay with me because without tracking data like this, then we'll make huge mistakes later on. And like I said, I rather not pay for mistakes. I rather make mistakes as cheaply and as quickly as I can.

Ok, open the spreadsheet. And here's how to use it...

Column B: COUNT
So remember how you found FOUR subreddits? Well, you're going to send 50 DM's to each subreddit. For a total of 200 DMs.

So that's why I have this Count here. It helps me keep track of how many DM's I sent out to each subreddit.

Tracking this is important because you want to find which subreddit gets the most engagement.

For example, I was helping a game dev market a game inspired by Zelda. So I went to r/zelda. And I got zero people to reply.

Knowing this data helped me avoid a costly mistake. What I mean is, I naturally thought that r/zelda would be a good fit. And if I didn't do this test, I would have paid for an ad targeting r/zelda. But I would have paid for all those impressions, and have gotten very little clicks.

You see why it's so important to do this prep work? By collecting data like this, you'll uncover which subreddits work best for your game.

But if you avoid this step, then you'll target your ads to a customer base that has very little interest. And that's not how you get a good ROI.

So you're doing this test to figure out the best place your player's are hanging out... but also to get feedback to help you discover your game's best appeal.

Ok, let's keep going...

Column C: DATE
Enter your current date.

Column D: REDDIT USER
It's important to copy and paste the Reddit user name because Reddit Chat is very clunky. It's hard to find people you talked with. And so by recording a username, it will help you find them if you need to go back and chat with them later.

For instance, I get users asking me to send them updates or other requests. So by recording their username, I can easily go back and contact them again.

Column E: SUBREDDIT
Enter your subreddit here. So remember, you're going to pick four subreddits. And you will approach 50 people for each subreddit. So a total of 200.

Column F: MSG CODE
This is where you enter your message code number. I keep track of this because I often test out different variations of messages as well. And I want to see which message performs the best. But I only do this if I'm doing extra market research. So for now, the message script I gave you will work.

Column G: RESPONDED (1 = Y)
Anytime I get a user to reply back to my message, I enter a "1" here. I use this to help me calculate the conversion rate. I'll talk about that soon.

Column H: THEIR REPLY
When somebody replies to you, copy their message, and paste it here. You want to have all your replies in one handy spot.

Column I: YOUR RESPONSE
Here I just quickly jot down what I replied. Every interaction is different, so I like to keep track of what I said.

Column K: CONVERSION
This is my simple formula to keep track of the conversion rate for each subreddit. So for example, if I get 10 replies for subreddit_1, then that's a conversion of 20% (10/50 = 20%).

Again, the idea here is to see which of the four subreddits you picked got the best conversion rate. Or more importantly, which subreddit got the LEAST replies and lowest conversion.

This is important to know because when you create an ad, you get to pick which subreddits to target. And you want to avoid spending money on any subreddit that isn't performing well.

Column N: MESSAGE
Here I copy and pasted my message from my Google document. I do this to make it easy to copy and paste my message when I start sending DM's.

Ok, now you're ready for the next step...

Step 5: Send Out Your Messages

Once you're organized, and have your spreadsheet ready, then go ahead and start contacting potential customers.

What I do is, I have two browsers open, split screen. On the left side, I have my spreadsheet open. And on the right side, I have Reddit open.

Then once I'm on Reddit, I'll find the subreddit that I'm targeting. Then I find a post that is getting a lot of engagement. And make sure it's a recent post.

Then I go into the comments. I find a user. I then RIGHT CLICK the user, and open the user profile in a new tab.

I go into their user profile because I want to make sure they're NOT a game dev. And usually game devs will have a link to their game on their user profile page. Remember, other game devs are not my target. Players who will pay money for a game are.

Then I click the Request Chat button. And please know, Reddit often changes their UI. So it might look different in the future. But you get the idea.

Then go click to your browser on the left side, the one that has your spreadsheet open. In Column N, copy and paste your message.

Then go back to the right side, and paste your message in the Chat to that user.

Some quick tips:

Tip 1: Don't send out chat requests too fast. You'll get flagged for doing so, and they'll disable the chat request button on you for a certain time.

Tip 2: It takes me about one hour to send out 50 requests. (I know, it's tedious, but growing your business takes a lot of hard work)

Tip 3: As people start replying don't forget to update your spreadsheet. Reddit Chat is very clunky. So it's important to record your data the moment you get a reply because you might not be able to find that reply if you leave the chat and come back later.

Tip 4: It should take about 3 - 4 days for all the replies to get in. After 4 days some might trickle in. But for the most part, on day 3 you'll have 80% of your replies.

Tip 5: Don't forget to reply back. Answer any questions they have. Thank the user for their time. And I always ask if they liked the game, to wishlist it.

Ok, now what? What do you do with all this data? Let's work on that next...

Step 6: Analyze Your Data

After day 3 or 4, you're ready to analyze your data. So now re-read all the replies you entered in Column H. So then, what are you exactly looking for?

Two things:

Thing #1: First, you want to see which subreddit got the most engagement, and the lease engagement. This will give you a clue if there is any appeal to your game in the first place.

And what if you don't get a lot of replies? Then don't be afraid to do another test, with three or four other different subreddits. Even try r/gaming or r/pcgaming. Plus, the more work you put into market research, the better insights you'll get. That's because the bigger your sample size, the better the data.

Thing #2: Next, what you want to look for are common words and phrases that keep coming up.

For example, when I was researching the Fallout-like genre for a client, I kept hearing that players dislike turn-based combat because it's too slow. This was a big "aha" moment. The game I was marketing didn't have turn-based combat. So I used that knowledge of what people don't want, and helped differentiate the game by saying it's a Fallout-like RPG but without the slow turn-based combat. Again, I'm looking for that small little detail that will get me attention in my marketing message.

So my point is, go through your answers people gave you, and notice which words or phrases keep popping up. Remember, you asked the player what they like and hate about your genre. You can use that to your advantage because there is a good chance that your game offers players what they want, or avoids what players don't want.

And these little insights you discover will help you with the next step...

Step 7: Write Your Reddit Ad

You spent a lot of time prepping. So congratulations! And I mean that. Because what most devs do when they use Reddit to promote their game, is go straight to this step and start making an ad. They never take the time to research their market. And they never try to figure out what appeals to their target.

And so what happens is, they spend money on a Reddit ad. Their ad doesn't perform well. They waste money. And they give up and say promoting doesn't work.

And like I said at the beginning of this guide: business is a risk. There are no guarantees. And when trying to do something for the first time, you will make mistakes. So it's best to make those mistakes as quickly and cheaply as you can.

That's why I had you go through 6 steps before getting here: so that you get the best ROI.

But one more warning:

Even if you (and I) do our best to prepare, and eliminate as many mistakes as we can, and try to dial in the best appeal for our game, there is still a chance that Reddit users won't find a game interesting.

Reddit is Reddit. It attracts a certain type of person. And it doesn't mean that a game is bad or not marketable. It just means that Reddit doesn't like it. And that's ok. That's why I'm starting to learn how to market on TikTok because it's always best to not rely on one platform. And once I get better at promoting indie games on TikTok, I'll share with you what I discover.

But for now, Reddit it is.

And please know, I'm not trying to put any doubt in you. Business is a risk. Anybody who tells you the answer on how to beat risk is lying. And remember, I fail a lot too. But don't give up. Eventually what you try will work.

Ok, saying all that, let's finally write your ad and post it on Reddit...

In Step 6, you spent time analyzing what players told you about what they like and don't like about your genre. And also you got some feedback on your game too.

Now, what you'll do here is, use your analysis to help you write the headline for your Reddit ad.

For example, my analysis told me that some players don't like turn-based combat in CRPG games. So because the game I'm marketing is a top down shooter CRPG, I'm going to use that insight as leverage.

So I'd write a headline like this:

"A Top-Down Post-Apocalyptic Shooter Inspired By Fallout 2's Story Telling. Wishlist now..."

So, let me break down what I'm doing here...

In the headline, I want to attract my target audience. But I also want my target audience to get curious.

So here's a formula I use:

1. Sub-genre
2. Combat / Gameplay Type
3. Setting / Theme
4. Unique Hook

Here's another example:

"A Roguelike where you crawl dungeons at night, and shopkeep during the day."

Again, I stuffed in all four elements in that short headline: Sub-genre, gameplay type, setting, and unique hook.

For the first 3 elements, it's pretty easy to come up with. But the Unique Hook is a bit tougher.

The Unique Hook is what makes the game different, or what problem does it solve, or what does it give that players want.

This is why you spent so much time reaching out to potential players and asking them what they want and don't want in your genre. Their answers will help you come up with a Unique Hook so that when they read your headline, it'll make them curious.

Ok, great now that you have your headline complete the last part is, you need an image or video. I find that videos convert better than just having an image. But really, that depends on the game. Sometimes a screenshot is all you need to get people curious to click your ad. And I'll talk more about this in the Tips section below.

So go grab a screenshot, your Steam capsule art, or a gameplay trailer, and grab your headline... and let's move onto...

Step 8: Post Your Ad On Reddit

Because Reddit always changes their UI, I'm not going to go into details on how to create a Reddit ad. And Reddit themselves have a really good step-by-step guide here:

Create A Reddit Ad In 5 Easy Steps

But you have all you need: your headline and your image or video.

10 Tips On Managing Your Reddit Ad Campaign

Let me share with you some tips and mistakes to avoid when running and managing your ad...

Tip 1: I like to set my daily budget at $6 - $10. And I run the ad for about 10 days. So for a total of $100.

Tip 2: Your ad needs to be approved first. Approval usually takes a few minutes. But sometimes it could take 24 hours. If it's taking 24 hours, there is probably something wrong with your headline. For example, I had the word "die" in a headline. I waited for over 24 hours, and it was still pending. So I moved the word, and it got approved right away.

Tip 3: Once your ad is running, and you don't see any results, make sure you are viewing the right date. On the top right, you'll see a calendar. Make sure you're clicked on the right day.

Tip 4: Your CTR is your click through rate. This means how many times your ad was displayed and how many times it was clicked. Don't worry if your clickthrough rate is below 1%. Remember, you're a niche, indie game. If you're getting a CTR that is 0.5%, it's ok. But if you're getting 0.05% CTR, then your headline or image needs work. However, saying that, my goal is always to reach 2% CTR.

Tip 5: CPC is cost per click. Your cost will depend on how much competition there is. What I mean is, there is probably less competition for subreddits like r/roguelikes than there is for bigger subreddits like r/gaming. That's why I also like targeting smaller, niche subreddits because the CPC is lower, and there is less competition. Plus you're targeting your main audience.

Tip 6: Run your ad for 48 hours. Then pause it. And then create a new ad to test. Change your headline, or use a different image or video. It's always a good idea to A/B test your ads and find a winner.

Tip 7: For the most part, videos (trailers, animated gifs / movies) work better than screenshots or capsule images. But that depends on the game. So like I mentioned in Tip #6, do a test to see which pulls better (videos vs. images).

Tip 8: Remember, there is a one day delay with Steam wishlist stats. So if you run your ad on Monday, you won't start seeing results on Steam until a day after.

Tip 9: Don't get discouraged if your ad isn't working. Set a budget of $8 - $10. And if you're not getting the result you like, pause the campaign, and change the headline or image or video. Remember, everything is a test. Your goal is to dial in that one and then perform the best for you, and get you the best ROI.

Tip 10: The goal with this $100 Reddit ad captain is to test different ads to find the best performer. Once you find that one ad that has the best CTR, then scale up. Invest more money into that ad that works.

And that's how I promote my client's indie game for $100.

Hire Me To Manage Your Reddit Ad Campaign To Help You Grow Wishlists And Game Sales...

What's Your Goal?

Launching soon, need wishlists? Click: Get Wishlists

Game sales low after launch? Click: Get Game Sales

Want to test a game idea to see if it's profitable? Click: Get Market Research

Thanks for reading! And good luck promoting your game on Reddit! I hope it helps you grow your wishlist numbers.

Later!

Dariusz Konrad
Email: dariusz at mainquestmarketing dot com
Discord Username: dariuszkonrad
LinkedIn: My entrepreneurial successes
Work: Game devs I've helped so far