Download: "Wishlist Workshop Part 6 Blueprint (PDF)" Here

No Wishlists? Here's Why, And What To Do...

Indie Game Wishlist Workshop Part 6

There are many surprises when marketing your indie game to increasing wishlists. What you think is dumb and nobody will respond to, may be a success. What you think is a cool appeal and a sure-bet that will grab attention, may be a failure.

For example, I'm helping a game dev market their indie game. They're making a Story-Rich CRPG (sort of like Disco Elysium). In the meetings with them, we talked about what's the BEST appeal for the game. What features should they emphasize? What should be their marketing strategy to help them build their audience and wishlists?

Now, any question you have about your indie game can be answered quickly and cheaply with a test campaign. Talking and arguing with your team rarely answers questions. Nor does getting advice from other game devs or even YouTubers and marketers. The people who have all the answers are your potential customers.

So that's what I did. I went to reddit, and asked potential customer what they thought:

After reading through 347 comments, I learned more about what would help sell their game than I would by just sitting around talking with the game dev team.

And here's one of the most interesting comments I got:

I find this one interesting because it's SO easy and cheap to ask potential customers what they like and don't like. But most game devs don't do this because rejections sucks. You don't want to hear your ideas are bad. But good or bad, getting good data will help you come up with the best marketing strategy.

You And Your Team Are Not The Majority

It's like statistics. A sample size of 5 people isn't big enough. That's why sometimes what you and your team think is a cool selling point probably isn't. And what you and your friends may like, the majority might not. A group of 5 people isn't the majority. It's not enough to establish an average.

And it's why asking other game devs or even YouTuber or other marketers if your ideas are good is rarely a good strategy. It's like asking people walking outside an ice cream shop if they like ice cream. Your results will be skewed.

You need a bigger sample size to get a better average. And you gotta ask potential customers (and not other devs, YouTubers, friends, family, even marketers) so you don't skew your results.

This Is Why Most Game Devs Fail To Get Wishlists...

It's not because their game is too niche, or not marketable. I believe that there is a market for almost any game because there are so many people with so many different tastes.

The problem isn't that.

The problem is finding the best "hook" that will appeal to those fans. The problem is FINDING these players.

You can't find these people if your hook isn't appealing.

And you can't find your appeal, your best selling point, your advantage, your hook by just talking to other game devs, or your team, or youtubers, or marketers. You gotta go to the truest court of all: the court of potential customers. And ask THEM to find out what makes your game so appealing and marketable.

And I'm not saying that you need to pander to the masses. I'm not saying you need to change any part of your game.

I'm just saying that there are one or two features of your game that will appeal to your potential costumes more than another.

That's why I had you work on:

Part 2) Your game's Top 5 Steam Tags

Part 3) Identified 3 features for each of those Top 5 Steam Tags

Part 4) Described what each features DOES (i.e. what action the player takes)

Part 5) What RESULT will the customer get from each feature

I first wanted you to study your own game and uncover all the "hooks" your game has. Essentially you came up with 15 hooks (i.e. 15 features, and what result the customer will GET from each feature).

Now what I want you to do is to find out which of those "hooks" will catch the most fish. In other words, let's test each hook to find out which one has the biggest appeal.

And the reason you're doing this is because if you can find that one or two "hooks" that have the most appeal, you can use that hook to create marketing content and build a Steam Page to attract your target player.

Ok, here's what to do...

How To Test Your Game's Features And Find The Best Hook

Remember, we're not after a certain number of wishlists. It's not about "Growth At All Costs". People are not just a number. We're after a quality wishlist full of die-hard fans of your game. Because when your game launches, it's these die-hard fans that you've built a relationship with, who will buy our game. It's not game devs, game journalists, YouTubers... and it's not even the fans of that youtuber or game journalist.

It's YOUR fans you developed yourself.

But to find these die-hard fans, we gotta know what they want. We gotta put our "hooks" in the water, and see which "hook" gets the most bites.

And to do that, Reddit is the best place to do test campaigns -- fast and free.

That's because gamers love to talk about what they hate and love about video games. And if you approach them with genuine interest in what they have to say, they will tell you insights that no amount of brainstorming or thinking will give you.

But the key here is, you can't self-promote. And you can't even mention your game. The idea here isn't to do any selling. The idea here is to connect with like-minded people and talk about gaming. Again, the idea is to take off your game dev and business hat, and put on your gamer hat. You'll get far better results.

And in Part 7, I'll show you how to turn the people you talk to into die-hard fans, and people who wishlist your game. But for now, we're just trying to genualily connect with players, ask them questions, and gain some insights.

So here's what to do...

Step One: Pick A Feature From Your Game

Remember, you have 15 features (or "hooks"). Pick a feature that you think is your best appeal, your best hook.

Step Two: Go To A Subreddit That Aligns With Your Game

What genre is your game? What popular games are similar to your game? Chances are there is a subreddit dedicated to your game's genre, or a popular game that is similar to your game.

For example, if I was making a Shopkeeper game, I'd go to:

r/CozyGamers

Or...

r/shoptitans

Step Three: Post This Question...

"What frustrates you most about {your feature here}?"

And in the text box, write something that frustrates you, too. But again, don't self-promote. Don't mention your game. You're trying to start a dialogue with like-minded gamers.

And don't worry if the question is negative. People love to talk about their frustrations and problems. And from this info, you can find a lot of good insights on what people like and don't like.

Step Four: Next Week, Pick Another Feature, And Ask The Same Question

So far you've only picked one feature or hook to test. So keep going. Next week, pick another feature. And ask the same question. But be creative. You don't want to spam the subreddit too much. Ask the questions in a different way.

For example:

"What do you think about {feature}? Do you like it or hate it?"

Or...

"How would you improve {feature}?"

Then the week after, do the same... until you've gone through all of your 15 features.

What You'll Get Out Of This Action Plan...

And I know this isn't easy... it's monotonous... and it takes time.

But I promise you that you'll gain new insights about your indie game that will surprise you.

Again, what a team of developers thinks is their biggest appeal often isn't. That's because a small team is not a good sample size. You need a bigger sample size to know for sure.

And the reason you're doing all this work is because if you want to find new players that will wishlist your game, you need to find the best "hook", the best appeal. And you don't want to just guess that. You have to test your ideas in real life. Get feedback. And adjust.

Because once you find that one "hook" that appeals to the most people in your target market, you can use that in your marketing, and on your Steam page.

What you want to avoid is to guess your game's "hook", and spend months working on a professional Steam page, and then see low wishlist numbers because you got the "hook" wrong.

Get the "hook" right. Test your ideas. Because once you find that one "hook" that appeals the most, then you won't waste time working on your Steam page -- because you've found a winner.

So to this right now. Pick a feature to test. Go to a subreddit. Create a post asking players what they like or don't like about a certain feature in the genre or game. Read the comments. Engage. Talk with other players. Then next week, do the same thing, but pick a different feature.

And to help you with the details:

Download: "Wishlist Workshop Part 6 Blueprint (PDF)" Here

Ok, great. In Part 7, I'll show you how to leverage everything you've done so far, and help you start increasing your wishlists from all your hard work.

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! Hope you got one insight to help you market your indie game and start growing your audience, and finding customers!

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