Find new players. Grow wishlists. Increase game sales. Mainquest Marketing


Truth About Marketing Your Small Indie Game: Survivor Bias

Today you'll learn a marketing tip specifically designed for small indie game devs who don't have fans, don't have customers, and are not having any success marketing their game.

You'll also learn that most of the game marketing strategies and techniques you often see and learn from are usually produced by studios that already have thousands (or millions) of customers... and these studios have at least two or three games in their catalog that players are familiar with.

So it's natural for an indie dev with a small team and a small budget to learn the same techniques these successful studios use.

For example, a small indie dev will follow and do all the right marketing techniques:

But despite all this effort, they still don't succeed in getting attention... wishlists didn't go up... game launch is a failure... and they blame themselves because they think they suck at marketing or they think their game is too niche.

But here's where the survivor bias kicks in: marketing a game made from a studio that already has customers is VERY different from marketing a game that is made by a small indie team that nobody knows about.

In other words, what works for one sub-group doesn't mean it'll work for the entire group.

So today I want to show you exactly what to do if you want to grow your game company, find new players, and have a successful game launch if you are a very small game dev.

Ok, here's what you need to know, and what to do...

Forget About "Marketing Techniques"... Focus On Building Relationships With Like-Minded People

First off, when nobody knows you, or likes you yet, forget about marketing techniques and strategies. Forget about branding. Forget about trying to go viral. Forget about contacting YouTubers. Forget about giving out keys to game journalists. Forget about game trailers. Forget about posting on social media.

Yes, these techniques are all very important. But not right now.

Right now, let's focus on one single world:

BUILD

All you need to worry about is trying to build connections with weird, creative, innovative people who think and feel like you.

And YouTubers, Twitch streamers, and game journalists aren't people like you. This group only cares about creating content for views. And yeah, if your game can get them more views, then sure, they'll talk about you. But that's where the passion stops.

Same with social media. People scrolling TikTok, Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube aren't people like you. These people only care about being entertained and getting that dopamine fix.

But there is a large group of people, exactly like you, who want to play a game you're making...

And these players are looking for you.

But the trick is, you got to get in front of these people.

So let's keep going. I'll show you how to find players who are looking for you. And you'll get a step-by-step action plan showing you exactly what to do.

Look For Players Looking For You

In a moment, I'll show you exactly what to do to find your core target. But to help you understand how this technique works, let me share a quick story about how I successfully managed to make a living doing creative, weird, innovative things by figuring out how to look for customers who were looking for me...

Back in 2005 I had a cool idea: I would scan people's old photos and slides into digital (ScanCanada.ca). And because scanning sucked back then, I would fix the scans in Photoshop. I also created a file sharing-server using PHP so my customers could share their scans easily (remember, this is 2005, there was no DropBox). That was my core product. But the problem was, I had no connections, nobody knew me, I had no money to market, no money to brand. So what I did was I put out free classified ads. And I slowly got a few customers.

One of my clients was a dentist. And because I did a good job archiving his old film, he told his business friends who also needed the service. And because this dentist was well connected, I started getting a lot of business from local businesses.

Thanks to this well-connected dentist, word-of-mouth snowballed, and I started landing the biggest brands and organizations in Canada.


List of clients my marketing attracted


It wasn't my marketing. It wasn't my branding. It all started with connecting with one person who was way MORE connected than me.

I took this same concept of "don't market, focus on building relationships first", and successfully built another start-up (HowToScan.ca). And I did it again for the third time in 2019 drawing game maps for game studios (my Artstation page).

Now, I'm not telling you this to show off but to show you how the techniques you're about to learn work. This works because when you look for like-minded people, and you're CREATING something like-minded people love... they will want to become part of your creation... will want to share it... and will want to help you spread it to as many people as they can.

And chances are, one of those people who love your game will be way more connected than you... and they will share your game with someone else that is well connected... and this word-of-mouth will snowball, and now you're getting the attention of YouTubers, Streamers, and game journalists.

So, how do you exactly do this? How do you build relationships with like-minded people so you find that one person who is well-connected, and spread word-of-mouth for you?

How do you look for people already looking for you?

Let me show you that next...

Step By Step Action Plan: Look For Player Looking For You

To connect with people, you gotta know what you want, and who you are. You really need to put yourself first, and clearly define who you are and what your game is (and is not).

Because if we try to be everything to everybody, we end up being nobody.

Don't get me wrong -- if you become a huge successful game studio, then yes, be everything to everybody... that's how you grab the attention of the masses.

But right now, when you're still small, you need to focus on relationship-building.

Again the mantra is:

Look for players already looking for you.

So let's start...

Step One: What Problem Is Your Game Solving In Your Genre?

The best way I know how to connect with like-minded people and find people already looking for you is to figure out exactly what problems I'm trying to solve.

Why?

Because often people are more motivated to solve problems than they are to gain advantage. And most people who are trying to solve a problem are actively looking for solutions.

Essentially, they are looking for YOU.

So, to help you connect with your core target, answer these questions...

This step is all about you, and defining who you are and how your game fits in your genre.

This is important because remember, people who want to solve a problem are out actively looking for a solution. So if you can describe the problem players have, and then talk about how your game is the solution, you'll attract these people.

Next...

Step Two: Create Content

Remember, you're not "marketing". You're not trying to get your "name out there". You are sharing what you love: your game, your passion for your genre, and your passion to make a cool game that is innovative and does something interesting in your genre.

So, then your next step is to start creating content talking about your passion. If you're excited about your cool game, then it doesn't feel like "marketing". Creating content is basically a way for you to express your feelings about your game.

But you can't just talk about what you want. You also have to consider what your audience wants, too. And that's why Step 1 is important. Once you understand clearly what problems your players have in your genre, and how your game is a solution, then you can start creating content that is interesting and stands out.

And it doesn't matter where you post. Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, your own blog. The platform doesn't matter.

What matters is that you're creating content that strikes a chord with like-minded people.

And this authentic, passionate content will always rise to the top. People are yearning to find content that resonates with them. And they will find you.

Ok, next...

Step Three: Be Consistent And Create Content At Least Once A Week

If a marketing guru tells you "follow this formula and in 30 days you'll get 10,000 wishlists" they are lying because these marketers know you and I always want something that is quick, easy, and fast.

But success moves slowly. Getting good results often takes time. Being resilient, patient, and consistent is the key to any success (not fast, easy, quick).

So make a commitment to be consistent. And it's NOT about grinding. It's about small steps. Small increments. Over time these actions will add up.

So in this step, I want you to pick a day of the week where you will post content about your game. And remember: focus on problems in your genre, and how your game is fixing those problems. Because people with problems are out actively looking for solutions.

Your Action Plan RIGHT NOW

My goal here isn't to spout out theories, or to entertain you with knowledge... my goal is to get you off your ass and get you practicing. So, do this right now... it'll only take 10 minutes:

Open a Google document. And answer those questions. Here they are again:

Don't worry about how you answer. Just take 10 minutes, and answer each question as fast as you can.

And at the end of this session, you'll see that your brain will start brainstorming content -- content that will resonate with like-minded people.

And as a bonus, I recommend you answer these questions once a week before you post anything. Everytime you answer these questions, you'll come up with something new to post.

It takes time. It's not easy. It's no instant. There is no “magic formula” in marketing your game. It takes work.

So start now, answer those questions right now...

Contact Me If You're Having Issues With The Action Steps...

Still stuck? Contact me below, and I'll be glad to help you the best I can. No cost. No expectations. Helping you helps me come up with content ideas for this blog.

Below is where you can contact me...

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