So my game, Ring Blade, will be available for purchase (99 cents) on the appstore on Tuesday. Ummm... Any one here have any advice on what I should do to like promote it and stuff? I'm trying to find the right balance between letting people know about the game and judging for themselves and sounding too "marketing-y" and being annoying? Suggestions?
Hmmm... I thought about that, but I think it's too early considering the game isn't even available yet.
You could start off with a sale (mention on the description it'll be going up within a couple of days) or start a promo code competition here on the forums. Or both.
The game is starting at 99 cents. We thought about making it 1.99 for the sole purpose of dropping the price... Actually no. Someone suggested that to me and I was like no because it's 99 cents so it should be 99 cents. So I dont think the price can drop below .99. How do the promo code contests work?
When your app got accepted you should have gotten 50 promo codes from Apple. Maybe you have to locate them somewhere, I dunno exactly how it works... then you can give them out however you want. Some devs hand them out to anyone who asks, some just post them in threads (I'd recommend against that, they just get taken by lurkers and you get zero feedback) and some make up their own competitions. I would suggest only handing out a few if you do that. You get 50 more with each update you submit but it's safe to keep some spare and you don't just wanna give your game away to too many people.
I'm not a marketing expert, but... My advice is to stick around the forums here and other sites and chat up your game, reply to people who ask questions about it, etc. I like buying from developers that I think are really involved in their product, plus it helps keep your game in people's minds. Don't spam, of course.
1stly, Create a thread here in the upcoming forums. Tease us with awesome details like concept art, then characters, story, Teaser vid., gameplay vid. Hold contests (Do not WASTE promocodes, let the likers earn them & they will leave a review) Think about a Lite version & content, listen to players, think for the game maker's good on a long term basis, not just this game! Many games from gr8 studios have gone free for a day to get that push to reach the top 100. Many from Craneballs, Nimblebit, the 1st one from forsaken media have gone free & they remain in PpL's mind when the next game comes out!
The Kit. I take it you have an EPK ready along with other promotional material to send out to the various sites and reviewers? There are some great threads on here about that and some even have entire lists that can be helpful. M@