Need some good marketing idea for indie developer.

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by dreamerdonkey, Jan 2, 2013.

  1. dreamerdonkey

    dreamerdonkey Member

    Dec 5, 2012
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    Hello, I am a new iPad game developer. Our game development group is not that big. We recently form this group and most of our group member is also not that experienced. Despite all this fact we are able to develop few game for iPad and they are also available on iTunes store. They are not that good so we put them on apps store for free. But unfortunately none of them make any impact and there number of download is too few. For our previous game we don't launch any kind of marketing campaign or neither we contact any PR agencies. Because PR agencies cost a lot of money and our financial background is not that strong. By luck I find this developer community. So I ask help from the community, please provide your opinion and share your experience with me. I really need a good marketing idea. Thanks in advance. :(
     
  2. comboapp

    comboapp Well-Known Member

    Hi,

    It is really tough to get spotted on the App Store without any marketing efforts nowadays. They are vital if you want to get satisfying ROI.

    Nevertheless, share the link to the game and I will try to share a few valuable ideas.
     
  3. Alittletf

    Alittletf Member

    Dec 5, 2012
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    Marketing at Tiny Factory
    San Diego
    It would certainly help us to help you if you posted a link to your game. There is a ton of marketing tricks you can use to help get your app downloaded. The biggest one is learn some App Store Optimization. Make sure your title and keywords are effective to your game and audience. Its much better to rank for specific long tail or "keyword phrases" that you believe people search and relate to your app. If you need help with this, use the google keyword tool for some suggestions.
     
  4. dreamerdonkey

    dreamerdonkey Member

    Dec 5, 2012
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    Thank you for your informative opinion. Our game is not that good. But if you really want to get a look at it on iTunes store search by using this keyword "dreamer donkey" (with out quote). You will able to find all apps that developed by us. And I also give a thought about app store optimization. But I really don't understand how it really going to help me. Because most of the customer search on app store by using name of the apps which are famous in there own way. For example if some one love to play physics base puzzle game they don't put any of the word like Physics or puzzle. Rather they just put a name like "cut the rope" or "angry birds" or anything like that. And I also do a research over the keyword feature that is provided by the apps store. But there systems are too much primitive. I use the word Primitive because any apps of mine only visible if the users requested search input exactly match with our provided keyword. There is also another difficulties and that is we can only put 100 character in our keyword field including space and commas. So optimization for app store may be good thinking but its insanely difficult in my opinion. So any other way can you think about. Let me know. And thanks again for try to help me out I really appreciate it.
     
  5. dreamerdonkey

    dreamerdonkey Member

    Dec 5, 2012
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    Thanks, I can't provide the link now just because I am using my cell phone right now to reply this thread. I will provide it later . But if you can search on iTunes by using keyword "dreamer donkey" of course without quote, you definitely find out most of our work. And thank you again to waste your valuable time for me.
     
  6. mobile1up

    mobile1up Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
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    Technical Director
    Munich, Germany
    they seem to be all free - so, promotion is key to get any revenues from iAd's et al. overall; i think the artwork is a little dark - here is one.

    Ball Bubble

    Game for the Ball. You can bounce a ball on the ground. now it is possible to bounce it on your tab. you have to careful about the bomb.
    Free
    Buy Now
    Media
    Details
    Game for the Ball. You can bounce a ball on the ground. now it is possible to bounce it on your tab. you have to careful about the bomb.
    Information
    Seller:
    Genre:Action, Arcade
    Release:Aug 28, 2012
    Updated:Nov 30, -0001
    Version:
    Size:0.0
    TouchArcade Rating:Unrated
    User Rating: (1)
    Your Rating:unrated
    Compatibility:HD Universal
     
  7. ThreeCubes

    ThreeCubes Well-Known Member

    Oct 13, 2012
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    People expect a lot for free. You said your games aren't that good, even good free games struggle to get downloads. In the current appstore world free is still very expensive, you still need to have a great game.

    Some advice

    A lot of your apps have your company logo as the first screen shot, this is really bad on ios 6, that's the very first image they see.

    If its possible I would consider combining most of your apps into one big game pack. You may get more downloads with an app with 10 games.

    I would not waste money on marketing apps you don't think are very good. Just do a few forum posts about your app and youtube videos.

    Good luck
     
  8. comboapp

    comboapp Well-Known Member

    1) Considering ASO - you do not need to leave spaces. Just commas will be enough. Google for ASO iOS6 tricks.

    2) Description is really short and direct - contact a creative writer for a few paragraphs of engaging text.

    3) Your icon is cute, but make screenshots a bit lighter and more colorful.

    4) Get your app a few reviews. You can do it yourself, ask friends, etc. The app is free, so it might be easy.

    5) Study the most popular relevant forums and post an engaging note about the app. Try to boost the discussion. Even bad comments will be good since you will study your weaknesses to improve + thread will get to the top.

    6) Contact app review websites. You might not get to the most popular ones, but if the pitching works well, you will get a few reviews.

    I hope you try that and these issues work for you.
    If you need help with promotion, contact me via PM.
     
  9. watthisdo

    watthisdo Member

    Dec 18, 2012
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    I'd also suggest hosting giveaways for promo codes or something product-related. I see a lot of devs doing it and they get more exposure... at least trackable on Fb anyways.
     
  10. Patricia Curtis

    Patricia Curtis Active Member

    Jan 4, 2013
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    Games Development
    Nottingham UK
    #10 Patricia Curtis, Jan 4, 2013
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2013
    Build a user base

    You need to get more people to your site. You have no share buttons on your site, you really need these to get interest, also you should have started the marketing when you started the game development as new releases have a short shelf life. you need all this in place before you game goes live.

    I found this i hope it helps

    http://rampantgames.com/blog/2008/08/10-quick-and-dirty-indie-game-marketing.html

    *Update*

    i have written an article on the subject http://luckyredfish.com/marketing
     
  11. poisenden

    poisenden Well-Known Member

    Jan 26, 2012
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  12. pat3ck

    pat3ck Active Member

    You might want to contact different app review sites. If you think you don't have a great game, the top-tier app review sites may ignore your app. Suggest to pitch your app nicely.

    Also, you may want to host a contest and giveaway a few codes.
     
  13. dreamerdonkey

    dreamerdonkey Member

    Dec 5, 2012
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    Currently we are working on it. We are going to totally rebuild our site and try to give that a new look. After I complete that I will share our site link.
     
  14. dreamerdonkey

    dreamerdonkey Member

    Dec 5, 2012
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    Thanks for your nice advice. And how could we giveaway codes, they are all free.
     
  15. dreamerdonkey

    dreamerdonkey Member

    Dec 5, 2012
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    Thank you very very much for share that link. I really appreciate your help. And one question, do you try our other games? If you can please try those game and give me some feedback. I know I am asking a lot from you but if you can please give it a try. Thanks again :D
     
  16. Patricia Curtis

    Patricia Curtis Active Member

    Jan 4, 2013
    43
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    Games Development
    Nottingham UK
  17. BonezalesProductions

    BonezalesProductions Well-Known Member

    May 22, 2012
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    #17 BonezalesProductions, Jan 6, 2013
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2013
    A unique new way to market your apps

    There's a cool novelty app marketing project going on over @ http://www.monstermobilemarketing.net/mashup/ that is really starting to pick up steam. I'm not gonna hesitate to say I am a partner on the project which is specifically aimed at mass promotion of indie devs to get visibility on a large scale to even compete with huge companies. I am also an indie dev, creating Notes on a Roll so I know first hand the hardships of getting any visibility on my own or even with articles and such. With the Mash Up board project we're also aiming it getting national attention on the project to really shine a light on the indie developers around the world and that we're still here and not quitting at the mercy of huge companies with endless marketing budgets. The more indies that take part the more the idea grows. We encourage everyone to at least check it out. We look forward to hearing your feedback, suggestions, & support on the project. Thanks for reading.


    ***NOTE*** We only launched this project on Dec. 15th, 2012
     
  18. GameHopping

    GameHopping Active Member

    A press release can get hits to lots of places. PRMAC.COM is worth a look.

    Gonna try a different method, myself. Have a free version of a game in approval now (no ads, iap or anything) to get feedback and test whether there is a market for the type of game.
    Will try to market that one and see how it effects the .99 cents one in the appstore now (which is the same type, adventure, but a totally different map).
     
  19. dreamerdonkey

    dreamerdonkey Member

    Dec 5, 2012
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    Creating an app to getting feedback is really an unique idea. Thank for sharing it. By the way we do have an option where our app user can provide feedback through Facebook and Twiter. But response is not that good.
     
  20. dreamerdonkey

    dreamerdonkey Member

    Dec 5, 2012
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    Another innovative idea. I really do like to participate on that. But your Board is quite empty and most of the people don't know about it yet. Do you take any step to made this popular. Because if no one know what it is than no one will also like to participate and if the potential customers don't know about it than all your good effort will go in vain. Waiting for your reply. :D
     

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