How do you go about marketing your app/game?

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Kazetoon, Apr 26, 2014.

  1. Kazetoon

    Kazetoon Active Member

    Mar 30, 2014
    27
    0
    0
    I have released my first game on the iTunes store and Google play store and I am barely getting any download. I tried posting a few threads on forums and posts on Google+ and Facebook but this barely affected the download count which is around 200 on ios and 50 on android. I also sent emails for reviews but I have yet to get a reply not asking me to pay for a review.

    So I am asking you guys, how do you go about marketing your app? What was the most effective method?

    Thank you for the help.

    Links if you want to check out the game :
    Android - iOS
     
  2. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
    1,063
    0
    0
    It kind of depends if you have a marketing budget or not.

    What you are saying makes me assume you aren't willing to spend any money on marketing.

    In which case posting on forums, youtube, social media is really all you have. Obviously make sure you have done all the SEO you can do.

    On the reviews, submitting for a review is just their way of being able to market a sale on you. Don't expect to get any reviews by submitting to the various review sites. If they want to review you they will, otherwise they will try to charge you to make some money. I have given up submitting for reviews for that reason. I also don't want to pay for a review but that is the opposite of the free press I expect. I would like sites to state if a review is paid but they aren't doing that which sucks.

    From your screenshots I can't figure what your game is and I have always been told people should be able to get what your game is about from the screenshots.
     
  3. Kazetoon

    Kazetoon Active Member

    Mar 30, 2014
    27
    0
    0
    So other than changing the screenshots there is nothing else I can do?
     
  4. cadaei

    cadaei Well-Known Member
    Patreon Bronze

    I released 2 paid apps of similar functionality plus 1 lite version. I tried lots of review sites/Facebook/twitter and got a lot of leads for paid reviews. Paid downloads dwindled quickly down to nothing. I did not pay for any reviews.

    About 4 months later I released a completely unrelated app taking my total to 4(with one being a lite version), since then, I get a slow but steady 1-2 (yes, one to two)downloads per day.
    (Pays for the annual dev fee)

    I had a paid domain that I let expire one month ago and switched to a free wordpress site that links to my apps. Right about the time the .com expired, my downloads went to zero for about 3 weeks.

    I am not suggesting you push out low quality apps to get app volume. Nor am I suggesting you make a high quality flappy app. But there does appear to be something about having multiple apps out there that helps.

    I'm currently working on a classic style shooter. My others are rather niche, so I'm not sure if that has anything to so with it.

    Good luck!!
     
  5. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
    1,063
    0
    0
    Do you have a budget?
     
  6. Kazetoon

    Kazetoon Active Member

    Mar 30, 2014
    27
    0
    0
    Not really, I was hoping that I will make a little bit of money from my app then reinvest it to promote it further. I was thinking about using the Facebook page promotion function to promote my app. What do you suggest?
     
  7. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
    1,063
    0
    0
    If you don't have a budget then there is little more you can do than try social media and post in forums.

    If you have a budget then a range of advertising options open up.

    The harsh reality there is no free, easy, always works way to advertise an app or everyone would do it.
     
  8. Kazetoon

    Kazetoon Active Member

    Mar 30, 2014
    27
    0
    0
    True, like everything else, to make money you either have to spend money or have important connections. If I were to advertising using money, what would you suggest?
     
  9. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
    1,063
    0
    0
    I have read good things about facebook targeted ads.

    It is of course good to have a connection but even then it might not result in anything.

    How do your analytics look in terms of people playing? For a game like yours I would be looking at how long you hold a users attention before you spend money trying to get more users.
     
  10. Touchmint

    Touchmint Well-Known Member

    Oct 19, 2011
    1,237
    91
    48
    Developer
    Phoenix
    I hope you are kidding there calling flappys high quality haha.
     
  11. Touchmint

    Touchmint Well-Known Member

    Oct 19, 2011
    1,237
    91
    48
    Developer
    Phoenix
    Its important to try to do your marketing push a little before/during your 2 week boost that apple provides. While this is my first game I have released quite a few other sports/education apps on the store its and know its important to take advantage of your boost.

    The best free marketing I think its building up hype before your game is released you are really on the clock the second its live.
     
  12. Kazetoon

    Kazetoon Active Member

    Mar 30, 2014
    27
    0
    0
    You are right, I should have known better my highest download rate was in the first few days but this didn't happen on android. I may try using the facebook ad system and see how it goes.
     
  13. YellzBellzDotCom

    YellzBellzDotCom New Member

    Apr 27, 2014
    3
    0
    0
    Plumber
    Nevada-US
    Haven't seen it mentioned, but probably missed it...

    Get reviews!

    Of course, not speaking from experience since I just released my first App game, but from everything I read and seen, reviews and ratings from online sources looks to be a huge benefit, as long as they're good! lol!

    Good luck to you!

    :D
     
  14. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
    1,063
    0
    0
    yes but as you will find just emailing sites != reviews

    generally reviews are out of your control
     
  15. Kazetoon

    Kazetoon Active Member

    Mar 30, 2014
    27
    0
    0
    Reviews are pretty hard to get if you are looking for free reviews of course. I emailed about 50 review sites and only got a few responses saying either that they have a paid service or that they will take a closer look at the game.
     
  16. POLYGAMe

    POLYGAMe Well-Known Member

    Jul 3, 2010
    566
    0
    0
    Game Developer (iOS, Mega Drive, C64)
    Auckland, New Zealand
    TBH I really am not too sure if that's true. My first game was reviewed by TA and it was a decent review... sales were still awful (and this was in 2010 when there was much less competition) and I have heard the same story from several devs after they have received reviews on major sites, maybe an extra 10-20 downloads and that's it...

    The App Store is extremely saturated with games and there are millions and millions of users, of which only a very small percentage visit mobile gaming sites.

    I don't think there's any surefire way to get your game "out there" without spending a lot of money or making a totally unique and or utterly brilliant game that gains traction on its own merit.
     
  17. Kazetoon

    Kazetoon Active Member

    Mar 30, 2014
    27
    0
    0
    Has anyone used Facebook ads? I took a quick look at it and I'm not sure how it works. Why does changing the age for which the ad will be display affect the estimated number of likes in a weird manner? For example if I set the age from 13 to "no max" it estimates a lower like rate than if I set it from 13 to 17. Should I follow the estimated like rate?
     
  18. Jacky

    Jacky Well-Known Member

    Mar 6, 2013
    69
    0
    0
    The most important thing is that you should have a high quality app. We have also submitted some apps on Google Play, and we haven't done any marketing work. At the beginning, there are a few downloads, but after some time, it goes steady with 1000 downloads a day, and the peak is 10000 downloads. But it is really not so satisfactory.

    Now, we are thinking about doing paid marketing. Is there anybody who can give some suggestions?
     
  19. plicatibu

    plicatibu Member

    May 3, 2012
    14
    0
    0
    Developer
    Brazil
    My experience with Facebook ads was not good.

    It was an useless tactic.

    If you cannot (or doesnt want) to invest money in advertisements I think the knot options you have are:

    - do rating exchange with other developers

    - forget about this game and start all the process with a new game.
     

Share This Page