Article: "Mobile Games Marketing Doesn't Work At All"

I was just reading that this morning and we agree completely! It's what we've been trying to say! Traditional PR is just about worthless in the mobile space!

Marketing for mobile games has to be an integrated approach that puts community building first. It's your community that will be your evangelists. Additionally you have to build viral marketing channels into your games, split test the crap out of your app icons and screenshots, and optimize everything from the ground up to promote growth in the game itself, and all of that must be done before you launch!

THEN, You must combine all that with community and press outreach in clear and concise ways that tell your story and highlight your USP above all. The more personal relationships you build in that area the better.

It takes out of the box thinking, creative approaches, and each game is a different beast all-together. That's the kind of marketing we try to offer to all our clients.

 

Or you could just release it, and hope your game is amazing enough to catch on and you get lucky!

There have been quite a few games that got released with little fan fare and done really well, but it's rare. (i.e Angry Birds, Doodle Jump)

 

It seems almost intuitive that spending a lot of money on PR wouldn't particularly make sense for most $0.99 apps out there.

It might make more sense for free to play apps with a well designed IAP system though.

 

I agree, maybe just enough PR to get it noticed by the right people who can start the domino effect of exposure will indirectly fuel an apps sales. But I think the idea of spending loads on PR is a game of diminishing returns.

 

The gist "name is important for discoverability, icon doubles your download"

 

Interesting, as this is written from a "big" studio standpoint. For a small studio, I'm sure a good PR campaign is necessary to get the word out.