How to wisely spend 15k-30k on new app marketing.

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Michal.FE, Dec 12, 2012.

  1. Michal.FE

    Michal.FE Well-Known Member

    Hi,

    We're working on a new game and have a rather sizeable budget of up to 30000$ that can be used on marketing the game. I'd like to ask you what actions did you find worth the money in your experience with paid marketing.

    The game is an RPG game with very nice visuals and great gameplay so I'm not afraid about the quality of the game, rather convincing people and letting them know that a game exists at all. I think that the most important moment is the premiere day so I'd like to concentrate the efforts on the day the game is released.

    So far I thought of this kind of actions and would like to hear your opinions on them and, If you'd be so kind, to share some of your ideas.

    - Facebook/Twitter share/retweet contests with small iTunes gift cards as a prize.
    - Buying site skins for a week or two on major App Store Gaming sites (Ta, STP, 148Apps etc. but are they worth it?)
    - Buying advertisements on reddit.com relevant subreddits
    - Facebook and AdMob ads? (I've read they are not really worth their price, but maybe someone has different experience)
    - Press releases via PRMac
    - Buying reviews on fiverr for 5$/each

    Do you have any other ideas that I could use? Maybe some services that I accidentally omitted?

    Best,
    Michal
     
  2. mr_wexer

    mr_wexer Well-Known Member

    Mar 6, 2011
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    Forget PR Mac.

    I'd talk to PR companies like Triplepoint or Appular to see what kind of launch campaigns they can run for you.

    6-8 Week runs cost around $6K-$10k
     
  3. BravadoWaffle

    BravadoWaffle Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2010
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    With that kind of a budget, I'd look into working with a larger marketing agency as mr_wexer mentioned, getting a high end trailer video constructed, and also working with ChartBoost or PlayHaven to acquire some initial users.

    Don't waste too much on advertisements, web advertisements don't convert to mobile sales almost at all. They don't really cross the platform gap very well.
     
  4. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
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    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    I've numbered your list to make it easier to talk about each item.

    1) Of course. The added benefit of this is Facebook and Twitter fans are long term commitments (usually) so you'll have a larger audience by default each project.
    2) Judging from how poorly our banner ads did, I'd pass on this. If the goal is getting downloads now, certainly not. If the goal is long term awareness this could help.
    3) Unknown. We haven't tried it.
    4) Facebook ads CAN help you A/B icons, character art, and other banners, but as a tool for getting your game downloaded I'd also pass. Same goes for Adwords.
    Haven't tried AdMob.
    5) As they said above: With your budget get a full service PR firm to help you. They'll have the contacts, the expertise and the experience. TriplePoint accounted for some 20+ reviews for us including IGN and (likely) TouchArcade.
    6)Reviews on the App Store? No. Just no. Each review is a drop in the ocean.

    I noticed you don't have TapJoy/Chartboost or similar service planned. I'd take whatever money you budgeted for banners and put that in your plan instead. I've heard from reputable sources that those made a big difference. We'll be trying that at the launch of our next game.
     
  5. Wizardo

    Wizardo Well-Known Member

    Jul 30, 2012
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    Starving indie developer
    New Jersey!
    #5 Wizardo, Dec 12, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2012
    Hi. I checked out your homepage and watched your trailer. I noticed that when you click full screen or any other control in the youtube video, a new window pops up and directs you to the itunes page. Was this intentional? It was kinda irritating. The trailer did look really cool though.
    Good luck with your game.
     
  6. Rainier

    Rainier Well-Known Member

    Apr 16, 2012
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    I'm inclined to think advertisements on reddit will not work very well. Redditors are huge fans of AdBlock, so in addition to the poor positioning, historically low conversion rates of ads, and AdBlockers, you'd probably be better off taking others' advice and putting it toward those download boosting programs or a strong PR firm.
     
  7. MICHAELSD

    MICHAELSD Well-Known Member

    Jan 4, 2010
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    Make sure the game really is good and unique, or you'll just end up wasting the money. Advertisements on sites such as TouchArcade (and mine - can't promote it though) could certainly help though and are cost-efficient for the most part.
     
  8. R3v

    R3v Well-Known Member

    Sep 17, 2012
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    CMO @ PIXEL FEDERATION
    Of course go for Facebook Ads, they are must have now. Still in beta, however Facebook have already launched mobile ads for driving mobile app installs.

    They promote your product in Facebook mobile app with big button Install app which leads users directly to App Store / Google Play. And they are still cheap, since there is a little competition.

    Tho, I think you still need to sign up for beta.
     
  9. pat3ck

    pat3ck Active Member

    That's a nice option if you have a deep budget. It will give your app exposure to targeted audience.
     
  10. magmedia

    magmedia Member

    Oct 30, 2012
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    #10 magmedia, Dec 19, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2012
    Hey Michal.FE,

    It’s a great question and a very common one. What I’d do is take it to a different angle. I got this strategy form speaking to a veteran of the app industry whom I truly respect named Pere Torrents. He is a lecturer in a university in Barcelona about the business of App Development. His advise is to spend that money on distribution. So instead of just “wasting your money” on paid advertising, you may consider taking your game and porting it over to BlackBerry, Windows Phone and Android as well. This would significantly increase the reach of your app and if it’s good then you can get featured more easily in these alternate App Stores.

    That’s my two cents for you. I hope that helps. I think that it would definitely yield the greatest return of investment for your budget.


    David
     
  11. defred34

    defred34 Well-Known Member

    Aug 27, 2012
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    From purely a gamer's point of view, having big marketing budgets and plans are always good, but ultimately what really decides how well your game sells is the quality of the content, and a tiny bit of luck.
     
  12. Foursaken_Media

    Foursaken_Media Well-Known Member
    Patreon Indie

    #12 Foursaken_Media, Dec 19, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2012
    Sadly, quality of your game is no longer that big a factor in success in such a flooded market, from what we've seen at least. I can point to a million horrible Slenderman clones or Nose Surgeries that have done well to prove that theory wrong... and there are so many great games that never see the success they need to even recoup costs.

    From our experience, you can only lower the luck factor, but never remove it. Of course making a quality game is a way to reduce it, but in and of itself it won't get you anywhere. Industry and Apple contacts I think are the biggest thing (part of marketing)...

    Anyway, I've heard good things about TriplePoint. I'd also spend some of that budget to make appearances at conventions like MacWorld and GDC so you can get in front of real people and demo your game.
     
  13. alanappromoter

    alanappromoter Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2012
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    app promoter
    London
    I'd look at using someone like dimoso. www.dimoso.com. Check out their clients and testimonials. Incredible agency.
     
  14. comboapp

    comboapp Well-Known Member

    Hi Michal,

    I would like to share my opinion and a few ideas and I do hope you will find them helpful:

    1) Social Media involvement is a good idea. It can build audience for your game. Still, there is an underwater rock - likes do not always lead to installs. Social Media is not an easy channel - you should think about the strategy in detail and be sure you know how to get and what to give to the audience to make them want go to the App Store, install the game and keep on returning to it.

    2) Skins is a pricy way to teach your target audience about the product. If the graphics is fine, you can give it a try.

    3) Facebook and AdMob are pricy options as well. Media buying is a wise decision (in the very first days on the App Store to get noticed and get organic downloads), but you can browse for cheaper and still high-quality ad networks.

    4) A well-written game release press release should always be accompanied with other promo activities. It does not give a lot itself. One is fairly enough for you to get spotted by popular game resources.

    5) From my point of view reviews on the App Store are important since they are shown by the icon, name and the first screenshot during the organic App Store search, but Fiverr reviews might be of a low quality and it would take too much time to pick each and pay separately.

    I would advise you to concentrate on media buying and launch PR activities. Please contact me via private message if you have any questions :)
     
  15. In my opinion, agencies like Triple Point, etc. mostly do things that I can easily do myself. In fact, I have received a package quote from Triple Point a while back and I did the same things myself that they said they would do and it made no difference, so I think it would have been a waste of money.

    I've personally wasted a few thousand on banner ads. They are completely useless on their own. I think unless you can spend $100K or more to completely blanket the internet with banner ads for your game, you won't see a return. I'm not even sure about that case either though, but it's my guess based on the fact that the big guys keep doing it.

    In the end, if you have a decent game, all you need to get more downloads is to get some initial downloads.

    The pay-per-install providers like ChartBoost, RevMob & TapJoy will guarantee that you get exactly what you pay for. If you pay for 20,000 installs, you will GET 20,000 installs. I believe that the higher your bid amount, the faster you'll get those installs too, which has a big impact on how quickly your app will shoot up the charts (it's based on downloads over time).

    Those 20,000 installs will push you up into the charts high enough for your game to be seen by people who will also download your game, which will push it even higher, etc.

    If I had $30,000 to throw at marketing, I'm pretty sure that pay-per-install is the route I would take.
     
  16. Stephen Richard

    Stephen Richard Active Member

    Jan 2, 2013
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    I would recommend to submit your apps using popular press release sites like prmac.com. It enhances the visibility of your press communications in Apple universe.
     
  17. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Game Designer
    MindJuice is absolutely right!

    Do not even think about investing into regular PR or payed reviews on smaller sites or banner ads.

    What really works is:
    - Chartboost / Tapjoy paid downloads (you can get 1 download for 1.3 USD approximately over short time and fly up the charts)
    - huge FAAD sites (freeappaday or appoday are only 2 in the market on that level) - they have similar price (7K-20K USD) and may provide result that is better or worse then Chartboost depending on luck and other factors

    Everything else simply won't give you scale. Oh, except for a good review on a really huge site (like toucharcade or appadvice) - but this is not something you can get for money.
     
  18. Foursaken_Media

    Foursaken_Media Well-Known Member
    Patreon Indie

    #18 Foursaken_Media, Jan 7, 2013
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2013
    With reputable PR services, I don't think you're really paying for their actual services per se (yes, we can all send emails out to people)... you're paying for their contacts moreso than anything else - i have yet to use a real PR service, but have heard good things from other indies when using someone legit like TriplePoint.

    Obviously if I knew people at Apple and IGN and other big sites (we are actually lucky enough to have met TA's Jared in person - really nice guy btw), we wouldn't need a PR service... but we - and I think most indies - don't have those contacts, not yet at least. For us, knowing at least the small group of people in the industry we do know has made a world of difference.

    But blowing all your money to drive you up the charts (only for a bit) won't guarantee anything either... the App Store is chart driven yes, but I really don't believe it is to the extent that people think. There is a reason so many games consistently hover around the 200-500 games range for long spans (even though they are completely out of sight and just out of chart range), and why so many games rise quickly, and fall just as fast... if it was totally chart driven, then no game would have staying power outside of the charts, but so many do.

    Anyway, just my 2 cents :p The toughest part is there is no right answer... in this industry you can take 2 people in very similar situations who have used the same services (or done the same exact marketing strategy with the same budget) and come out with 2 completely different end results.
     
  19. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Game Designer
    Actually, I can't agree with you - all major publisher of non-casual games (and I guess that game that we are currently discussing is also non-casual) rely heavily on pay-per-install promotion (like Chartboost).
    And that is for two reasons:
    - they have money for that
    - revenues generated by a quick boost are larger then what was spent on promotion (which only works for very well-monetizing games, like builders, mid-core strategies, mid or hard-core RPGs, CCG and others)

    So it's all about planning, testing, getting good ARPU and ARRPU and making quick boosts (that cost a lot) worth spending on. That way you won't have to rely on press or SMM or other ways of promotion.
     
  20. Stephen Richard

    Stephen Richard Active Member

    Jan 2, 2013
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    You can also host a free website regarding your Apps in Blogger, Tumblr, and Posterous and you can able to supply your link to everyone about your app. Use social buttons like Stumble Upon, Digg, Facebook Share, and ReTweet all on your website so that people can talk about your app.


    Contact some popular press release sites like prmac that makes some noise about your release and that brings you more exposure about your Apps. Also, provide a free trial for them and ask them to do review of your app on their site. This will bring your app into limelight.
     

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