A quick guide to marketing on social networks for indies

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutras community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Perhaps one of the main difficulties as an indie game developer is to get your game noticed with a limited budget. Traditional marketing techniques (advertisement in magazines, radio and television ads) are expensive and not so effective. Social media marketing, on the other hand, is pretty low-cost. Other advantages are the viral nature of social media and the customer interaction. Today any indie game studio with low marketing budget can get visibility on social networks.

People have an inherent need to express themselves. Social media has transformed the way we interact each other but still responds to this need of communication. Nowadays, it is a profound part of everyday communication: according to Allsop, Bassett, and Hoskins, 59% of people say they frequently share online content with others (2007). Moreover, recent studies show that word-of-mouth affects product adoption and sales.

In that sense, marketers have examined the process of sharing in order to generate viral content. What content get shared the most and why? What are the motivations of sharing? Why are certain pieces of online content more viral than others? Lets take a look at those results.

In marketing, simplicity is often more effective. Psychological research on cognitive fluency demonstrates the power of simplicity. If your message is complex, the customer will hesitate to share and will be less likely to remember it. Simple messages are more likely to be shared, and this includes posts with visual.

Indeed, visual content expresses ideas quickly and drives engagement: 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text. Moreover, posts with visuals receive 94% more page visits and engagement than those without.

Tips:

- Make your messages simple as possible. Be concise. - Post pictures on what you are working on. - Use screenshots, trailer videos of your game

Visual content is essential to promote your game! You cannot promote your game without it. A screenshot, a video of your game will always be more attractive and more expressive than text.

Originally posted here:
A quick guide to marketing on social networks for indies

Related Posts

Comments are closed.