Game Promotion: How to Advertise Your Projects Online and on Social Media / ITech content

Contents:

• The Triumph of Cult of the Lamb and the Key to the Success of Any Game
• "Seven Points of Contact" and the Benefits of Online Promotion
• Content Design for Social Media
• Conclusion

Cult of the Lamb has become one of the most popular indie hits of 2022. This charming action game with roguelike elements attracted over a million players in just 10 days after its release. The game's success is due not only to its unique setting and original combination of genres, but also to an effective social media promotion strategy. An interesting concept and engaging gameplay made Cult of the Lamb a desirable project for a wide audience, which contributed to its rapid distribution and positive reviews.

Jared J. Tan, community strategist at Devolver Digital, spoke in detail about the concept of game promotion and shared key aspects that contribute to the success of projects during a lecture at GDC. Skillbox Media's Gamedev editorial team shares key marketing findings that may be useful for developers and gaming industry professionals. Key points include community engagement strategies, unique content creation, and the use of social media for effective promotion. These aspects contribute to building a strong game image and increasing interest among the target audience.

Two years ago, I started my career in the gaming industry, where I focused on creating full-fledged advertising campaigns. My previous experience in the business sector as a certified public accountant allowed me to develop analytical and strategic planning skills. Before joining the Devolver Digital team, I developed marketing strategies for indie games such as Card Shark and Mythic Heroes, which gave me a unique understanding of the needs and preferences of target audiences in the gaming industry.

The Triumph of Cult of the Lamb and the Key to the Success of Any Game

Cult of the Lamb stands out among indie games for its unusually high level of online interest. The project's official social media accounts have hundreds of thousands of followers, indicating significant popularity. These indicators are directly related to the high level of sales of the game, confirming its success in the market.

The author ironically emphasizes that such achievements make Cult of the Lamb "the largest cult on Earth", since even the official Twitter account of Scientologists cannot boast such a number of subscribers.

Jared emphasizes that marketing isn't a one-size-fits-all solution for selling any product or service. The key to any game's success is its quality. Without a high level of development and well-thought-out gameplay, even the most effective marketing won't ensure long-term sales. Therefore, it's important to focus on creating a quality product that will attract users and provide a positive user experience.

Creating a successful game requires not only high quality, but also uniqueness. Every day, great projects appear on Steam, and to stand out from the competition, a developer must ask themselves an important question: "What makes my game unique?" A potentially viral project must offer something new and interesting that will attract players. Unique mechanics, an original storyline, or a unique art style can be the factors that will make your game stand out from the crowd. It's important not only to focus on technical aspects but also to consider how your game can create a unique impression and be memorable to the audience. Cult of the Lamb's success is based on the hard work of its developers. Throughout the development process, they focused on creating an engaging and, most importantly, memorable gaming experience. For future marketers, this is a key aspect, as high product memorability facilitates effective promotion. In this context, it's worth considering the classic "Seven Points of Touch" rule, which emphasizes the importance of repeated interactions with potential players to generate lasting interest in a product.

"Seven Points of Touch" and the Benefits of Online Promotion

"Seven Points of Touch" is a popular marketing model that describes how consumers make purchasing decisions. According to this concept, a potential customer needs to encounter a product or brand on average seven times before making a final purchase decision. Touchpoints can be a variety of channels, including advertising, phone calls, recommendations from friends, and visual materials such as YouTube trailers. Understanding this model helps marketers effectively develop strategies that increase the likelihood of a purchase decision and improve customer engagement.

Devolver Digital actively uses various media platforms to promote its games, understanding that every brand mention can attract a potential buyer. Gaming companies have a wide range of methods for interacting with audiences. This can include creating engaging content, conducting game streams, participating in events, and using social media to communicate with fans. Effective interaction with the target audience helps increase interest in the product and, ultimately, increases sales.

• large presentations;
• advertising;
• sponsorship;
• working with influencers;
• contacts with the press;
• participation in conferences;
• game distribution platforms;
• activity on social media.

Jared Jay Tan is responsible for the promotion strategy on social media, which has a number of advantages over other marketing channels. Social media provides quick access to a wide audience and allows you to interact with customers in real time. They enable the creation of targeted content, which helps increase user engagement. Furthermore, social platforms offer powerful analytics tools that help track the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and adapt strategies to audience needs. Online content creation is cost-effective. Marketers often avoid publishing costs by leveraging existing resources and materials. This allows them to reduce costs and optimize the time spent on creating new content. Using existing assets not only reduces costs but also facilitates the rapid launch of advertising campaigns and improves brand visibility online. It's important to remember that high-quality content based on current data and trends can attract the attention of your target audience and increase engagement. Online content has the potential to grow exponentially in popularity thanks to the active sharing of interesting materials. This creates an additional benefit: content is distributed organically, increasing its value in the eyes of the audience. People are more likely to trust information they receive from friends and acquaintances, making such content more engaging and effective at attracting attention.

The internet is indeed a powerful tool for promoting products, but Jared emphasizes that going viral doesn't always lead to increased sales. Success depends on the quality of the game itself and how it is perceived by the target audience.

Content virality can actually lead to increased sales. Jared points to several notable indie games for which active social media promotion has been a key factor in their success. These examples demonstrate how effective marketing strategies on social platforms can significantly increase interest in a product and, as a result, increase sales.

Content design for social networks

The most important resource of marketing is attention. In the conditions of lack of free time and excess of information, it is difficult for users to focus on one thing. Therefore, attracting a potential buyer is becoming increasingly difficult. Mere attention isn't enough to motivate a purchase. Jared identifies three key stages of consumer engagement: first, capturing their attention, then converting that attention into interest, and finally, providing an emotional reward for their interest. Effective marketing strategies require not only creativity but also a deep understanding of the audience's needs to successfully guide them through all stages of engagement.

One of the most challenging tasks for a marketer is maintaining user attention. It's important to understand what makes someone stop and pay attention to a specific post in their news feed. Original and engaging copy, as well as striking and memorable visuals, can be effective solutions. It's important to create content that stands out from the competition to increase engagement and attract your target audience.

To successfully present a game concept, it's important to use a "beginner's mindset" approach. This means evaluating the game from the perspective of someone unfamiliar with it. In this context, marketing is similar to pitching to publishers. In both cases, brevity is key. While elevator pitches are often used when pitching, social media demands even greater effectiveness. Jared emphasizes the importance of being able to describe a game in just four words. The concept should be unique, engaging, and easy to explain. This will help attract attention and engage the audience, which is a crucial aspect of successful game promotion.

Jared admits that the developers of Cult of the Lamb initially struggled to formulate their idea. In 2019, when pitching the concept for the future hit, they overloaded the project with too many mechanics and details. Over time, the team arrived at a simpler and more appealing slogan: "Create Your Own Cult." This allowed us to better convey the essence of the game to the audience and attract players' attention.

Platforms play a key role in attracting audience attention. The user acquisition process can vary significantly across different platforms. For example, TikTok offers the opportunity to quickly gain millions of views, but promotion on this platform has its own characteristics and nuances that must be considered for success. The right strategy and understanding of TikTok's algorithms can significantly increase the chances of content popularity and user engagement.

A fundamental analysis of the platform shows that TikTok is popular among young people. This observation may seem simple, but it is significant. The audience has already formed certain expectations for the content, and a successful advertising campaign must meet these expectations. It is important to note that videos are shown in the "For You" section and play automatically. This is key, as you don't need to attract viewers to watch, but maintaining their attention becomes a real challenge.

Analysis must be conducted for all platforms on which the game is promoted. Let's consider this using Steam as an example. The target audience on this platform is significantly smaller than on other platforms, as marketers are drawn to users searching for new games. Steam doesn't have many such users, as most players open the app with the intention of playing or purchasing a specific product. Therefore, it's important to consider audience behavior on each platform for effective promotion.

Potential buyers face a difficult situation when they first see a game on a recommendation page. The information presented here is limited: just a small thumbnail with an image, a brief text description, and a few tags. This minimalist presentation can hinder purchasing decisions, as users don't receive enough data to evaluate the game's quality and features. Improving the visual and textual content on such pages can help increase interest and, ultimately, successful purchases.

Once the client's attention has been attracted to the advertisement, it is important to effectively use this attention, turning it into interest in a specific product. Converting attention into interest is a key stage in the sales process, which requires the right strategies and methods.

The developers of Cult of the Lamb, according to Jared, recognized the importance of visual elements early on in the project's development. They paid special attention to the development of striking sequences, which the studio calls "trailer moments." These moments not only enhance the emotional perception of the game, but also create memorable visual effects that attract the attention of players.

Maintaining the game's fantasy at all levels is an important practice, allowing the user to fully immerse themselves in the character and feel the game's atmosphere. This not only helps create emotionally rich marketing materials, but also makes the project more cohesive and engaging. At our studio, we actively brainstormed various mechanics, ultimately abandoning those that did not contribute to the development of the game's fantasy. This approach allows us to create truly immersive content that retains player interest and increases their engagement.

Jared recalls that one of the developers was inspired by the film about John Wick, in which the world is inhabited by killers. A similar concept is evident in the game Cult of the Lamb: the developers decided that everything should be related to cults. Focused game design helps create content that effectively converts user attention into engagement.

When an ad attracts a user's attention, it is important to reward their interest. According to expert Jared, the most effective way is to create a strong emotional response. In the context of the game Cult of the Lamb, this response will certainly be comical. The use of humor not only retains attention but also promotes better memorability of the brand and its messages, which ultimately increases the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.

Effective marketing posts often resemble the structure of a joke, where the opening section creates expectations and attracts attention, and the closing section subverts them, rewarding the audience for their interest. In the context of the game Cult of the Lamb, the concept of creating your own cult contrasts with the cute visual style and the image of a lamb leading its followers. This combination upends traditional notions of religious cults, creating a unique experience that attracts attention and sparks interest.

To achieve an emotional effect, two contrasting or unexpected contexts must be juxtaposed. An example is a post celebrating reaching 100,000 Twitter followers. While this figure alone isn't particularly impressive by today's standards, comparing it to the number of Scientologists' followers creates an interesting and humorous context. This juxtaposition not only attracts attention but also fosters audience engagement through surprise and contrast.

It's important to consider current trends, as they help create context and significantly increase audience interest. For example, just hours before the release of the first trailer for "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," Jared posted a parody poster and trailer for "Lamb," which included indirect references to the Mario cartoon, where Chris Pratt voices the title character. Such creative approaches allow you to attract the attention of viewers and create a discussion around upcoming releases.

This approach to content attracts a wide audience and sometimes creates compelling stories. Keeping up with current events is essential for successful content framing. A case in point is the developers' reaction to a major leak of GTA 6 information. Rockstar's early concept for the game sparked a storm of emotion among millions of fans, but also upset those unfamiliar with the game development process. One user criticized the leaked graphics, arguing that the build clearly didn't reflect the final visual standards. He noted that graphics are a key aspect of game development, and their quality must be top-notch. Numerous developers responded to this absurd claim by launching a flash mob, sharing early versions of their projects. The creators of Cult of the Lamb also joined this initiative, demonstrating what the first prototypes of their work looked like. This allowed us to show the evolution of the game and draw attention to the development process, emphasizing the importance of the early stages in creating successful projects.

It's important to note that such marketing campaigns can be implemented without spending any money. Creating high-quality and unique content doesn't always require additional resources. In the case of an early build of the game, marketers used an existing video about the development process and compared it with footage from the final version. This allowed us to effectively demonstrate progress and attract audience attention without significant investment.

Summary

At the end of the lecture, Jared summarized the main points, highlighting several key points. His summary allowed the participants to better understand the presented material and focus on the most important aspects. These points serve as a basis for further study of the topic and will help apply the acquired knowledge in practice.

• The games themselves become viral. They are the most important factor for promotion.
• It is important to remember the "Seven Points of Touch" rule. Every time a user sees a game, they are closer to purchasing it.
• Traffic from social networks can be converted into game sales. But not always.
• The three key elements of online promotion are capturing attention, converting attention into engagement, and rewarding the user for their interest.

Jared Jay Tan offers a universal approach to game promotion that will be useful for every developer. This is especially relevant for indie studios, which can't always compete with larger projects with high-quality graphics or famous actors. Effective strategies such as post framing, creating engaging stories, and memes will help attract user attention to a project without significant marketing costs. These methods allow you to create unique content that will resonate with your audience and drive organic growth in interest and engagement.

Read also:

Moderating live gaming broadcasts: creating a friendly atmosphere and preventing Chaos

Moderating live gaming streams plays a key role in creating a positive and friendly environment for viewers and participants. Effective moderation helps prevent chaos and misunderstandings, which in turn promotes increased audience engagement and a better overall broadcast experience.

To achieve these goals, it is important to establish clear rules of conduct for participants and viewers. Moderators should be alert to violations and respond promptly to them, ensuring a safe environment for everyone. It is also helpful to use automatic content filtering tools to minimize the likelihood of toxic comments.

Furthermore, creating a friendly atmosphere requires moderators to actively participate in discussions and interact with the audience. This may include welcoming new viewers, answering questions, and encouraging positive interactions. It is important to maintain an open dialogue and encourage constructive discussions.

Proper live stream moderation can not only prevent chaos but also create a community where participants feel comfortable and willing to share their experiences. Thus, high-quality moderation becomes the key to successful and attractive content in the gaming world.