“You need a huge budget to market your indie game” – this is one of the most common myths about indie game marketing that most developers buy into. But it’s just that. A myth. The truth is that you can market your indie game on even a shoestring budget by making sure that your efforts are highly targeted and that each penny is spent well.
At Campaign Cooperative, we are experts at marketing your indie game on your budget, no matter what it is. Here are 3 of our expert tips on how to make it happen.
1. Make the best use of your limited budget
A smaller budget leaves almost no wiggle room for experimentation. This means your marketing must be data-driven and highly focused on your target audience.
To do this:
- Base your marketing efforts around Steam events, because Steam is the primary way in which new players will find you. Make sure to streamline your focus on the Steam Next Fest and any other genre-specific Steam events so that your indie game gains more visibility.
- Use trackable marketing strategies (such as paid advertising) so that you know exactly where each penny goes and how effective it has been in terms of increasing your game's visibility. Tracking also lets you analyze and tweak your strategies so that you get the most bang for your buck.
2. Optimize Your Steam Page
Your Steam page is your storefront, and it needs to convert curiosity into wishlists. Even a perfect trailer can flop if your page feels unfinished. In order to create a stunning-looking Steam page, you'll need a couple of things:
- Your Capsule Art – think of it as a YouTube thumbnail. If it looks great and most importantly catchy, people are more likely to click and visit your Steam page. If they do, we're just one step closer from wishlisting or buying your product.
- Your Game Trailer – Action-packed, and fueled by pure gameplay works the best in general. It's said that you only have up to 5 seconds to capture players' attention, so make sure it goes right into the gameplay. Try to avoid cool cinematics – they work best during the showcases, but not on Steam page.
- Your Screenshots – Aim to have at least five different sceenshots that showcase what you do in the game. Don't be scared to show the UI – just by looking at UI people can differentiate for instance 4X strategy from RTS.
- Your Short Description – Keep in mind that short description is 300 characters max. The general rule of thumb is to include a couple of verbs that perfectly captures actions perfomed by a player (fight countless battles, expand your city, grow your economy, etc.)
- Your Long Description – That is the place where you can go into the nitty-gritty details about your game. You can tell more about the story, some cool features like co-op for instance, or even your story behind the game. Don't be scared to include GIFs here – that combined with the screenshots should give a good glimpse of what your game is.
- Your Tags – by that moment you should already have a couple of similar games to yours in mind. Check their Steam page for any relevant tags, and match that with how players search.
3. Reach out to influencers organically
Gaming influencers and streamers hold a lot of sway over their audience. Collaborating with them will get more eyeballs on your game and give you a higher ROI (return on investment). So, make a list of influencers you want to target and reach out to them with a demo version or a trailer of your game. The idea is for them to be able to play the game during one of their live streams to create buzz and increase your wishlists.
Pro tip: Start by sponsoring smaller influencers (also known as nano influencers). Oftentimes, this will snowball into bigger influencers stumbling upon your game on their own.
Working with nano influencers will actually give you a better ROI because they have a highly targeted audience. i.e. players who strongly prefer a certain niche. So, by working with them, your marketing efforts will be hyper-targeted, leading to more wishlists and sales. It’s the same logic as marketing a mobile phone to a group of mobile phone enthusiasts vs. marketing it to a group of gadget enthusiasts, hoping that at least a few of them would want to buy your mobile phone.
4. Create a stunning trailer for your game
If you’re going to invest in one thing, make it your trailer. It’s often your first impression and your most powerful asset for both players and journalists. Make sure to include your game hook (a.k.a. your unique selling point), core loop of your game (a certain set of actions player will perform on a repeated basis), and upload it on your YouTube channel.
Check out our how to make an incredible game trailer blog post if you want to get some more additional information.
5. Build buzz through playtests, betas, festival, and press
You don't need AAA budget to get noticed. It's more about the right assets and the timing. One of the best ways to build organic visibility is by running early playtests or closed betas. Not only it gives a chance to let your potential target audience play your game and share some valuable feedback, but it also gives you a unique opportunity to share that build with content creators to generate buzz around your indie game.
Another major visibility booster is participating in Steam Next Fest or other online festivals. These events can skyrocket your wishlist count, especially when paired with influencer coverage or a demo that’s fun to watch on stream. The key is to be ready with solid visuals, a clear hook, and an optimized Steam page before the event begins. Keep in mind these festivals work similar to getting the press release to the journalists – they usually looking for something exclusive to them. Either release date announcement, demo going live during the festival, or the best you can give them – an exclusive game reveal during their festival.
Or reach out to journalists who regularly cover indie games. A short, well-written press release can go a long way especially when it’s tied to something specific, like your demo launch or release date announcement. Make sure your press kit includes your trailer, a few eye-catching screenshots, and a concise game summary to make their job easier.
Finally, you can always contact us! At Campaign Cooperative we specialize with indie game marketing, and we're also affordable. Let's connect and spread the word about your game!
.png)