Game marketing pitfalls

You want other people to know about your game, but how? Every year more games release, so how will you stand out?

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Timestamps:
00:00 Marketing your game
01:15 Thinking you don't need it
02:48 No CTA
05:58 Steam page mistakes
08:49 Not going all out
11:41 More marketing tips
12:56 Early access
14:42 Just keep going
15:33 Closing

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[Pariatech]

Meanwhile I get 3 views on itch and I'm happy as can be.

[ayle]

I found TikTok to be really good in marketing games

[aeterponis]

I'm trying everything right now: posting on TikTok, YouTube, X, and Instagram. I make devlogs, shorts, and posts. It's been almost 2 months since I opened my Steam page, and things aren't going too well, but it's okay, I think. I hope things will get better in the future after I release the demo and join the next fest.

[AlansQuickSave]

not me literally publishing a barebones steam page with 5 screenshots last week becus i heard its best to set it up ASAP...

[alexx]

Make a list of youtubers that make let's plays on similar games as yours and send everyone a mail of your game trailer and ask them if they are interested in playing it. Youtubers and content creators watch other youtubers and creators and follow trends, so often they will catch up what's popular in the community and make videos on it. Also they reach your main target audience which makes it one of the best marketing route. You could also try to contact as many indie press sites and try to show your trailer and demo in fests if you have the option. Reddit is also great, you can easily generate couple of thousand views for couple posts in right communities, if you do it often you could make quite a following.

[MalikFrost]

Great video for quickly tackling marketing dos and don'ts!

[richardbloemenkamp]

I made a small game and no publicity for it. As expected nobody came to me to ask if they could buy it from me. At the same time I put my house for rent with one little sign. People came to my house asking if instead of renting it they could buy the house. I had a car for sale. Immediately I found a buyer, but then a friend came to me also wanting to buy my car. I had a hard time convincing the first buyer that although he was first I preferred not to sell it to him using arguments why the car could be unsafe etc..
Maybe the point is that you need to try and understand what other people want/need and are willing to pay for. You can do a lot of work trying to push a square through a round hole but instead of searching endlessly for square holes maybe it is better to sell round products that fit with peoples needs. Man, that sounds like I'm selling women hygiene products. Lol.

[mandisaw]

The book self-publishing crowd has a lot of good advice that indie game-devs can look into. Really liked Newsletter Ninja by Tammi Labreque for mailing list strategy. Too many devs let a weird combo of ego & imposter syndrome keep them from marketing properly, or they just don't give it the same respect as programming or art.

If you're making games as a hobby, then it's cool to only tell friends & family. But if you are commercial, then marketing is just an essential part of running the business.

[WeDidItDevs]

Our biggest problem is that. We have made an Early Access which people can get for FREE if they will spread the word about our game on Twitter and tag us. In our puzzle game you can win the money if you gonna solve the puzzles as First. People think its SCAM and we dont know what to do now. They litteraly can get that for FREE and try, but they rather not, even when they dont have nothing to loose only little bit of time. The more we talk about prizes and winning the more people dont like our game idea.

[comradecid]

what's the difference between 'early access' and 'demo'? does releasing a demo of your game on steam have any positive impact on conversion?

[inevgames]

I don't remember which article I read, but it said that the best social media for marketing are Tiktok and Reddit

[dreamingacacia]

I probably can't buy a military vehicle to help marketing my game.

[paluxyl.]

I got some questions about the Steam page.
Let's say I pay today the fee to create the page, but I decide after 1 year to cancel the game ... is it possible to cancel and will I get the 93 Euro fee back ?
And if it's not possible to get the fee back, is it possible to change the complete site after a year let's say from a 2d platformer to a 3d horror adventure game ?

[fishyfinthing]

I wonder if you are against going early access soon then will just making a steam page is fine? As soon as it look good it’s ok right?
I mean giving it time, a steam page can help us gather more audience.

[agdneto]

Waiting for the game to be polished doesn't make sense, especially for you. I could wishlist it right now, not because I want to buy it, but because I support what you're doing. Even if you just show a black screen, I'm already sold and adding it to my wishlist! But can I guarantee I'll be around when you finally launch your Steam page? Nope! So that's a wishlist missed, and every wishlist counts.

Here’s some free advice that you didn't ask for it: If you don’t want your Steam page looking “unfinished, ” create some placeholder images. Polish a small section of the game to perfection and showcase only that. Skip the trailers for now and use "advertise images" like a close-up of your character striking a cool pose, even if that camera angle isn't in the game. Make it look cool, but it doesn’t have to be completely real, every big game does this.

Anyway, I like your videos and would hate to see another game of yours fail.

[GohanScholar]

Day 17 of asking for Melon-Pan tier list.

[abnermtj]

When I saw my game 3:04 alt tabbed to make sure I wasn't on the wrong page LOL. Still it's really cool to see it in video form haha. Also marnix u smell.

[takashy]

are you ok dude ? 😅

you look kinda tired (speaking from experience..)