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Mobile Games University - Indie Marketing 101: Where and how to promote your game

We take a look at the marketing avenues open to indies

Mobile Games University - Indie Marketing 101: Where and how to promote your game

As an indie developer looking to market your game, you may be thinking, where do I start?

To help you decide which avenues could prove best to giving your game a marketing and PR boost, we’ve listed a bunch below, with tips on how to make the most out of them.

From YouTube and Twitch to Facebook and Twitter, events and reaching out to press, there are a plethora of ways to get the word out about your game without spending big on user acquisition.

If you're looking to spend more money on getting users, it might be worth also checking out our Paid User Acquisition course.

20 tips for indie game developers using social media

This helpful guide on Venturebeat gives you an idea of the best ways to use social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, and how to best plan your marketing campaigns to get the most out of them. It’s from 2014, but many of the ideas here are still relevant today.

Promoting your indie game on social networks

This article by Yolene Rousvoal again focuses on promoting your indie game on social networks, and looks at understanding why people share things on social media, what is shared and how you should market your game on these platforms.

How developers can use Twitch in the live-streaming age

Twitch’s Stuart Saw discusses how developers can take advantage of Twitch live-streaming, with tips on building a community and using the platform as part of your marketing push.

We made a livestream, got a little press and launched a successful indie game

Mike Rose, now at Ripstone, discusses how TinyBuild used Twitch to market Punch Club, creating a viral campaign in the process. It's an example of how such a unique idea can work, though it may not be something that can constantly be repeated in future.

Twitch Plays Punch Club required players to beat the game together in order to launch the TinyBuild game, a unique idea that went viral and boosted its sales success

Rose has further tips for Twitch and YouTube marketing for all kinds of gaming platforms from his GDC 2015 talk, which you can also watch here.

An introduction to influencer marketing for indie mobile game developers

Tilting Point's Sam Dalsimer looks at why you should consider influencers in your marketing campaign, how to start working with them and how to measure those results - something that is completely different to how you would monitor a typical user acquisition campaign.

The dos and don’ts of YouTuber influencer marketing

Speaking at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2016, Marketing & Growth Strategy Consultant Pascal Clarysse analyses the power of YouTube for promoting your games.

A guide to launching indie games: Getting press

Part of a series on how to launch an indie game, Alexis Santos goes into detail on exactly how to contact members of the press, from how to pitch your game, who to talk to and even the timing of your announcements.

How to contact press (and increase chances to get press coverage)

An extensive PDF from PixelProspector is another article that goes in-depth on getting press coverage, letting you know how editors think, how to approach websites and other media, and how to follow-up after.

Making entertaining and engaging video game trailers

Kert Gartner breaks down how to make an engaging trailer that quickly captures the viewer's attention and offers examples of games trailers, examining why they are so effective.

Showcasing our indie game at events: A strategy

Sometimes you may decide that promoting your game at one of the games industry's many conferences and exhibitions is a key part of your marketing campaign (which may also have other benefits such as business networking). To that end, Andreea Vaduva discusses whether attending these events is right for you and exactly what to do when you're there.

Help us improve this course with new links or suggest a new course you'd like to see to mgu@pocketgamer.biz.

This was part of the Knowledge Base topic Knowledge Base: Indie Marketing 101. For more articles in this topic click here.
Head of Content

Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.