Just because your game is a great one does not ensure it will be a success. There are many mobile gaming apps today that go largely ignored by users while other, sometimes infuriating, apps become instant trends. What are the factors that influence a successful game marketing strategy? What can you do to ensure your own success? Take a look at these steps:
- Become Familiar With Your Visitors
Use mobile analytics to monitor the way that your visitors access your games, which elements of gaming are most successful, and how well mobile phones are able to manipulate the game. There are a number of ways that the analytics produce findings:
- Analyzing page views, visits, location of visitors
- Comparing and contrasting mobile device information such as devices, manufacturers, and screen resolution
- Running comparisons against performance indicators and returns on investment
According to Upsight.com, you use those analytics to identify market trends, take steps to ensure that you understand the motivations behind those trends. For example, when you see that some games are more successful than others, look for the reasons that those games were purchased: Did the gamers want to extend their experience? Where they hoping to get a variation that was unavailable without purchase? Did gamers want to progress more quickly? These answers will help you determine the best strategy for your game development.
- Develop a Strategy and a Plan
What’s the difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan? When you keep these two separate, at least initially, you will be forced to think about the concrete elements of your goals. Think of your strategy as what you want to do, your vision of what should happen, the culmination of your vision. The plan is made up of the specific steps that you’ll take to reach that goal. For example, part of your strategy may be to reach a worldwide market regardless of your users’ native language. An element of your plan will be tracking down the software that accurately translates the written content that players see.
- Refine the Marketing Strategy
With information about your consumers and a separation between strategy and plan, you’ll be prepared to dive into the development of a healthy strategy. Use a sequence of questions to outline and develop your strategy:
- Who will play the game? Are you targeting a specific age or interest group?
- Can you narrow that group down any further to clarify the appeal factor?
- Where will your users play the game? On their mobile devices or on a desktop?
- Which platforms will you target? Will your game be available across platforms?
- Where will your game launch take place?
Combine the answers with the results of mobile analytics to narrow the scope of your strategy.
- Establish a Working Budget
No matter how financially successful you hope your game will turn out, you still have to work within the realistic confines of your budget. You’ll need to keep in mind that some budgets will fluctuate over time, especially if they are run as services. However, put together, as accurately as possible, the framework for a long term budget and don’t forget to identify when you will have reached the limit of your spending.
With the numbers of games in development reaching astonishing numbers, it can be difficult to get your game into the eye of your gaming market. Look for and utilize those resources that can guide your efforts toward a successful launch.
