I’m looking to publish my very first mobile game called Pigster this week. If I run into unexpected problems the launch will be delayed until next week. However, it’s time to elaborate marketing because Christmas is almost here and it’s the perfect opportunity to launch a mobile game. People are going to get new devices and naturally they want to test them out, on top of that people have lots of free time so it’s a really good opportunity to launch marketing before Christmas.

Let’s start with Pigster’s user profiles.

Profile one

Profile two

This is the main audience Pigster is looking to acquire. Younger people are also in the scope but the game’s difficult to execute mechanics might not be appealing to the majority of youngsters. A little bit older people, especially people who play games like League of Legends or CS GO on computer are the prime examples of potential players. Because most multiplayer games are inherently hard people come accustomed to enjoying the pressure and struggle. This is exactly what Pigster is looking to leverage in its gameplay.

Paid and organic marketing

Paid marketing includes paid advertising campaigns on different ad networks. Organic mobile game marketing is a term that describes al free marketing strategies that can result in more users. For example, optimizing the app store, posting on social media, maintaining a website, etc.

A good use acquisition strategy includes both. (Udonis 2022.)

Organic

Video game ads should have the target audience clearly in mind. For us the majority of players are going to be 13 – 18 year old. This means we have to use methods that appeal to this age group. Their biggest common nominator often is social media and especially TikTok. TikTok is mega popular among youngsters. This means we can easily slide into their attention spans leveraging the fact that we know what type of content they are into. We can do TikTok videos that are currently trending and use popular songs in the backgrounds. This almost guarantees high views if executed correctly. For example, the videos need to have a hook in the first second. A hook is something that attracts the attention of the viewer instantly. Something that persuades them to watch the entire video. Video’s need to be entertaining, every said word needs to be seen on screen as text. Tempo needs to be quite high and boring downtime is a big no.

Example of a good video is to make a challenge including the game. We could go around town with the game and hand it to random people, tell them they will win 100 euros if they can clear the first level on first attempt. The money needs to be in physical form so that it’s more tangible. This instantly creates an underlying desire to see who will win and who won’t win the money in the viewer who is watching the TikTok. Accompanied with gameplay footage and very quick editing, maximum 4 seconds of footage per person will keep the viewer entertained. On top of this the viewer instantly sees the emotions the players of the game experience. Viewers know what to expect when they play the game themselves.

On top of TikTok’s we are going to leverage our personal social media accounts and our network of people. We are going to make a ten second video clip of the game that has a backstory for the main character in the game. Quick edits of the gameplay to show that the game is fun and challenging. On top of that the video is going to end on a call-to-action, a picture telling to go download the game free on App Store and Google Play.

These videos are going to be spread on social media and gaming forums like reddit and 4chan.

We are going to reach out to Finnish video game streamers and ask them to try out our game on stream. This is a great way to acquire test data and see what type of reactions the game sparks. Also, all of the viewers will see the game and they might or might not get interested. Why would the streamer want to do this? He gets good streaming content, not a lot of people get to test out games that were produced by Finnish people outside of game studios.

Paid Marketing

The game needs to be monetized very well to have effective paid marketing. If you get less than a dollar from 50 players for example it’s hard to get 50 new players using paid marketing and spending less than a dollar to acquire these 50 players.

To boost the game’s launch we are going to use a little bit of money to market the video that will be produced for social media. On top of this, influencer marketing is an avenue to explore.

According to MediaKix, 90% of advertisers say ROI from influencer marketing is as good or better than other marketing channels. (Udonis 2022.)

Monetization

Without monetization the game doesn’t make any money. If you try to scrape too much you might end up killing the game. Games typically are monetized by either a purchase fee, in game purchases and advertisements. We are looking to put ads in the game and have content available for purchase. For the game’s integrity it’s important to not gain an advantage by paying. This makes the game “pay2win” which means people who spend money have a significant advantage over others who don’t. This can kill a game and the reason why all of our sales will be purely cosmetical. Doing it this way will limit the amount of sales but also will keep the players happy.

Ads can also be daunting in games. Having a 30 second ad play every 3 minutes is instantly going to kill the player base. This will make you the most money in short term but defers growth to an unobtainable realm. That’s why we are going to have a single ad picture play every five minutes or so.

Our goal is not to make as much money as we can with a few players but to grow the player base and have happy players who enjoy playing the game. Stable growth is what we are looking for.

Source

blog.udonis.fi 2022. Mobile game marketing: the ultimate guide for 2022. Webpage. Referred 12.6.2022

https://www.blog.udonis.co/mobile-marketing/mobile-games/mobile-game-marketing