igs @ gdc austin: john graham - 'effective marketing for indie game developers
Post on 10-Feb-2017
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Wolfire’s Indie PRMaking noise from day 1.
What Is PR?
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the flow of information between an organization and its publics.
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations
Some PR Tips!• Only show off finished assets.
• Never mention the competition.
• Avoid direct interaction with fans.
• Don’t generate buzz too early.
• Let the game speak for itself.
Some PR Tips!La• Only show off finished assets.
• Never mention the competition.
• Avoid direct interaction with fans.
• Don’t generate buzz too early.
• Let the game speak for itself.
Wolfire’s PR
Make Friends
Build a Community
Open
Development
Make Noise
Making Noise
• Be Open About Everything• Be real• Make Noise Often
Tech Posts
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SAtwQa8t_3g&hd=1
Concept Art
Game Design
Silly Posts
Esoteric Posts
Personal Experiences
PR ChartMake Noise
Build a Community
Open
Development
Make Friends
Making Friends Online
• Cold Emails• Talk about other indies that inspire you• Cross-Promotion Opportunities
Cold Emails
David’s Design Tours
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XAoW9fjKmo4&hd=1
Cross Promotion
• Cletus Clay• Gratuitous Space
Battles• Rubber Ninjas
http://youtube.com/watch?v=h9Ob_CEjzBY
Making Friends Offline
• Parties • Meetups• ConventionsResult: Warmer Emails
Edmund’s Birthday
Conference != Vacation
Meet The Press
Warmer Emails
”… and their main marketing dude at industry events wears a kilt and a lumberjack beard."
-Reverend Anthony Burch, Destructoid
PR ChartMake Noise
Make Friends
Open
Development
Build A Community
Building A Community
• Facilitate Communication• Be “Sticky”• Start Now
• Translations in 20+ languages
• International news sites
Footholdby Hale
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5R45xrFWerA&HD=1
Communication: A Two Way Street
Wolfire’s Bag o’ PR Tools
Make Noise
Make Friends
Build a Community
Open
Development
Blog
• Blog often• Pick relevant topics• Use pretty pictures and
videos• Encourage feedback• Make it sticky!
Forum
• Discussions, fans can answer each other’s questions
• Builds a community• Fans can share content
and make maps together
• Can be crazy?
Public IRC Channel
• Group live chat• Multiple devs can
field questions• Fans can field each
others questions• Mibbit• Rabbot
Meebo Live Chat Widget
Visitors: • are psyched by
live chat• can ask questions• can get support• can troll me
Google App Engine &Amazon Cloud Front
Social Media
ModDB Page
• Friendly towards Indies
• Community is hardcore gamers and modders
• New posts get sent to the front page
YouTube Channel
• YouTube has HD• YouTube has a lot of
viewers• So make lots of videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tdx8dBGbi4c&hd=1
The 3 Pronged Attack
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cc5L9sBF7D0&hd=1
Insights
Facebook Page
• Lots of users• Easy to Use• Can import your blog• Uploaded media shows
up on your wall• Promotions• Fosters its own
discussions
• Twitter is like a mini blog• Makes noise• Can attract followers• Medium for meeting
people in the industry• Great for tidbits
Steam Group
• Avatars• Screenshots• Posting
announcements• Group chat room• Room for
improvement
Nimai used our map editor to make each of us an in-engine house. This is David’s house.
Games Press• Games Press is the one PR
service we pay for• Provides a nice way to get
PR announcements auto fed to news sites
• Games Press has helped us get content on IGN, GameTrailers, GameSpot and G4 among others
GameTrailers
Worst of GT Quotes
• Boring! What kind of game even is this? Animatsion? Get real
• i can't wait for the nerd to comment an try and correct everyone talking about how cool the textures look an this is revolutionary... too bad its a f**king ROCK....show some f**king character models not a rock changing colors wtf is this crap.
• And if THIS is how they're trying to sell the game... you KNOW the game is going to be really... really bad.
Early Preorders
• TaleWorlds• Data Realms• Wolfire Games• Unknown Worlds• Valve?
Conclusion
• Open development– Make Noise– Make Friends– Build a Community
• Start early.• Stay agile.• Note: The Wolfire Experiment isn’t over yet.
Question To Ponder
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yOXrAQhShDk&hd=1
Final PR Tip
Leap at every opportunity!
If GDC invites you to speak, say “yes”!
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