How to market your indie game using measurable metrics…

Daniel Doan
Aug 28, 2017 · 3 min read

A while back, a friend of mine was trying to get back to his hotel from a convention.

It was dark, pretty late, and he only had a vague idea of where to go. It took him about 30 minutes to get back.

The next day, he made sure to plan the route to get back beforehand.

Guess how long it took him? 10 minutes.

Literally three times faster knowing exactly where he wanted to go, and planning it out beforehand.

Marketing is very similar.

When it comes to marketing, you need to know where you want to go, and you must work backwards to figure out the most ideal way to get there.

To market something, you need to know…

1. What problem are you solving specifically? If you’re working on an indie game, a particular problem might be that a certain subset of gamers might be looking for a particular game that doesn’t quite exist yet.

2. Who is the ideal customer for that specific problem?

3. Where do they hang out?

That’s it.

Easier said than done of course, but let’s start with your destination.

What’s your one specific objective that you want to accomplish in the next three months?

Many people might name more than one goal… don’t. This is a trap.

Most people are vague. Don’t be most people.

Pick the one exact thing you want to accomplish in the next 3 months, and be hyper-specific about it.

Whether that’s 1,000 app installs, 1,000 followers, 1,000 downloads, just write your one goal down.

Now, once you’ve completed this task, stick that goal somewhere visible.

You’re done with the first part.

The next part is the route to get there.

You’ll need to create your own numbers-based marketing spreadsheet.

You can use Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, either will do.

On top, make three columns with the following headers:

“Traffic Source, Specific Action, Results”

List out all of the possible things that you could do to drive traffic, and don’t hold back.

Whether that’s social media, or paid advertising, list them all down.

So for example, if my goal was to get 1,000 downloads of an indie game that I was selling on my own website, I might decide to post about it on social media.

It’d look something like this:

Twitter, Posting screenshots of the game
Twitter, Posting photos of the development team
Facebook, Posting a development blog
Facebook, Posting about the game in relevant indie game groups
Instagram, Posting short videos of myself working on the game
Instagram, Asking influencers for shoutouts

Then, fill in the results section after a predetermined amount of time. Set a date.

Remember that these are all experiments — not all of them will be worth doing.

If something works, great! Double down on it.

If it doesn’t work… note that on the sheet and move on.

If you enjoyed reading this short essay please like and share it to help others find it.

About The Author

Daniel Doan is the Co-Founder & CGO of Black Shell Media and the developer of SanctuaryRPG and Overture, among dozens of unfinished game prototypes. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

)

Daniel Doan

Written by

Growth Marketing Consultant @ danieldoan.net

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade