Marketing Advice That Matters
We all know that the game industry is not as it used to be! We are no longer in a time when a developer had an idea, developed a game, and brought it to the market to try to sell it. Today, game marketing and game development must work together to mutual benefit. No matter what, and for better or for worse, these two things are a couple. Game marketing does benefit the game developers, as well as the other way round.
In the early days, perhaps about thirty years ago, this beneficial link was not as obvious. Games were cool, but advertising was not. Just buy the game and play it on your console, and don’t worry about the ads; those were for television. Maybe you bought the game because you saw an ad for it, but for the most part, once you had the game, you had the game. That still exists; people do buy games and play them at will, but that is not the largest part of the industry anymore. Not when compared to game marketing.
Most games are not bought outright by the consumer. Sometimes, the player downloads the game for free and watches an ad to move forward in the game. A player is often willing to watch an ad to get a little extra help, or for a hint. That’s not the largest part of the industry, either. Not when you compare it to game marketing.
Games generate their revenue differently, and so the game developer must be aware of the audience opinion of the game before they even begin. Game marketing is a big benefit here in helping the developer understand how the players will be interacting. Consumers enjoy video games as a spectator sport as much as playing for themselves.
Game developers must know marketing
The good news is that there is a big market for new games and the people—that is the marketers, players, and fans—are always on a constant search for the next great innovative gaming idea. That could be a new marketing strategy, or a new game idea, so developers and marketers need to be together. Game marketing is essential to development for that reason.
Game marketing can tell the game developer what will sell and what is already selling. Maybe the competition has that market cornered. The developer should know these details before moving too far forward, before the game is too close to finished to implement any changes. One way in which game marketing benefits is by showing the developer what needs developing, according to what will sell.
After all, the game marketing pros already know the statistics. They know whether or not there will be audience interest. A game developer may love the game that they are working on, and they may be convinced that selling begins after completion, but it doesn’t. Marketing can provide insight into the age, the demographics, and even player preferences, and this should inform the developer. The marketer knows whether or not the game will be a success before its even ready for launch.
Game marketing makes the game better
When game marketing and a game development work together, there is magic. Games, as we said, are rarely sold any more. They are picked up, shared, talked about by influencers, and the way the consumer spends on the game is not the way it was thirty years ago, and an exceptionally creative marketing campaign matters now more than ever.
Finally, they just can’t work apart from each other. A great game marketing campaign will provide a game with dollars and visibility for as long as the game lasts, but marketers need to have an idea about what the game is about. They need fuel to write a great campaign, to write catch lines, titles, or to tell stories on social media. They need excitement to get those creative juices flowing. Game developers need that, too. They need new ideas, and a steady audience flow to bring in those new ideas and let them flow. All in all, this is a partnership that will bring about new ideas, new creations to appeal to a wider audience.
Don’t forget about that audience! It is the audience that both the game marketing experts and game developers are working for. As a game developer, don’t get too caught up in development. Use a game marketing company to help you bring your game to the world.
