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[appromoteralan]

I would be interested to know whether anyone who developers games apps has a business plan or marketing plan or if most people just want to get their app out there and hope for the best.  I'm coming at this from two angles and one of those is as a developer...  Thanks for reading.

[Mofko]

The more you put out the more you get back.  I would suggest that you send your app to as many places as possible.  Create a press release, invite people to review it, create a video trailer if possible.

[James Coote]

The general consensus seems to be that just putting it out there will leave you very disappointed. Marketing doesn't necessarily mean big budgets and shiny adverts but even the social media marketing and developing a community around your game type approaches take real time and hard work

[Kepa]

Im an ap developer

Yeah we plan things ahead. Just kind of plopping things out there is a terrible idea. Especially on the App Store because it's kind of like taking something you've worked on for months, then dropping it into the deepest, darkest pit on earth.

Any specific questions or details as to where you are? I could possibly help.

[hilake]

My new app will coming soon. But I didn't know how to market. My app cost me several month. I want to more people know it. I want earn more money to keep make more game.

[Venks]

My new app will coming soon. But I didn't know how to market. My app cost me several month. I want to more people know it. I want earn more money to keep make more game.

I feel the same way. I'm thinking about making a mobile app as well, but I know nothing about successful marketing. I want to make a free game and just get as many downloads as possible. I've read time and again that just making a good game really won't get you anywhere without marketing.

How do you make a press release for a game? What are good places to submit your press release to? Will people accept a press release from some no-name developer with no releases currently under his belt? What's the best way to start?

[hilake]

Venks:
There are lot of questions. So I find market need a lot of work to do, after I search google. It will cost a lot of time to market your app. If your app was not good enough, why not make effort to make app better or make more app.
Now, I think the good app is the best market. Someone who like the good app will tell others. So it will be known by so many people.

[Kepa]

My new app will coming soon. But I didn't know how to market. My app cost me several month. I want to more people know it. I want earn more money to keep make more game.

I feel the same way. I'm thinking about making a mobile app as well, but I know nothing about successful marketing. I want to make a free game and just get as many downloads as possible. I've read time and again that just making a good game really won't get you anywhere without marketing.

How do you make a press release for a game? What are good places to submit your press release to? Will people accept a press release from some no-name developer with no releases currently under his belt? What's the best way to start?

For starters, I recommend going to the Toucharcade forum and posting your game under the "upcoming games" section. People that are interested in mobile games actually browse that forum regularly. This includes both the public and the editors and reviewers that run the site. An interesting game from a no-name developer can get a review just by generating a lot of interest on their forums.

Toucharcade is also one of the biggest review sites. If you're covered there, other sites seem more likely to review your game. Getting sites to review your game gets easier each time you're reviewed, and the above is a great jumping-off point.

Other than that, two marketing strategies actually work for mobile games. One is building up a fan base and making sure they're aware of each new game you create. This is extremely important, but it also takes time. The other is having established developers recommend your game to their audience. Many are willing to do this if your games are truly interesting.

Hope this was helpful, if a little brief.

[ColeyWoley]

How long does it generally take to get reviews?  I guess it varies wildly, but it would be interesting to get a ball park...  I read hundreds of post mortems before we launched, and I thought I was ready.  I was so very wrong... 

Oh well, there's always the next game

[nyyjen]

Have you checked out this topic? http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=25719.0

It covers games in general and has pretty good advice I think.

[ColeyWoley]

Yes, great blog, thanks

[ColeyWoley]

sooo....  paid adverts?

We'd resolved not to bother with paid adverts.  They don't automatically increase sales, they take money away from the next game's budget, and we can only afford little tiny ones on low traffic sites anyway.

But now I think maybe we should have?  We were going to get someone to do our marketing for us, and he wrote us up a plan that we've tried to stick to, but it was more suited to his personality than ours. 

Has anyone had paid adds improve sales? 

[Muz]

I make Android apps for a living. Torn between the guilt of giving away free advice and the guilt of seeing people need help, so I'll try to strike a middle ground. I'll just go for the common sense stuff that you can maybe pick up from Google

Mobile marketing is entirely different to say, PC marketing.

People aren't going to find your apps on Facebook or whatever. They'll learn about it almost fully through browsing or word of mouth. Similar with review sites. Review sites do work for hardcore gamers, but often it's easier to just search for it. However, people will sometimes look up your game on a review site before buying.. low prices will encourage impulse buying.

Trailers are excellent. Don't bother with putting captions on your screenshots, it just makes it look like you're hiding the actual gameplay.

Hit the right keywords. Ranking does NOT equate to sales. It does equate to more views, though. Great for casual stuff that appeals to everyone.

The people who search for your keywords are often the people who want to buy that kind of stuff and the people who would pay a premium for it. Like, I normally search for "roguelike". Someone may search for "platformer" or "strategy" or "angry birds" (as a genre). Make it clear what your game is.

Don't be an idiot and spam those things everywhere, though. Dunno about itunes, but Google's  recent algorithms are designed to punish SEO. Be honest, don't game the system too much. Experienced gamers don't like marketers and if you're going to appeal to casual/dumb gamers, just make a pay-to-win.

Mobile is basically about getting as much information to the user in as few words and pictures as possible. Information is distilled into one small page, get to the fricking point.

If you're indie, doing it with a tiny team, marketing is just really poor return. Just google a little over a week or so, and spend the rest of your time making something good. It pays.

[ColeyWoley]

Just found this great article on marketing.

http://appgamer.net/features/2009/sep/3/industry-game-marketing-and-pr-lock-it-down/

[alastair]

Don't bother with putting captions on your screenshots, it just makes it look like you're hiding the actual game.

This is really important I think, I was browsing the other day and noticed a lot of games not just showing real screenshots — instantly puts me off the game.