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[IMBizMan316]

Hey guys,

My guess is most of you probably already have Facebook or Twitter so you can promote your game and get connected with the players, but are you guys also using Instagram?  I read the news sometime ago that in terms of user number it has surpassed Twitter but I rarely see anyone using it as a marketing tool for their games.  The reason I'm asking you btw is because my team asked me (I'm in charge of marketing and community managing) to consider having one but I don't think it's worth the time.  Also I noticed that you can only upload images from your phone, not from the pc, so I think it's only good for sharing selfies and stuff.  I'm very new to Instagram btw.)  Anyhow what do you think guys?

[SpectrumGame]

Hi there,

I was considering to do that but then I decided to not to because you can't monetize Instagram easily. Here's why:

• visitors are mainly using mobile phones for sharing pictures (not many are interested in external content).
• Instagram is not integrated well with gaming systems/consoles whereas Twitter, Facebook, Twitch are.
• If your game is available on Steam, why not promote it in their?. The players there already have their credit cards in the system and are ready to buy a good game.

This is my opinion. Hope it helps. 

[PixelJunkie]

What about reddit? I don't personally use it, but it only takes one redditer who likes something to make it uber popular. I think people frown on self promotion, so posting on there should sound something like, "Hey, look at this cool game I found." < but not sounding so fakely generic. Obviously you'd look suspicious if you only have one post there, so you should spend a week just hanging out.

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

one week isn't enough for reddit.

[IMBizMan316]

Hi there,

I was considering to do that but then I decided to not to because you can't monetize Instagram easily. Here's why:

• visitors are mainly using mobile phones for sharing pictures (not many are interested in external content).
• Instagram is not integrated well with gaming systems/consoles whereas Twitter, Facebook, Twitch are.
• If your game is available on Steam, why not promote it in their?. The players there already have their credit cards in the system and are ready to buy a good game.

This is my opinion. Hope it helps. 

Hey!  Thank you for the comment.   Steam is definitely a good place to show off your game, but we're developing a mobile game.  I totally agree with your first point.  Looks like people there only share their photos they took on their mobile phones.

[IMBizMan316]

What about reddit? I don't personally use it, but it only takes one redditer who likes something to make it uber popular. I think people frown on self promotion, so posting on there should sound something like, "Hey, look at this cool game I found." < but not sounding so fakely generic. Obviously you'd look suspicious if you only have one post there, so you should spend a week just hanging out.

Yeah, I hang around on reddit time to time.  One subreddit I really want to promote my game on is /gaming but the rules there appear to be more strict than other as mine always gets taken down, so I usually hang around in /gamedev or /indiegaming.  To be honest, I'm not too comfortable doing that "Hey check out this game" thing.  I think maybe I will ask one of our fans to do it later.  Cheers!

[PixelJunkie]

What about reddit? I don't personally use it, but it only takes one redditer who likes something to make it uber popular. I think people frown on self promotion, so posting on there should sound something like, "Hey, look at this cool game I found." < but not sounding so fakely generic. Obviously you'd look suspicious if you only have one post there, so you should spend a week just hanging out.

Yeah, I hang around on reddit time to time.  One subreddit I really want to promote my game on is /gaming but the rules there appear to be more strict than other as mine always gets taken down, so I usually hang around in /gamedev or /indiegaming.  To be honest, I'm not too comfortable doing that "Hey check out this game" thing.  I think maybe I will ask one of our fans to do it later.  Cheers!

Yes that's why you gotta come out with something meme quality. Have a snapshot of some kind of a funny situation in the game that isn't designed to be funny, then everyone will talk about the game with the stupid thing and then suddenly everyone has got to play the game with the stupid thing.

[SpectrumGame]

Hi there,

I was considering to do that but then I decided to not to because you can't monetize Instagram easily. Here's why:

• visitors are mainly using mobile phones for sharing pictures (not many are interested in external content).
• Instagram is not integrated well with gaming systems/consoles whereas Twitter, Facebook, Twitch are.
• If your game is available on Steam, why not promote it in their?. The players there already have their credit cards in the system and are ready to buy a good game.

This is my opinion. Hope it helps. 

Hey!  Thank you for the comment.   Steam is definitely a good place to show off your game, but we're developing a mobile game.  I totally agree with your first point.  Looks like people there only share their photos they took on their mobile phones.

Hey, no problem. Right, in the case of mobile games, I suggest to be on apps like Twitter, Tumblr and maybe Vine. I'm going to start a devlog topic about how I'm going to market my upcoming game (which is launching July 24) with some more details.

[IMBizMan316]

Hi there,

I was considering to do that but then I decided to not to because you can't monetize Instagram easily. Here's why:

• visitors are mainly using mobile phones for sharing pictures (not many are interested in external content).
• Instagram is not integrated well with gaming systems/consoles whereas Twitter, Facebook, Twitch are.
• If your game is available on Steam, why not promote it in their?. The players there already have their credit cards in the system and are ready to buy a good game.

This is my opinion. Hope it helps.  

Hey!  Thank you for the comment.  Steam is definitely a good place to show off your game, but we're developing a mobile game.  I totally agree with your first point.  Looks like people there only share their photos they took on their mobile phones.

Hey, no problem. Right, in the case of mobile games, I suggest to be on apps like Twitter, Tumblr and maybe Vine. I'm going to start a devlog topic about how I'm going to market my upcoming game (which is launching July 24) with some more details.

Cool!  I will look forward to it! =)  What's your game btw, do you have a trailer? [Edit] Ok I just watched it.  I think being inside a comic book is a cool idea!

[SterlingDee]

For an indie game, I don't think it's worth the time. Do people spend time on Instagram searching for screenshots of games they might want to try? 

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

it might be worthy reaching another public if your game contains material adapted to instagram public. only advisable if you have the extra + time.

[kimcheecat]

I recently created an Instagram account and was surprised by how many likes or follows (not very many, mind you, but more than I expected!) I received for our games account.

We're a completely new indie dev team so I think the more reach, the better. It's neat to post photos that aren't totally game-related but are more oriented toward snapshots of dev life. Then again, social media is incredibly time consuming. Might be easiest if you also use Buffer, Hootsuite, etc.

I also think Tumblr is a platform to consider.

[ironbelly]

For us, since we're mostly business to business it doesn't make sense, but I could see it working as a passive activity. Find a way to auto-post things you post elsewhere to Instagram... why not, right?