Someday, this moose is going to be finished, and it will need to be marketed. I had some free time this weekend, and I googled the topic, and here are some notes from that. Web links and miscellaneous notes.
– HowToMarketSoftware.com, Startups for the rest of us, Foolishadventure.com, SoftwarebyRob.com.
– Rob recommends SAAS (software as a service) instead of downloadable apps.
– Creating confidence in the buyer, with social proof like: testimonials from other users, mentions in the press, The software must seem ‘highly rated’ and ‘excellent customer support’.
– Must think of repeatable scalable things that will work long-term, (ie, not just sell the moose once, get paid once, then nothing paid by the user afterthat… no, there needs to be a plan to have more content created that users will want).
– “low price quarantee” was magic words that helped Rob’s sales.
– techcrunch, hackernews.
– RightStartups.com, FlyingSolo.com, StartupMistakes list,
– try Hittail.com, which suggests long phrase keywords that you can rank well with.
– Trello.com for collaborating with people working on projects.
July 30, 2013 update. People like choice. Even the choice of downloading the free Moose, should have about 3 options to choose from. Apparently, if humans only get 1 thing to choose from, they tend to go away and seek other choices first, and might not return. And the rule of threes, applies to options in my control panel. And it applies to offering things for sale in micro transactions.
March 21, 2014 update. Learned about CrazyEgg.com for heat-mapping of where people click on your webpages. Here’s the Big list of video game YouTubers.
April 1, 2014. From a gamasutra article, telling reasons why people abandon their games.
- Monitization too harsh or too early.
- Difficulty/Outcomes not balanced
- Resources run out too soon
- Poor on-boarding
- Lack of rewards
The Poor Onboarding problem, is vital. “The first 60 seconds of gameplay is incredibly important, players need to get in, enjoy themselves and immediately be rewarded, however poor on-boarding was evident in 31% of games.”, and “It’s important that F2P games have a simple but engaging tutorial and well-structured progression to keep the players moving through the levels. The start of the game should give as much of a taste of what it has to offer at the outset as possible. “, and “Another sure-fire way to lose players in the first session is to make the monetization mechanics either too harsh or too early, yet more than two thirds (70%) of the games we analysed suffer from this problem. If players don’t become engaged then they won’t spend, so waiting until they reach the threshold of engagement is vital before introducing any monetization mechanics.”
April 20, 2014 update. Stock video footage company made this generic manipulative advertising video.
April 24, 2014 update. from Gamasutra, from a Kickstarter-failed analysis article: Entertaining video trailers are far more important than having a playable demo. Try generating press attention well in advance. Better not have to rush, because they have big events throughout the year that take priority. A suggested tactic is to hook up with some person with NAME RECOGNITION before contacting press, so the press have a big name to associate with it.
November 25, 2014. Just a note, that Moose users will want to have some visible indication of their earned higher status, (from points they earn doing compulsion loop, sharing moose, acquiring plugins, contributing jokes, etc). So I will need a way to adorn their own moose with a special cloth or badge. Another motivator is the progress bar, showing like linked “your profile is 85% complete”, makes people want to do more. Wanting to “level up” works, when there is one granular step presented to the user, at a time.
Sept 8, 2015 update. From Gamasutra, tools for marketing:
Thunderclap, CoPromote ( but have to Tweet about other peoples junk ), Crowdfire (notices when followers un-follow), PressKit, Promoterapp (has a calendar of game industry shows and competitions)
A different excellent gamasutra post, http://gamasutra.com/blogs/JustinCarroll/20150908/252994/5_Marketing_Strategies_To_Reduce_User_Acquisition_Cost.php says 1. Build your email list. 2. Convert your website into a selling tool. 3> Roll your own native advertising, 4. incentivize player referrals. 5. Give your audience exclusivity.
