Generating visibility in the indie game market
Makkonen, Sally (2021)
Makkonen, Sally
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021052511144
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021052511144
Tiivistelmä
A need for cheap and fast marketing in the Indie game development community and the accessibility of social media has shaped into a relatively new way of marketing, the Visual-First Method. This thesis explores the effectiveness of this method, as well as the quirks of social media as a marketing platform and its unique algorithms from the point of awareness-building.
The visual-first method is based on the idea that the more frequently a social media user sees a post about a game, the greater the chance for the user to become interested in the game. The continuous posts heighten the viewers’ interest until they might someday try the game, which might at the end lead to a sale. As social media demands fast paced action, another element is the use of video formats, showing in ten seconds what the game is about, and communicating clearly what the game offers in a nutshell. The Method is also based on graphics, and advocates beginning the development with the visuals, as social media is inherently a visual medium.
To test the Visual-First Method two different projects from the same company were used as case studies, one was marketed with the company’s previous marketing strategy, and the other with the Visual First strategy. During the first two months analytics were gathered from the first project that was following the studio’s current marketing plan. The next two months the marketing of the latter project was performed using the Visual-First method. Twenty-five posts were collected from both marketing campaigns each and were compared to one another by means of analyzing the format, subject, and the audience of each post.
The Visual-First method proved to be more successful, due to posting more visually appealing material, as well as targeting the marketing towards the game development community. However, growth was slow, thus the method is meant for a development long marketing, meaning that to see real progress, it should be done for a year or more. Furthermore, the quality of the game defines the success of the awareness-building campaign. If the game is not visually appealing and does not look fun, the game will not gain a following.
The visual-first method is based on the idea that the more frequently a social media user sees a post about a game, the greater the chance for the user to become interested in the game. The continuous posts heighten the viewers’ interest until they might someday try the game, which might at the end lead to a sale. As social media demands fast paced action, another element is the use of video formats, showing in ten seconds what the game is about, and communicating clearly what the game offers in a nutshell. The Method is also based on graphics, and advocates beginning the development with the visuals, as social media is inherently a visual medium.
To test the Visual-First Method two different projects from the same company were used as case studies, one was marketed with the company’s previous marketing strategy, and the other with the Visual First strategy. During the first two months analytics were gathered from the first project that was following the studio’s current marketing plan. The next two months the marketing of the latter project was performed using the Visual-First method. Twenty-five posts were collected from both marketing campaigns each and were compared to one another by means of analyzing the format, subject, and the audience of each post.
The Visual-First method proved to be more successful, due to posting more visually appealing material, as well as targeting the marketing towards the game development community. However, growth was slow, thus the method is meant for a development long marketing, meaning that to see real progress, it should be done for a year or more. Furthermore, the quality of the game defines the success of the awareness-building campaign. If the game is not visually appealing and does not look fun, the game will not gain a following.