How to Get 1 Million Downloads for $0.
Today we’re going to jump right into to HOW you can get your game noticed in the incredibly fast growing App Ecosystem, with $0 in marketing budget. Let’s do it.
8 Ways to Get 1 Million Downloads for $0.
1)Why should people play your game?
This is of course the most basic, but arguably the most over-looked question developers need to ask themselves. Asking this question: “Why should anyone play this game?” is the place you should start before reading anything else.
If it is the case that you’re aiming to create an action title that offers fast-paced, exciting combat – then you may want to put a deal of emphasis on the battle system itself and iterate until it feels as though something that is dynamic and responsive compared to what’s already out there. This is not to say that you have to go and reinvent the wheel, but there should be an obvious beneficial distinguishing factor.
Note: There’s not point in adding bells and whistles if they’re just going to confuse your users. When going through the development process it’s much easier to communicate your vision and then its features.
2) Build Your Community
I cannot stress enough how important it is to build a community of people who are rooting for your success from the get-go. Most developers make the mistake of launching/publishing their app and waiting to see “how it goes” until they decide they need to start marketing. In my book, and in a previous article I discuss why this is not a wise thing to do.
By building a community on different platforms for your future players to discuss your game you’re making things easier for everyone. TouchArcade, Facebook, and the like are great places to develop these communities prior to your launch.
3) Social Benefits
Having a game that provides true and obvious advantages to having your real-life friends join you in your game is a must.
Make it simple and easy for your users to connect (and invite their friends) via Facebook. You may even want to consider integrating Facebook’s OpenGraph SDK. Needless to say, planning your OpenGraph Actions carefully can allow you to use it as a powerful tool for viral acquisition.
4) Targeted Launch
Choosing a country with similar inclinations as your target market to do a soft-launch in is not a bad idea. Doing so can allow you to gather metrics and feedback to optimize your KPI’s that you wouldn’t have received otherwise through focus tests, and internal-reviews.
5) Get Some Buzz
Now that you’ve come this far, it’s time to tell the world about what you’ve been working on. Giving exclusive previews to prominent app/gaming sites is a great place to start. Some of these networks might include:
- TechCrunch
- VentureBeat
- Mashable
- MobileMinute
- PocketGamer
and the like..
Once you feel like you’ve got things lined up with hopefully more than a few publishers, it’s time.
6) Identifying Evangelists/ Brand Ambassadors
There will always be a percentage (usually small) of people who love your game (a lot) more than others. Your job, is to find them. The best part is, if you did step #2 correctly then they will often reach out and engage with you in conversation, giving praise, criticisms and suggestions.
Use this as an opportunity to convert as many of them as possible into ambassadors for your game. Let it be known that their opinions are valued and be sure to be responsive and helpful when they reach out.
A benefit of doing so is, these ambassadors will help bring and retain many more other players by being responsive and helpful to them.
It’s free marketing. Can’t beat it.
7) Be there or be square
Now that you understand how important building a community is, it’s equally important to understand what it means to engage with them daily. You can do things like: Posting rewards, offers, player appreciation, teaser, updates, and any other for of media you’re pretty sure they’ll be interested in.
Needless to say, there are more than enough engagement tools at your disposal, and there’s nothing that draws a crowd like a crowd.
When communicating with your community/audience remember to talk like a real person. Customer service in a mobile game is becoming more important with each passing day, and some even say it is as important as a brick and mortar business.
8) Quality
Regardless of how well you execute all of the above steps they all rely on the one fact that will make or break you/your company. Quality. Luckily for you, following step #4 will allow you to learn what you need to do to polish your game in preparation of publishing it for the major markets. Make sure to listen to all of the feedback regarding bugs and watch your metrics.
During the phase of your soft-launch, you can leverage your established users to draw more interest in your major markets (where you will be launching soon).
Of course, if you want this all outlined for you in detail you can check out my book the App Launch Blueprint ;).
Kevin is an Online and Mobile Marketing Strategist who has worked with companies of all sizes over the last 6 years. You can follow Kevin on any of the social platforms below.
