For solo indie budget, generally...
* Picking a good genre
* Producing a quality game
* Festivals
* Streamers
* Press
* Reddit
Worth checking out...
* [https://howtomarketagame.com/2023/03/14/frequently-asked-question-about-marketing-your-game/](https://howtomarketagame.com/2023/03/14/frequently-asked-question-about-marketing-your-game/)
First get your steam page really good which generally means the game itself needs to look really good and the USP needs to be something players desperately want to play when they see it. A/B test the steam page, measure your conversion rates, etc. If your game is compelling that will likely get you a lot of wishlists organically on its own. With a great trailer / steam page, you don't really need to market much and if you do its easy and the ROI tends to be high. Without those things any marketing you do is an uphill battle and you are going to get a lot less wishlists per dollar spent.
Look at the benchmarks for "organic wishlists" here: https://howtomarketagame.com/benchmarks/. organic means what you generate naturally with no active marketing.
imo any significant marketing when you are in bronze tier is definitely not worth the time compared to just improving your game and store page until you get into at least silver and preferably gold tier.
Is your game so good that people would spontaneously recommend it to a friend and bug you about when the next update is coming?
If not then forget about marketing and just keep making games and trying to learn how to make them better.
No one will pay to hear you play piano unless you've been playing at least 5 years and are excellent and gamedev is the same.
I can't say how to get started or actually do it but you gotta build a community and take part in existing ones that want what you are making. Look at any post mortem or wishlist strategy "on no budget" posted here or anywhere else, the successful ones almost always already had a YouTube channel, a Discord, a patreon etc. Things that imply they had people to tell about their project who are invested in their work already. It's a marathon, and you gotta build up a following while making the things that following really wants (again easier said then done but probably the best path forward)
There's this GDC talk about marketing with no budget if you're interested: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWyZlGMysH8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWyZlGMysH8)
For solo indie budget, generally... * Picking a good genre * Producing a quality game * Festivals * Streamers * Press * Reddit Worth checking out... * [https://howtomarketagame.com/2023/03/14/frequently-asked-question-about-marketing-your-game/](https://howtomarketagame.com/2023/03/14/frequently-asked-question-about-marketing-your-game/)
Hi, Thank you for help. This article is very helpful indeed.
First get your steam page really good which generally means the game itself needs to look really good and the USP needs to be something players desperately want to play when they see it. A/B test the steam page, measure your conversion rates, etc. If your game is compelling that will likely get you a lot of wishlists organically on its own. With a great trailer / steam page, you don't really need to market much and if you do its easy and the ROI tends to be high. Without those things any marketing you do is an uphill battle and you are going to get a lot less wishlists per dollar spent. Look at the benchmarks for "organic wishlists" here: https://howtomarketagame.com/benchmarks/. organic means what you generate naturally with no active marketing. imo any significant marketing when you are in bronze tier is definitely not worth the time compared to just improving your game and store page until you get into at least silver and preferably gold tier.
Is your game so good that people would spontaneously recommend it to a friend and bug you about when the next update is coming? If not then forget about marketing and just keep making games and trying to learn how to make them better. No one will pay to hear you play piano unless you've been playing at least 5 years and are excellent and gamedev is the same.
Write an “article” / PR piece for the game. Send it to every game publication and blog you can find with a free access code or copy of the game.
post ideally daily gameplay and link them to your wishlist
I can't say how to get started or actually do it but you gotta build a community and take part in existing ones that want what you are making. Look at any post mortem or wishlist strategy "on no budget" posted here or anywhere else, the successful ones almost always already had a YouTube channel, a Discord, a patreon etc. Things that imply they had people to tell about their project who are invested in their work already. It's a marathon, and you gotta build up a following while making the things that following really wants (again easier said then done but probably the best path forward)
There's this GDC talk about marketing with no budget if you're interested: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWyZlGMysH8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWyZlGMysH8)