The Game of Marketing

Designing a prototype is a lot of fun. You get to make something that you’re proud of and show it to people who like it. You’ve probably got a lot of positive feedback on your game already from your friends and family. That’s great!

But let’s be frank for a moment: you’re not here browsing a design firm’s blog to ask if your game is fun and if people want to play it. You know it’s fun, and your friends already want to play it; you don’t need us to tell you that. What you need to know is: Who will want to buy it? The hard truth is that when you decide to publish, you’re not just making a game, you’re making a product… and like all successful products, you’ll need marketing to reach your customers and make sales.

You live in a world surrounded by choices.

You live in a world surrounded by choices. Walk down the aisle in your local supermarket and you’ll a dozen of types of ketchup on the shelf. When you put one of those bottles in your cart, it’s easy to think that the choice that you’ve made was wholly your own, that you’ve objectively plucked the superior product from among all the myriad options and won capitalism. Good job, you!

That’s not actually how it works, though. I’ll let Meryl Streep walk you through the process in this brilliant scene from The Devil Wears Prada:

When you grab that ketchup, a huge number of decisions have already been made for you. The sweetness and spiciness is tweaked to your tastes. The packaging strives to appeal to your eye. The store stocks brands that it believes to be your favorites. Of all the thousands of ketchups in the world, people as powerful as CEOs and as humble as grocery store managers have decided that these select few are the ones that you will have the privilege to purchase.

Feeling a little dystopian? Don’t worry, there’s a very good reason why these systems exist.

Businesses don’t want to sell what you don’t want to buy.

It takes a lot of effort to get a product on the shelf. Sure, I could ship my ultra-hot jalapeno ketchup all over the world, but if it ends up in places where spicy food isn’t popular, I’m going to have spent a ton of money and time only to see my masterpiece rotting in the dumpster. That’s tragic for both my wallet and my reputation: now I’m that guy with the stinky bad ketchup that nobody wants, and when I come out with my next product, stores are going to be hesitant to buy it because my first one flopped so badly.

Fortunately, businesses don’t actually produce their products this way. Instead, they do research on who will buy their product and why, and they’ll put the word out about their product in spaces where their customers are. This is “marketing.” Done right, good marketing will make sure that every game you make finds its way into the hands of someone who will buy it from you.

Okay, I get it. Where do I start?

To begin, we’ll need to figure out who’s going to buy your game, and what they want from it. Ask yourself a few questions:

Who would absolutely love this game?

This is the most important thing to know when marketing your product. This isn’t someone who just likes your game; this is someone who LOVES it, who plays it religiously and recommends it to all their friends. The person who loves your product is going to be the most dedicated to finding and purchasing it, regardless of cost or difficulty. Reaching this person is an almost guaranteed sale. Figure out who they are, and where they are, and let them know your game exists!

(If you’re having trouble answering this question, don’t worry; go through the rest and you might find your answer is a little clearer.)

What other games are like mine? Who likes those games?

Players don’t play games in a vacuum. They’ll come to your game with opinions that have already been formed from the other games they’ve played. As good as your game may be, players won’t think about it on its own merits when considering whether to make a purchase; they’ll look for games “like Catan” or “like Gloomhaven.” If they’re already okay with buying those games, chances are they’ll be okay with buying your game, too.

How much do games like mine usually cost?

When you decide to self-publish, you’ll spend many months working with manufacturers, logistics companies, and other partners to get your game to print. You’ll know your costs inside and out, and you’ll be very conscious of your unit price when all is said and done.

Throw all that away when figuring out how much to charge for your game. Your customers do not care how much your game cost you to make. They care how much it costs them for the experience they’re getting. Look to other titles in the same genre as you, with similar weight, playtime, and expandability. If they sold well, that’s a good indication that players are comfortable with the amount of “game” they’re getting for that price, and making a similar value proposition to them with your game should be an easier sell.

How do games like mine usually look?

Aesthetics aren’t arbitrary. Players like games that look a certain way because the way they look makes them feel a certain way, and that’s a big part of the game’s experience. If a product looks too dissimilar from other products of its type, your customers might not even recognize it.

That’s not to say that your game shouldn’t look unique, or that breaking the mold isn’t a noble goal. However, be aware that looking different is a challenge, not an advantage, unless you’ve got a killer plan for marketing that difference.

Is there anything that keeps people who would love my game from playing it?

This is a tough one to think about. You love your game, and so do your playtesters, so it’s hard to imagine something that’s so off-putting that an otherwise perfect customer would be turned away.