How to Get the Most out of Your Game Launch
Game launches, if executed well, can make your game a huge selling success. Whether it is your first game launch or your hundredth, there are certain steps that need to be taken to execute the launch. With the online gaming world becoming more competitive by the day, you want to have something that makes you stand apart. It’s not easy though, thousands of games fail and not always because they aren’t great games.
The key to a successful launch is proper planning. The overall goal is to make it as easy as possible for buyers to make a purchase. The right strategy will help you entice customers to purchase right away. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your game launch.
First thing is to plan your product strategy and roll out. This includes the beta testing, pre-release, original version, and any other versions being released(e.g. limited edition, special edition). This plan will help build momentum prior to the launch, and allow some of your strongest followers the ability to try the game first and promote the game for you. A new, big thing is allowing players to test the game during a trial period before the launch in order to build momentum. The trial users will typically do most of the promoting for you, and feel a stronger sense of loyalty towards you for letting them try the game first. Plan your product strategy in advance and map out all of the details regarding the time line of releases. You also want to differentiate your offer and promotions around release time. The goal is to increase the number of pre-orders before the launch date.
The next thing to ensure a successful launch is to make sure the customer experience when purchasing the game is ideal. You want to put yourself in your customers’ shoes. What would make them purchase now? Is the site easy to use? You want to make sure the shopping cart and purchase button are visible and easy to navigate. BMT Micro has helped many customers with their shopping carts to ensure that is easy to use and flows well to increase purchases. Also, give your customers incentives or create a sense of urgency to make them purchase now. Set a firm launch date and offer and offer customers a pre-launch price that is less than the launch day price. Make the checkout button the most prominent element on the page, and tie purchases back to promotions, if they act now.
Next, you want to make sure you are driving traffic to your site. Maximizing your web traffic is important as your launch date approaches. If you typically advertise to drive site traffic this is good to continue doing. Many people create their advertising campaigns around the launch and may increase advertising spending a few months before the launch, to make consumers aware of the new game. A good idea is to create targeted purchase pages that provide customers with buying steps to make purchasing the product easy. It is also necessary in today’s world to include email and social media outreach to increase awareness of the launch. Being involved in affiliate networks can also be another avenue to promote your launch through banner ads and promotions. BMT Micro has an extensive affiliate network that could help with the promotion of your launch. Continue to use social media throughout the launch, but make sure to not overdo it.
Some of the tips mentioned above are geared towards large companies that have released games before, but what if it is your first game and you are on a tight budget? Then you need to follow the tips below to help you to prepare you to launch your game on a budget.
Use your website to generate awareness about your game. You can write blog posts talking about the development of the game all the way to the launch. If you have a website, you can essentially blog for free and create awareness amongst your followers. The more content you have on your website, means the more you have to talk about and promote on your social media sites. Just ensure that the content is quality content. You do not want to flood your social media sites with a ton of unimportant information or you will lose followers.
Obviously, social media sites are a free and easy way to reach hundreds to thousands of people. What is great about having all of these different social sites is that you can promote your content to different demographics of people and change your promotions based on the type of people that follow you on each different social media channel. There are so many social media sites out there and if you are on a few you should cross promote between all of the sites to maximize your reach.
Through all of the planning, make sure not to forget to measure your results and be able to adjust your promotions on the fly, if necessary. The goal is to keep the momentum going, so sometimes quick changes are necessary. Launching your game is not as simple as just telling your close followers about the game, launching it, and hoping it will do well. With the competition out there today, it will most likely not do well without proper planning. It takes time to build the awareness and excitement for the game, so when launch time comes, the purchases will be flowing in. Keep these simple tips in mind in order to increase your chances of having a successful game launch!
