ePig Games won 40k - Time to do Marketing Test

MagoNicolas

Hello guys, how are you?

ePig Games won Start Up Chile Contest (Its for worldwide people, but we are from chile, maybe some people here can Apply: http://www.startupchile.org/ )

We won 40k USD to invest on our company, so, on of the most important things that we will spend our money on, would be marketing online (Of course we will put some money on our next game that is going to be awesome, its Really good so far)

Our next game, would be Free, so I think spending on marketing would be great. (Will be Free wit In App, and even though is Free, You can be on sites like free app a day)

I know that not to many people have spend money in Marketing here, and if you have, maybe have been small amounts, So now I need some help, and I would be Like a Tester

I want you guys to give me all ideas of paid marketing, links to website of press release, twitter campaigns, websites like Free App a Day, banners on toucharacde, etc.

Once I start spending money on marketing, I will share all my results (IF I really have some help from this forum).

Cheers!

PS: Off course will not spend all the money in marketing...

MagoNicolas

But there are some marketing Campaings that WILL help, maybe no a service from a company, but I was thinking on giving aways to people that download my app some iTunes Gift cards, or maybe an iPad or stuff like that.

Also, if you spend on websites like Free App a Day, my free game would have 100k+ downloads very easy the first week, and that would be very good.

But thanks for the advice anyway, but I WILL test some marketing online.

Cheers.

Photics

uptimistik said:
The only marketing that matters is what Apple gives you.

...but how does that happen without outside marketing? I think a "Surge" on and before the release can be a good idea, as it can help get the app noticed. If people download the app, and rate it highly, Apple is more likely to feature the app.

UtopianGames

I have noticed that whatever Touch Arcade feature seems to go into N&N if that helps.

I'm sure if your spending a bomb over there with banners they will probably give you a write up.

I would make a top class game though with 50K as this would probably be enough to get some attention without spending too much on marketing.

Darren.

MagoNicolas

Btw, I Have a Master Degree on MArketing :P From a University here in Chile
And I only will spend money on things that WOULD work (OR at least I think they will work and have a good ROI, or for a Long term strategy)

Im working now on a bigger game, not a light one this time.

This would have worlds, level, and would be my best game by far, But I don't have to much stuff to spend money on DEVELOPING the game, apart of sods, music and the trailer (Yes, know I have less risk and spend more time developing my next game).

But Imagine I spend some money on Free app a day on Launch day, I will really have hounded thousands of downloads the first week. and that would be great, some people should be spending on my in app purchase (That would really worth it, not a simple in app purchase).

Btw, I can't just keep the money, I need to invest it (Also Investing it WOULD help a lot ePig Games)

I think that banners for me would also work, because I'm with a long term strategy, and I have a LOT of ePig Games, so, brand awareness will help me on the long run.

Cheers.

Photics

uptimistik said:
By making a great game lol

1 - That's subjective. What is a great game?
2 - That might not be enough.

I'm starting to see a dangerous turn for the app store. There are just too many free games out there. Games like Hard Lines, Deo, Diner Dash and Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior were available for free. Even though it was a limited time, so what? Consumers only need to wait for other developers that are desperate for attention. When I saw EA give away a Tiger Woods game away for free... it felt like the battle was over.

The reality is that the same apps tend to dominate the top... Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, Cut the Rope, Fruit Ninja. So, building a great game is not enough. Marketing helps too. When I go looking for new apps, I'm not looking at the new releases, I'm looking at free apps.

...and marketing is a double-edged sword. While it might help your app be more successful, it could also increase the losses if the app is unsuccessful.

QuinnZoneStudios

Congratulations on the funding!
Has anyone ever spent anything on Facebook ads? I've often wondered about that.....

capitalcarnage

I think the first thing you should invest in is a Tea Boy.

Im good at making Tea and more than happy to relocate

James

quantumsheep

Congrats on the 40k!

I can imagine you and eddy paddling around in a swimming pool full of money right now

StormyStudio

Massive well done congrats on the funding.

I've only ever toyed with paid advertising for my website. Selling game making and promo videos more than my own games. I spent about $250 in the end before ending it. It was working, I got about 10 proper enquiries 3 of which I worked an got paid for. It more than covered the cost. Obviously a 69p game is a different story.

Places to advertise that I can think of:

- touch arcade full front page banner over the whole site.
- touch arcade side banners
- spend money on a clever and unique funny promo video. It could get picked up by gizmodo or similar. Or shared by people of Facebook.
- free app a day (I'm sure tshirt tried this out)
- advertise on stormystudio :-)
- paid advert on gizmodo , wired.com, tech crunch,
- not tried Facebook ads, but could be worth a go for the first few days of launch.

BazookaTime

I agree that Touch Arcade is a pretty big factor. I have looked into advertising there and it is super expensive but understandable with the amount of views they get.

BlackbirdStudios

First off, congrats on the funding!

Touch Arcade is a great marketing tool if you have enough money for it. One thing I would be interested in is not the number of impressions the ads on TA get, but rather how many people click on them.

________________________________________________________________________

LIKE us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter! :
Blackbird Studios Facebook Page
Blackbird Studios Twitter

scitunes

Congrats on the funding!

I've been working like crazy on my science stuff for my website so I haven't been putting any effort into the appstore side of things, but at some point I plan to try and get that going again. Here are some of the things I was thinking of trying.

1) Facebook Ads - create an HTML5 lite version of the game and create a Facebook game/app page for it. In this lite version have links to the appstore paid version (or free full version with IAP). Have the Facebook Ads direct people to the Facebook game. If it's good this could go viral on FB leading to massive appstore DLs.

2) FreeAppADay - I used them about a year ago and it by no means made me rich, but the game they featured (XMB - Xtreme Mountain Busing) is still bringing in a steady 5-10 DLs a day even though it is almost 2 years old with no other promotion.

I swear I had other ideas, but now I'm distracted by my 4 year old who is SUPPOSED to be napping!

JohnPapiomitis

i would definitely just keep the money and start working on my next game.

Rob2

Congratulations and well deserved. I would invest some time in publicising this success to websites and the media in general.

That fact that you have won this is very interesting in itself and combined with your backstory is great content it just needs to get picked up by the right people. You don't need to spend a fortune on PR or marketing, your STORY is the goldust that will drive your sales;) !!

MagoNicolas

Thanks For all the Help, I still have time for my next release, will see and study al different options.

Me, Eddie, and the rest of the team (My brother and illustrator) Are very happy for this achievements

Cheers.

steve86

Congratulations on the 40k Mago.. Im sure you can take eddy to every corner of the world if you spent that money well on marketing. Wish you all the success in your future marketing techniques and if you could post your results here that would be great.

Congrats again.

imGua

BazookaTime said:
I agree that Touch Arcade is a pretty big factor. I have looked into advertising there and it is super expensive but understandable with the amount of views they get.

Do you have those numbers? I mean prices.

Sparkyidr

Hey guys. That's great news on the funding win.
You guys deserve it. You all work hard at getting your message out there with no funding, and have been successful at it, so I can only imagine what you can do with 40grand

Good news lads.

Dizko

Nice! Living the dream, as they say.

Personally I would end up hiring a PR firm so that I could focus myself on the actual game making and take the marketing out of my duties. It seems like people have the feeling that paying for marketing doesn't work, or isn't worth it. But depending on how much you spend, I think it does work. Now of course that's assuming your game isn't garbage but I doubt you'll have that problem.

Marketing takes a lot of time and effort, time and effort that could otherwise be spend developing and polishing your games. If you have the opportunity to shift that workload to someone else, I'd do it.

Maybe check out Triple Point? I've never used them as I've never had the money to hire anyone like that, but it would be worth an email to find out.

http://www.triplepointpr.com/

In any case, congrats and good luck with the next project.

greenrhyno

Congrats on the funding.

I wouldn't waste time with banner ads. At most they will bring in a few hundred or maybe a few thousand users over a month run, which for a free app is NOT enough.

You may be better off going for some PPI (Pay Per Install) campaigns.

This guy can get you hooked up
Derrick Edwards (tramain360 on Skype)
He can also help you set up some iPad (or other merchandise) giveaways with a twitter campaign. They do other things, just look at his site http://igiveaway.us/

With regards to a PR firm, I would highly recommend Appency. Aaron is great and gave us some great ideas and resources during our last app launch. Aaron Watkins (hyperwatkins on skype) www.appency.com - you can tell him that LEARN2MAKE sent you.

I would also recommend using the serve www.iSpreadNews.com, for a few hundred dollars they will send out review requests etc. to hundreds of international App review sites and blogs. That will help you get into markets worldwide.

Last but not least, FAAD (FreeAppADay) is NOT the only Free App Promotion avenue. They may be the biggest though. I am PMing you a list of other sites you could maybe use to promote your free app. Some don't even charge.

Here is another suggestion- release your app as paid then make it free a few weeks/month later. You will get more (free) traction on the price drop apps an websites, vs. just launching free.

Good luck man! Wish we had 40K to market and improve apps with... sigh

okkle

IGN have a regular iOS games roundup that features new games, free games and price cuts etc. If you emailed their mobile gaming department with your new game, explaining it was free for it's launch or whatever you are doing, if they like the game I'm sure they would feature it in the next roundup.

They get an awful lot of readers, so it's worth a shot!

Also, congrats on your win!

diegocs

Mago i recommend you do the following:

1) If you make a free game, add ads to the game, and also do a pro version of it with no ads, (or wait for In app purchases)
2) Hire someone to make you a corona version of the game along side, so you can port it to the android market to get a wider audience
3)Hire many a small team to make some games along side, so the audience made from your more important app gets a lot of sales to the other apps
4) Use a marketing service (http://marketing.comboapp.com), their are different packs with different values which will increase your sales dramatically and place you high in the charts
5) Obviously market with FreeAppOfTheDay, and maybe place some banners in important review sites

MagoNicolas

Thanks for all your congratulations and Advice :d

Cheers.

butterbean

Congrats Mago!! This is great news! I think putting most of your $ into the game would be great, but marketing is just as important, and half the battle!

If you have the resources, I would use FAAD, I've heard very good things about it, especially if you're able to implement iAP into your game....

Good luck!

quantumsheep

Seeing as people are offering advice, if I had 40k I would:

1. Buy lots of retro consoles and games

That's it.

Hope that helps!

QS

Riffel

Congrats Mago!!

Valan

Congrats on the funds.

My advice is to buy lots and lots of balloons and print lots and lots of stickers with your game on them. Sponsor events, take trips, go to shopping malls, notify the press and release/give away balloons and stickers.

Have fun and do it yourself!

JoeMeister

Congrats. Nice one.
Buy a SmartCar ($12,000), cover in ePig Graphics ($2,000) and take a Trip around the World.

capitalcarnage

@JoeMeister

That sounds like a lot of fun,

LumpApps

^+1