It’s called a campaign, so tell a story!
Opening note – if your game doesnt have a plot/story/characters this may not be of immediate use, but it might give you some ideas anyway!
If you have put together a reasonable marketing plan, you shall be using a mixture of PR, digital, social, all sorts! You could stick the usual stuff; gameplay trailers, giving interviews about the cool new (or retro) mechanics and so on. While this is an important thing to do, there’s another level you could try. What if you tried to use your marketing to tell a story?
As an indie developer, you have a great advantage over large games companies dealing with huge IPs. You have sole charge over the direction of your studio and your games. You don’t have to carefully navigate franchise licence contracts or deal with a legal department. It’s your game – you can do what you want!
So what should you do? Think of your game’s characters, setting and events. Now ask yourself, what might people be interested to know more about? List as many different things as you can. Examples might include:
- A lead character’s backstory
- Why that enemy became evil
- How that planet was ruined
You can tell parts of this story in different places using a wide variety of media. For example, how about a single sheet comic on Reddit, or sending an animation to games news sites? Each new piece of story/information could attract new fans and also lead them to a more engaged level (click to see what happens next), helping you gain peoples’ attention. Also chances are that if you create something genuinely interesting, they will share it out and spread the word.
Providing gamers with this kind of content is a more mutually beneficial relationship than simply trying to convince them to purchase your game. It’s also a great way to invest into your game world and add value to your IP.
If you decide to give this a go, please let us know. We’d love to see what clever stuff you can come up with!