Where and how to advertise your kickstarter?

Sat, 01/21/2017 - 22:12

#31

questccg

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Joined: 04/16/2011

One last comment about FB

Why do you think they pay exorbitant amounts of employment salaries to "Account Managers"??? Don't you find it strange why a Social Media company like FB would have all these "Account Managers" (AM)?!

The truth of the matter is that "Account Managers" groom their clientele.

They handle the "Social Media" aspect of connections and make sure that their "customers" are linking with the right people.

They pay people good money to keep their customers happy.

And why do you think they do this? Because customers that pay are the lifeblood of Facebook. And so if you are spending an annual budget of $20,000 per year of Facebook targeted campaigns ... you may be lucky to work with an AM like my cousin who does a fabulous job - but she doesn't work for me.

The AM of a $20,000 per year Facebook client makes certain that the right connections are being made and helps in ways of targeting more of the "right" people...

Why do you think they have AMs all around the world? To keep paying customers happy. If you pay enough money on Social Media Advertising, you will also get an AM who can help you in making more "relevant" connections with the "right" FB customers.

Can't imagine why my cousin travels to the USA and around Canada as an AM.

It's part of her work - and I believe she is educated in Fashion Merchandising so she probably handles accounts related to Fashion accessories like Louis Vuitton or Fendi. I know she often goes to NY. So that's a major hub in terms of customer relations (for her).

Anyways you've got to know that Facebook is more than just a website you click on and things happen. There are also a lot of PEOPLE who have strong interpersonal skills and are savvy networkers who offer their people skills to their customers.

It's not as simple as clicking a single button.

Sun, 01/22/2017 - 10:17

#32

I Will Never Gr...

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Joined: 04/23/2015

Evil ColSanders wrote:It took

Evil ColSanders wrote:

It took over a half a year for my artist to finish all the artwork for my game and now I'm ready to put that kickstarter up. I figure if I advertise now, I could have the KS running sometime in March.

The problem is, I have no idea where and how to advertise. Make 10 copies and send them to board game youtubers was an idea. I feel I'll need to throw money at them for a paid sponsorship with a time-released upload. Advertising on BGG? I don't know how far that'll get me with all the adblocking. I tried it a few years ago with my other game. Never got a hit. Someone suggested in the backlogs, to do instagram and twitter. I don't use those at all, but if you can show me it works for indie people, I may force myself to use those near-useless, superficial apps.

I know advertising beforehand is the key to success, so I don't want my game I've worked on for 2 years, go down the toilet.

"Advertising" too long beforehand is not a key, but appropriate advertising just before and during the campaign helps a lot.

The biggest key to success is the ever elusive "building a crowd" beforehand (probably the most difficult part of crowdfunding tbh).

As for where to advertising during your campaign and/or just before;

Conventions (Exhibitor tables, demo tables, etc) - mostly before/after

Facebook - a lot of facebook groups dedicated to board games that you can post in and be part of the conversation (don't just spam your product)

BoardGameGeek - Results are hit and miss on BGG. Some swear by it, others say it did them no good. Yes, there is a lot of adblocking but at the same time many people actively view and click on the ads there. You also want a BGG entry for your game which provides you with an entire page, including forums, images and files.

Reviews - Absolutely you want reviews. 10 of them is good. Many of them do not charge anything for Kickstarter "previews", but you'll need to contact them months in advance and fit into their schedule. You also need to find reviewers that fit your game style as obviously not everyone likes the same kind of game.

Reddit - I don't use it myself but it's apparently a great place to get discussion going on your game. The user interface drives me batty personally.

Twitter - Is ok if you already have a following there - again, it's one form of social media that drives me up the wall.

Instagram - Like twitter and facebook, but less interactive - ok if you've had an account for some time and manage to build an audience.

Kicktraq.com - A must during your campaign.

Press Releases - Send a press release out/post a press release to (this is just a sampling of game news sites/blogs .. there are more!);
- BGG
- TabletopGamingNews.com
- Iwillnevergrowup.com
- The Purple Pawn
- Today in Boardgames
- The Dice Tower
- Crits Happen
- Boardgame Quest
- I Slay The Dragon
- The Meeple Mechanic
- Club Fantasci
- TableTopThrowDown
- Darkstone (Spain)
- AndHeGames
- The Boarding Kennel
- Cardboard Republic
- TricTrac.net (France)
- Pulp Gamer
- Goblins.net (Italy)
- Futile Position
- The State of Games podcast
- Meople's Magazine
- Metagames
- Unboxed
- Gamerchris.com
- The Gaming Gang

The biggest thing you can do is "get the hype train rolling" so to speak. Get people interested by showing it around, going to cons, going to game stores, going to game meetup groups, talking about it on various facebook groups, talking about it on boardgamegeek .. talk about it and show it wherever and whenever possible.

While doing this, gather email addresses. Build a mailing list. Then when you're ready to launch, you send out an email to all those who expressed interest and gave you their contact information. Mailchimp is a good service for doing this.

It's a tough haul. It doesn't always work.

Alternately, if you can't or don't feel up to the work involved (and self publishing is a LOT of work .. it's a full time job unto itself), pitch to publishers and save the hassle.

Sun, 01/22/2017 - 10:27

#33

I Will Never Gr...

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Joined: 04/23/2015

I don't even have the words ..

questccg wrote:

I Will Never Grow Up Gaming wrote:

Facebook Ads can be incredibly effective if done right...

I've looked into Facebook ... and there is NO WAY that it can be "incredibly effective". I'm not a PRO at FB ... but I have tried to USE it. And what I have learned BY DESIGN is ... FB WORKS BACKWARDS!

Well then, if that's the case then those who have used it to incredible effectiveness are either delusional or liars?

I don't believe for a second that either of those options are true considering those who I have discussed it with who use facebook extensively to help them out in business, without spending $20,000 a year (without spending $5000 even) and certainly without having an Account Manager.

Quote:

And BTW my COUSIN WORKS FOR FACEBOOK (As an Account Manager).

Irrelevant. We're not talking about companies using an Account Manger.

Quote:

The idea is basic: build a community around your game.

So this means getting a bunch of people to LIKE your game and become FRIENDs of your game also.

WRONG!!!

Yup, that is wrong. That's not how Facebook is used for business.

Quote:

Facebook does NOT want you contacting or soliciting people YOU DON'T KNOW. I know I've TRIED it... The effectiveness of the website for TRYING to amass a group of people is EXTREMELY UN-USER FRIENDLY!!! It's a rotten interface: You got to contact each person that gave you a LIKE and TRY to friend them. If you contact like 20 people, you will be prompted: "Only connect with people YOU KNOW!"

(deleted the long rant about facebook)

I don't know? On the contrary, I do know how Facebook can work.
I've been using it effectively for a few years now. I didn't just "try it".
It's not an easy button.
And it certainly isn't used the way you're describing, at all.

I could go into a much longer debate about it, but we've been here before and you've got your mind made up how horrible Facebook is, so I would just be blowing hot air.

Sun, 01/22/2017 - 17:19

#34

questccg

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Joined: 04/16/2011

Open to discuss

I Will Never Grow Up Gaming wrote:

questccg wrote:

The idea is basic: build a community around your game.

So this means getting a bunch of people to LIKE your game and become FRIENDs of your game also.

WRONG!!!

Yup, that is wrong. That's not how Facebook is used for business.

I don't know? On the contrary, I do know how Facebook can work. I've been using it effectively for a few years now. I didn't just "try it". It's not an easy button. And it certainly isn't used the way you're describing, at all.

Well I'm open to discussing the issue... Just because I complain about how bad FB really is - it doesn't mean you are wrong in the things you know. I know I rant hard on FB because from my perspective the way the technology works is really terrible.

But perhaps as you have suggested, I am using it wrong!

So if you do have some nuggets of wisdom, please do feel like sharing them with the rest of us. I've spent over a $1,000 on FB Boosts, Like Campaigns, etc.

If there is a better way, please do share it with us!

(And you would be peeved-off if you spend $1,000 and all they want is more money to get your posts to your fans...)

Edit: "How I would picture FB working for companies"

People who like your content on your FB page, "connect" to the FB page and become a "FAN" (Like a Friend but for a business).

When ever you post a NEW Thread, Message, Video (etc.) it shares the content with ALL YOUR EXISTING FANS.

The more FANS you have, the more REACH you get. How do you build up FANS? By using Targeted Marketing Boosts to reach NEW people. And if those people LIKE your Thread, Message, Video (etc.) they (when they LIKE IT) become FANS of the product.

Keep posting and continue trying to EXPAND your Brand Awareness, such that you get 1,000s of FANS you can connect with just one new Message.

If FB worked like THAT... It would be SUPER AWESOME!!!

Note: This would not affect how FB works for regular users.

Since this would only be for FB Business Pages, posts to FANS could be in a separate area (like Product FANS information, updates, etc.) It could be a separate feed much like the news feed - but only for Business Pages.

You could of course altogether ignore the business feed ... but if you LIKE the product and are a fan of it, most likely you will want to know what is going on.

And you don't have to post updates "every day". Could be once every 2 weeks for example... With relevant content.

Sun, 02/12/2017 - 18:15

#35

Frank West

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Joined: 11/25/2016

I Will Never Grow Up Gaming