[Mountain Witch] Help w/ Promotional Take-Away

[timfire]

Hi y'all,

Clinton has graciously offered to demo MW for me at GenCon SoCal. But in addition to the demo, I was hoping to provide some sort of promotional piece that the demo'ee could take home with them. The idea being to hook the customer into ordering the game when I release it in (hopefully) February.

Also, because I'm poor, I'll likely have to sell the promotional piece for a minimal fee to cover production costs.

Option #1) A Preview edition
The first option is that I could print up a number of copies of the original IGC entry. However, I'm shying away form this. The release date for the game is only going to be like 2 months after the convention. I think most people would have no problem just waiting for the finished game.

Another strategy would be to offer some sort of play aid.

Option #2) Fate Cards
Pre-printed Fate Cards.

Option #3) Zodiac-specific Character Sheets
Due to space issues, the main book will likely only provide a generic charsheet... or at least, that's my current thinking.

Option #4) A Quick-Reference Rules Sheet

Option #5) Dice
Yes, its on option, but I doubt gamers really need another set of d6's.

Anyway, my current leanings is towards a combination of #2 (Fate Cards) + #3 (Charsheets). However, with all of these ideas, I plan on offering them for free from my website at some point in the future. Will people feel jipped if I force them to pay for them now, only to offer them for free later? If my goal is to hook them into buying the finished game, should I include a coupon with the promotional piece? (Maybe something like pay $2 now, get $2 off the finished game?) What are people's experience with the coupon strategy?

Thanks everyone!

[daMoose_Neo]

Well, what are you offering off your website? POD sets or professionally printed sets?
A set of decent, pre printed cards for a freebie would be cool.
So might a 'special' one, one not included with the ones sold when the game comes out. People like to feel special, I know with CGs and the HeroClickz the convention-only freebies have proven to be quite popular, even if the item itself isn't that powerful in game terms (Any M:tG players know of the Nathali Dragon? Yea.)

[Andy Kitkowski]

Option #5) Dice
Yes, its on option, but I doubt gamers really need another set of d6's.

Ahhh, but do they have JAPANESE Dice?

http://www.z-builder.com/rpg/rpgnet/chinesedice/dicezig3.jpg">

I have about 300 left, if you want some as promos.  I'll sell them for pennies over cost. PM me.

(more pics at http://www.z-builder.com/rpg/rpgnet/chinesedice/ )

-Andy

[daMoose_Neo]

Now THAT is cool! *wishes he was doing some asian themed Twilight expansion in the near future*

[GregS]

Couple of rambling thoughts in the dark...and, of course, all of this is just my opinion...

1)  Don't be shy about charging a small amount for promotionals.  Yes, you will scare away a healthy portion of the people who would take it otherwise, but as the old saying goes, that which cost nothing has no value.  People who are willing to drop $3-5 bucks on a quick play are people who are at least serious about considering your game.  By way of comparisson, I know that FASA charged 7 bucks for their Shadowrun 3rd Ed. quick play demo book.

2)  Personally, I would shy away from the free cards as pre-press promo.  Yes, they are cool, but will they get someone to buy your game two months later?  In my experience, the answer is probably not.  Unless it REALLY grabs them they'll just sock it away or toss it depending on how interesting it is to them in the moment.   This, however, would make for a great giveaway once you're selling retail product "buy at this show and get a free limited edition card..."

And now for the tough love portion of our broadcast...There are a lot of golden rules in marketing and one of the best ones is what I like to call the art of self-selling.  In other words, pretend you're the geek wandering the dealers room at Gen-Con (okay, so most of us will be...but I digress) and imagine, amidst the sea of crap, you get a -insert promo item here-.  Ask yourself, honestly and objectively, what does it have to be to get you excited?  And not only excited enough to get your attention, but exited enough to keep it, or at least allow it to be re-sparkable, for two months?   Then temper it with the simple reality that we can't afford to do the crap Wiz-Kids or WotC does, and you'll get a very realistic idea of your challenge.

My advice, then, isn't to worry about pre-release promo giveaways.  Yes, they can be effective, but only if you honestly think a significant portion of people who're not vested in your game at all will find it that way.  Instead I would look at building a base for future sales.  Offer a coupon or other direct sale promotion (i.e. "sign up for our mailing list now and get a special offer at launch").  It will still drum interest and buzz without actually costing you much/anything out of pocket.  Plus, if you get their names in the process, you can harrass them endlessly until launch.

[timfire]

Thanks everyone!

First off, to settle some confusion, I do plan on *selling* this stuff at the convention for a minimal fee. At the moment I don't have the funds to pay for a give-away promotion.

My book will be POD - right now I'm leaning towards using Express Media. In regard to future plans, my assumption is that at some point I'll offer these extra's (charsheets, etc) as free PDF's that people could download from my site and print themselves.

In regard to how I'll print them for the convention... I haven't figured that out yet. It might just end up being a Kinko's special.

Andy, those dice are really cool, I'll talk with you over PM about them.

Greg, thanks for the good advice.

Just so that everyone knows, I don't expect the promotional piece to sell the game - I expect (hope) that playing the demo will. I just want something that will remind people after the convention about the game.

My leaning's right now is to include a coupon with whatever I sell. Basically pay $2 now (or whatever) and get $2 off the finished game. The promotional piece essentially pays for itself after the customer buys the finished game. Again, what are people's experience with this type of strategy? Does it work?

[timfire]

One other quick question: How many pieces should I plan on providing? 25? 50? More than 50?

Thanks!

[Roy]

From the perspective of an indie RPG consumer, I would buy a playtest or quickstart version of your game for a few dollars, but I wouldn't pay for any other type of promo.

If the demo is going to sell your game, why not just print up some flyers with a free coupon on them?  You could even do half page flyerst.  Flyers are very cheap, but effective.

Instead of calling your promo a playtest or quickstart version, you could call it a "Convention Edition" or something similar.  That should raise its perceived value since most people connect the terms "playtest" or "quickstart" with "free".

If you include a coupon, give at least $2 off the purchase price.  Any less and you seem like a cheapskate, which could actually hurt sales.

The flyers help you in several ways:
(1)  They give your future game buyers something tangible to take home with them.
(2)  They give you a chance to sell your game to people that weren't at the convention (e.g. friends of the guy who brought the flyer home).
(3)  The coupon raises the value of the flyer and increases your chances of someone keeping it.

Put an example of play on the back side of the flyer.  You don't have to reveal all your system details, just include the content created through the game.  

Hope this helps!

Roy

The Dreamweavers Guild
A Meeting Place for Roleplayers in Northwest Arkansas
Find out more about us at www.dreamweaversguild.org

[timfire]

Thanks everyone!

First, I've decide on Andy's Japanese dice. I'm going to get 150 of these from him. Now, the options I'm thinking about:

Option 1)
-Packet of 3 dice + $3 coupon for sale for $2. (50 of these would be available)
-A mailing list that anyone can sign on to. (Maybe include a $2 coupon with this?)
-Free Generic Flyers

Option 2)
-Give a single die + a $2 coupon to anyone that demos the game or signs onto the mailing list.
-Free Generic Flyer

Option 3)
-Give a single die to anyone that demos the game or signs onto the mailing list.
-Free Flyer w/ $2 coupon.

I still like the idea of selling the dice. There's the whole idea that something you pay for is more valuable. But I don't know if the Con will be so saturated with promo items tha no one would be willing to pay for the dice.

What do people think of these ideas?

[edit]edited for stupid selling mistakes[/edit]

[daMoose_Neo]

Try to shift the focus away from "Free Dice!" to "Make a down payment now, get a Convention Edition and die free!". I'd be less put off if I know I'm making a down payment as opposed to paying for a 'promo item'. If you could boil alot of the rules down to a core, doublesided page, give away the die, you have an instant way for them to start playing or showing their friends and build some anticipation for the complete, finished product. Do that as the reward for the "down payment" and you might see some more sales. Follow up with the mailing list for the release and presto! Tis soup!
Its all about perception- I'll be a happier customer knowing I'm "laying away" a copy and getting something cool as opposed to "pay for the dice" and getting a discount on something else.

[Ed Cha]

The Japanese dice look awesome. :)

Good luck with that and save me a set if you can!

[greedo1379]

Option 1)
-Packet of 3 dice + $3 coupon for sale for $2. (50 of these would be available)
-A mailing list that anyone can sign on to. (Maybe include a $2 coupon with this?)
-Free Generic Flyers

I like this option but I would drop all the dollar ammounts by a buck.  So 1) 3 dice & $2 coupon for $1
2) Mailing list with $1 coupon
3) free generic flyers

Why?  Well, in the case of 1), I think you will get a lot of folks that will say to themselves "well, its only a buck." and go ahead and toss in.  A $2 pricetag is over the "well, its only a buck." range.  Although making it $2 will prevent a lot of guys that aren't really that interested from picking up a cool novelty item.  Which might be good too.

Also, you didn't say that 1) and 2) were mutually exclusive so I would be worried that some wiseguy would realize that if he buys the dice and signs up for the list he gets $5 off the game.  Can you afford to sell your game for $5 off?  Maybe you can and are aware of this.

And of course, free generic flyers.  You can't miss with this I don't think.  At 5 cents a copy you get something to send home with folks.  Even if a bunch end up in the trash walking away with something at least firms up the game's existance in people's minds.  And then when they filter through all the junk they end up with they can see the flyer and be reminded again.

Anyway, FWIW.