{Article} Basic Marketing Strategies

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

Basic Marketing Strategies
                     By Cynthia Celeste Miller

Marketing is really little more than the application of common sense.  Hopefully, this article will give you some insight on how to turn potential customers into customers and then turn customers into return customers.  Most of what this document contains is general information, while some of it pertains directly to marketing game products.

I'll be using my actual experience with Cartoon Action Hour as an example all throughout.  


Strengths and Weaknesses
To successfully market a product, you must determine not only its strengths, but its shortcomings as well.  The first part is easy.  The second part, not so much.  But the fact is that every product has its limitations and pinpointing them can prove very beneficial to your success.

Ask yourself, "What does my product offer the customer?"

There are numerous game products out there, all of which are vying for the same customers that your product hopes to attract.  By determining its strengths, you'll have a better understanding of what points to advertise and promote.  Jot down the 5 best things about your product and study those things.  Having a "kewl setting" isn't going to cut it.  You need to figure out specifically what makes it "kewl".  Break it down.  

When determining the strengths, be objective.  Think about it from the customer's point of view.  Sure, you may think the task resolution system is the bee's knees, but what does it offer the customer that he or she can't get anywhere else?  

Determining weaknesses can be more difficult, as no one wants to think that their product has any.  Realistically, a product cannot do everything, nor should it have to.  The idea though is to track down the weaknesses and minimize them in your promotional material.  We'll discuss this in more detail later.  

Example:  When I set out to determine the strengths and weaknesses for Cartoon Action Hour, I knew that its main strength was that the 1980s action cartoon genre had never really been covered in the RPG industry, so I wrote it down.  Second of all was that it could evoke feelings of nostalgia, which is a hugely powerful emotion.  Furthermore, I felt that our Special Ability creation rules, which allow you to create your own powers, weapons, spells, vehicles, animal companions or equipment, could be construed as a strength.  Another plus is that CAH is crammed full of series (aka campaign) seeds, so that went on my list.  Finally, the fact that the book is actually two books in one is a powerful marketing idea, so that was my number five.

For the weaknesses, I had to look very deep, as it's not always easy to spot in your own product.  To begin with, CAH doesn't do realism terribly well.  The entire product was aimed at emulating the retro-toons which never had much basis in realism.  So, this limited what CAH could be used for without any tinkering by the players and GM.  Furthermore, we didn't have a huge budget to work with.  We could afford a good amount of artwork, but we weren't able to go full color.  Not a terribly big disadvantage in most games, but considering that the cartoons were so vivid and colorful, I was afraid that this might act as a detriment.


Press Releases
The initial press release is the most crucial one you'll ever write, as it's often where potential customers will initially get the low-down on your product.  First impressions and all that.  If the information given within the press release tickles a person's fancy, then you've possibly got a customer.  Or at the very least, you'll have someone who's willing to find out more.  Either one is good for business.

If, on the other hand, the press release doesn't appeal to the person, he or she will either be directly turned off to the product or be apathetic toward it.  Obviously, neither of these are good.  It means you'll have to work even harder to pull the person into the customer base later on down the road.

So, when preparing that initial press release, put every shred of your effort into it.  Show it to other people, not just friends (who will be more inclined to tell you it's good).  Go for a mix between industry folks and game fans.  Make sure it's the best it can be in order to get the attention your product deserves.

A press release speaks volumes for your product and your company as a whole.  A well-written and informative press release indicates that you care about the project at hand.  It says that you put effort into whatever you do and people will think of you as a professional rather than "just some people writing game material".  Coming off like a garage-based operation is not a good marketing tactic... even if that's indeed what you are.

A shoddy press release just looks bad.  It looks bad for your product and it looks bad for yourself.  Few people will buy into a product if the press release is laden with typos and incorrect grammar.  Editing is a godsend, so please don't overlook it.  My grammar isn't perfect.  Anyone who has edited my work can tell you that.  That's the point.  There are others out there who will happily do an edit for you.  Just ask around.

Now, we should discuss content.  You can churn out a grammatically correct, prose-like press release but if it isn't informative and at least mildly entertaining, then you risk losing your audience.

The number one goal is to tell people what your game product is all about.  Be clear, be concise and be compact.  Get your point across and get off the stage.  I'm not going to tell you that a press release should be X amount of words or X amount of paragraphs.  Honestly, it varies from product to product and one should not feel compelled to sticking to a formula.

The first paragraph should tell everything that a reader needs to know in order to at least gain a rudimentary grasp on what the product is.  Often, people read the first paragraph or so and then move on to something else, unless they are somehow compelled to keep reading.  So make sure that they want to keep reading, but if they don't, then at least they know what your product is about.  

Another point I want to make is that you should do your best to make the reader comfortable.  If you merely rattle off the information in a ho-hum manner, it's going to show.  Be professional but be personable too.  This is something I learned from numerous business books over the years.  Nothing turns people off faster than someone who acts like a robot.  Make them feel at home when they read your press release.  You're a company, sure, but you're also a person.  A person who cares about the product and about the customers as well.  

Example:  When putting together my first press release, I decided to personalize it, but I wasn't sure how.  I looked over dozens of press releases and tried to analyze them from a neutral standpoint.  Which ones made me feel comfortable and why?  I noticed that the ones which featured the designers and publishers being quoted (as if in an interview) drew me in.  It made me think of the company as people rather than just as an anonymous, faceless company.  Hoping that others would feel the same, I began utilizing quotes in my press releases.

So, what kind of information should an initial press release contain?  The most important thing, as I mentioned, is that the reader understands your product.  You should also specify a projected release date, a page count estimate and, if possible, a price.  The rest is purely a matter of playing to the strengths that you listed on your piece of paper.  Just as importantly, downplay the weaknesses as well.  Saying, "This book may only have six villains in it, but they are all awesome" is probably a bad idea.  That sentence draws attention to a potential weakness right up front.  A weakness is only a weakness if the potential customer thinks about it.  If it's not mentioned or turned into an advantage, then you're okay.  The quote above could be re-worded as follows: "This product features six awesome villains that can be used in any campaign."  This doesn't draw attention to the number of villains and it further casts another positive light on the matter by adding "that can be used in any campaign".

Now, I want to make a point clear.  I do not encourage lackluster products, in any way, shape or form.  When I discuss hiding weaknesses, I do not endorse lying.  That's bad business and worse ethics.  But every product has shortcomings, no matter how great it is.  Casting a positive light rather than a negative one is just plain ol' common sense.


Pimping Your Product
It may seem smarmy, it may seem pushy, but pimping your product is possibly the most effective way to create brand awareness without spending any money.  What does pimping involve?  Lots of things, actually.  But we'll get into that here shortly.

Before you can start properly pimping your product, you're going to need a website to direct people to.  This doesn't have to be an elaborate corporate website.  It can even be the simplest of webpages.  But it absolutely must have something of value there.  Something that, like the press release, really grabs the reader.  Think of your webpage as a multi-page flyer.  It's a huge advertisement, where every single word, every single picture and every single formatting technique is designed with one goal in mind: to make people want your game.

You should include a fairly detailed description of the product along with some preview material of some sort.  Whet their apetites and get them clamoring for more.  Free material is starting to become a mandatory thing in the industry these days, so you should by all means include a demo version of your product or maybe a sample chapter.  This becomes even more important if your product is a PDF product, as this serves as the equivalent of allowing the potential customer to thumb through the book at a game store.  Last but not least, you should have a "shopping cart" program hooked up so you can sell the product.  

What I've listed above is just a start -- the core components.  You can build outward from there, adding more tidbits like forums or whatever else takes your fancy.  Be creative.  Once you've got your site up and running, you should push it to the moon.  Now, we get back to the question of "What does pimping involve?"

To begin with, scour the internet for appropriate forums and email discussion groups.  Try to find not just game-related forums and groups, but also ones related (even loosely) to the subject matter dealt with in your product.  Bookmark them into a separate folder so you'll have easy access to them all.  Believe me, you'll be visiting often.

Example:  I poured over hundreds of groups and forums while seeking good ones for Cartoon Action Hour.  Obviously, the general gaming sites were bookmarked.  I was already a known member of several such communities, which helped immensely.  Once I located all the game-related ones, I branched out a bit.  Since my game was about the cartoons of the 1980s, I hunted down cartoon fan-sites, which often had forums.  I haunted those every single day, which took a bit of time, but it was worth it.  Furthermore, I located some really good '80s nostalgia forums and groups.  

Many forums allow you to have a sig file.  This, my friends, is like a billboard waiting to happen.  Set your sig file so that it lists your name, your company's name, your role at the company (president, line developer, etc.), your website's URL and maybe even a quick blurb like "Check out our great new game, (insert game name here)!"  If the forum enables you to use html or UBB code, then use bold lettering and a different color than the default.  This makes your "billboard" stand out from the crowd, which is Step One of getting noticed.

What follows is establishing a relationship with the denizens of the forums/groups.  Make some posts there and mingle a bit.  Get people used to your being there.  If you see a thread that gives you a good opportunity to pimp your product, then waste no time doing so.

Example:  On RPG.net in particular, there was an influx of people asking the forum denizens what system would work best to run, say, Transformers or GI Joe or Masters of the Universe or Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors.  So, I would immediately go into a pitch for Cartoon Action Hour.  Believe it or not, we netted a lot of sales this way.

Now, some people on forums and groups get rubbed the wrong way if you pimp too often.  The last thing you want to do is alienate the populace.  You have a couple options here.  One of which is the one I took.  I turned my pimping into an in-joke.  As a result, people expected me to pimp my game and I wasn't about to disappoint.  I just kept my pimping rather tongue in cheek.  Another option is to back off a bit whenever the posters start complaining.  Step back and go into "pimp lite" mode for awhile.  Concentrate on other forums and groups while that one cools down.

Pimping your product can be time consuming, but it's free.  Word of mouth is a powerful thing and pimping is a good way to get that ball rolling.  It's quite possible to spend several hours every day pimping your product.  While this does take precious time away from your other activities, it will not go to waste and you will not regret it.  Time well spent indeed.


Maintaining Interest
It's relatively easy to gain an initial interest in your product.  The same cannot be said for keeping that interest.  Getting your product into the spotlight is just the beginning.  Once it's there, you need to devise ways to keep the gaming populace's attention.  There will be new products coming down the pike like an endless tidal wave and each one (intentionally or not) seeks to knock your product from the spotlight and hog it for themselves.  And they do have a certain advantage in that they are the "hot new thing".  

Don't be discouraged though, as there are advantages that your established product has.  It's just a matter of tapping into them and bringing them to the forefront.  The main advantage you have is that people know your product.  Humans are creatures of habit and if people are familiar with your product (or better yet, use your product), they're going to be more inclined to think of it first.  Ever seen the stodgy old veterans who still swear by their favorite games from the 1970s or '80s?  Well, that's a mighty fine example of this advantage.

Another nice trick to pull from your sleeve is to establish your product as a line.  Perhaps the best way to combat the "big new thing" is to release an expansion or supplement to your existing product, turning it from a solitary product into a full-blown product line.  This, in effect, makes your product the "big new thing" again, while still enjoying the benefits of already being established.  Plus, it builds trust with the customers as it shows continued interest from you.

Advertising is a great way to keep your product in the minds of the gaming community.  Banner ads on well-travelled websites are fairly inexpensive and offer a great deal of exposure.  Print ads in magazines are only effective if you can afford to purchase one in several consecutive issues.  This is beyond the budget of most small game companies.
Interest can also be maintained by creating flyers or small posters.  Talk to gaming store owners across the country (or even world) and ask if they'll display your flyers.

One of the most effective ways of maintaining interest is the continued use of press releases.  Of course, you need to actually have something worthwhile to say, otherwise it just looks desperate and sad.  Maybe you're planning a big event at a major convention.  Or perhaps you're planning a follow-up product.  Whenever something interesting develops, send out a press release.  You'd be surprised at how many people read press releases.

One of my favorite tactics is to run a contest.  This can also be used when a product first hits the stands, but doing a contest later on when people know your product is probably more effective.  A contest gets people more involved and draws them in.  Participation is good, as it represents more than people just talking about your product -- it represents people doing something creative with the product.  The gaming community responds better to products that people want to jump in and participate in.  A great marketing move.

The entire goal of maintaining interest is to show people that it's not a dead product or one that just sits on shelves collecting dust.  Projecting an image that it's a product that gamers use is crucial for the prosperity of a product.


Reviews
As I mentioned previously, magazine ads are prohibitive (cost-wise) for most small-press companies.  But, you can go one step better -- by sending magazine reviewers a complementary copy of your product.  They may or may not review it, so you might want to contact them first, to ask if they're interested in reviewing your product.  Sure, you'll be giving away some copies that you could otherwise sell, but it's a trade-off.  In return, you'll likely more than make up for your "loss" considering the number of people who will see the product review in the magazine.

Believe it or not, the majority of the world's gaming populace doesn't lurk online all day, looking for new games to consume.  In fact, many of them don't even use the internet.  Having your product reviewed in a magazine might be your only chance (aside from conventions) to reach the "mainstream" game market.  

Furthermore, a review is leaps and bounds more useful than a traditional print  advertisement.  It gives readers an overview of the product from an unbiased source rather than a bunch of hyperbole created by the game company to sell books.  

Magazines aren't the only options available to you.  Many gaming community websites feature reviews.  Locate a handful of these reviewers and offer to send them comp copies in return for an honest and fair review.  

You should research the reviewers before striking a deal with them.  Sure, you want an genuinely fair review, but it doesn't hurt to stack the deck a bit.  Study the reviewers' work.  Find out what they tend to like and dislike in a product and choose accordingly.  If Reviewer X prefers games with lots of detail and charts for every possible situation, you'd be defeating yourself if you send him a comp copy of your rules-lite roleplaying game.  Pick your targets carefully.


Convention Presence
Nothing says "I care about my product" more efficiently than maintaining presence at conventions.  While it's impossible to hit every convention, you should strive to hit the major cons (GenCon Indy, GenCon SoCal, Origins, etc.) and perhaps a few minor ones in your area.

Getting a booth/table is worth its weight in gold, though it is expensive, especially at the large cons.  By driving up the amount of overhead, you're taking a larger risk, so make the most of it.  Run demos, talk your product up to anyone who'll lend you their ear, get to know people and just generally establish yourself as a professional.  People respect professionalism.  Without respect, you're unlikely to sell many copies at conventions.

If you get a booth, there are numerous little tricks you can utilize to draw people into your product(s).  I hesitate to call them "tricks" because the word "trick" implies that you're swindling someone and this really isn't the case.  What you are doing is attempting to expose as many people to your product as you can.

First of all, you need to run demos or hire others to run them for you.  You should put a lot of effort into these demos if you want to hook potential customers.  This cannot be stressed enough.  You should also labor to get your crap together ahead of time so the demos can be listed in the convention guide.  Failing to do so is a terrible missed opportunity and you may have a difficult time trying to fill all your available slots.  Even if your demos are listed in the guide, you'll still want to seek other forms of advertising for them.  One good method is to place a large dry erase board at your booth where everyone can see it.  On this board should be the day's demo schedule.  Use blue or red markers, because basic black won't catch the eye as well.

Also, consider placing a big bowl full of candy at your booth.  Nearly everyone likes candy, so you'll draw in folks who might not otherwise stop in.  While the candy grabbers are there, you can ask them if they'd like to to tell them about your product.  I saw this technique used very convincingly at GenCon Indy and it worked like a charm.

Along the same lines as the candy method, you can offer free stuff like posters, flyers, buttons, pens or whatever doo-dads you feel like giving out.  People dig free stuff.  And that free stuff may as well be an advertisement your your product.  If, for example, you give someone a button with your product on it and they wear it at the convention, the person is effectively a walking billboard for you and your company.

Fortunately, you don't have to obtain a booth in order to use most of the methods we discussed.  You can always work out a deal with someone who does have a booth and sell your product(s) through them.  It saves you money, though you will lack the visibility that you'd have if you paid for your own booth.  

The final option is to make arrangements with the fine folks at the Forge online community to sell your goods at their "indie RPG" booth that they set up at major conventions.  The booth gets a great deal of traffic, which increases visibility quite a lot.


Conclusion
Marketing your product effectively and masterfully doesn't require you to take college courses on the subject (though it couldn't hurt).  Armed with a bit of ingenuity, persistence and devotion, you can make people sit up and take notice.  Best of all, it doesn't have to drain your bank account.  The game market can be a tricky obstacle course, full of potholes, bumps and booby traps.  A sound marketing strategy can help you traverse it without taking any nasty spills.  Good luck!

[Luke]

thanks Cynthia!

[ethan_greer]

Yes, thanks.  An enjoyable, informative read.

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

Thanks, guys.  I sincerely hope it helps you out.

[Jonathan Walton]

You should send this to Clinton so he can post it in the articles section.  I've already bookmarked it to use when I get around to marketing Argonauts.