Guerilla marketing for RPG Publishers

[Michael Hopcroft]

I remember once picking up a book about "Gureilla Marketing", which does not involve bursting into a game shop with machine guns and telling everyone to buy your product or die (that would be counter-productive). I don't rememebr it very well -- it was a long time ago -- but I was wondering if there are some sorts of guerilla techniques that an RPG publisher liike myself 9especially one who depends on the Internet for most of his sales) could use to increase his market penetration and his sales, and thus improve his bottom line.

[Clay]

I picked up Guerilla Marketing for the Internet earlier this week. It was shockingly boring.  Specifically, I didn't find anything in the book that wasn't in every other marketing book.

1001 Marketing Tips, which was right next to it on the shelf, actually was pretty good.  There were a lot of neat ideas for getting peoples' attention, especially people who can help you market your product.

One of the better ones was to start taking newspaper reporters out to lunch, and specifically reporters who might have cause to write about your business.  Somebody who might cover a local business beat, or a lifestyles writer.

Also, some good techniques for getting yourself free publicity via radio callin shows.  I don't know how useful some of this stuff is for indie games, but it seemed like a pretty good idea for my own business.

[Perrina]

I highly recommend Guerilla Marketing for Writers, published by Writer's Digest Books (it seems all of the GM books are published by different companies):

http://www.writersdigest.com/store/booksdisplay.asp?id=10667

And here's a site with the TOC:

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/writers/59455

Since you are talking about promoting books, this may be a good start.  One of my favorite ideas had to do with other ways to use the same material over and over again for self-promotion.  

For example, you could target game magazines with excerpts, examples of the game in play, an article on the artist, the author, a new concept you used in creating the game, etc.  

You could host an open playtest at a store or with an afterschool group- the first article would advertise the event, let everyone know what will be going on; the second article would be a recap of the event, talk about who showed up, what went on, quotes from attendees, etc.  

You could spread the word across the states by visiting local gaming group sites, ask for demo leaders, have them hold playtests, more articles, more exposure.

These are just a few ideas, maybe not the best, but maybe worth a try.  Here's a link to the official GM site:

http://www.gmarketing.com

Hope this helps.

Kerrie

[Mike Holmes]

I picked up Guerilla Marketing for the Internet earlier this week. It was shockingly boring. Specifically, I didn't find anything in the book that wasn't in every other marketing book.

So you're saying that the title of the book was just a marketing ploy???

;-)

Mike

[Clay]

So you're saying that the title of the book was just a marketing ploy???

Yeah. It did, fortunately, have a section on choosing attention-getting titles.  So at least it covered its own strategies.  But you won't find anything unorthodoxed in this book.

[realms_creator]

Get you some business cards made up. Instead of the normal name address phone number just but a web address. Then insert these cards in all the top RPG books out there. Now when someone opens the book BAM the card falls out. Now if you only include the web address people are going to log on to your site.Once there they will be sucked in to your game.

Here is one thing that works.

Go to the largest game store in your area. ASk them to put your book out in the store in view. Instead of selling them the books. You give them say like 1.00 per book that they sell.Then after about 30 days run your game at the same location and invite others at the location at the next game.
Once you get people involved in the game they will buy your books and games.

[DP]

insert these cards in all the top RPG books out there. Now when someone opens the book BAM the card falls out.

I wouldn't recommend doing this at your FLGS (Friendly Local Games Store), or BAM they'll kick your ass and won't implement your second idea:

Go to the largest game store in your area. ASk them to put your book out in the store in view. Instead of selling them the books. You give them say like 1.00 per book that they sell.Then after about 30 days run your game at the same location and invite others at the location at the next game.
Once you get people involved in the game they will buy your books and games.

I like the idea, but why not run games simultaneously with the books being visible? That way, you're doing much more to create a need.

It also occurs to me that retailers might need a pretty serious incentive to give prime shelf space to an indie book. Any ideas on how to do that, other than to lay out money?

[realms_creator]

Go and buy a used newspaper rack one big enoungh to hold a few of your books. I am not talking like the ones outside stores but like the ones in NYC at the paper stands. Now call your local game store and ask if you can run a game there one night and set up your game rack.




We have done this and it worked for us

[Bankuei]

Hi Michael,

Have you gotten postive feedback and actual play reports from folks?  That would be the #1 way to drum up some grassroots support.  The Forge has several examples.  Can you get a couple of heartfelt enthusiasts to post here, and perhaps on rpg.net about their play experiences?  

While the fan-boy attitude may turn some folks off, it almost guarantees a couple of people will check it out, and probably increase a few sales.  Other things that would work for you specifically maybe to show some examples of artwork in your books(since anime is such a visually orientated thing).

Chris

[realms_creator]

That is name of our game. For every race,class,weapon we have them in the players book.Now in the judge book we have it set up where the book is the judge screen.We have 50 monster pictures and other pictures to help out the game.

Now for are game we have a whole history in the players book.But each month we do a new judge book with an adventure that starts off at where the other left off.

Always remember this dont just sell your product sell yourself as well.

[cognizantchance]

hmmm....I'd think the place where guerilla marketing would get the most play would be at a convention.

In my comic-book days, people used to get a lot of exposure by making insulting  mini-comics about the well-known names at the convention. But, honestly its not the insult that's the point, it's that the promotional product is similar to the actual product, which means it falls into the right hands.

So why not make outrageous, free, one-page RPG's if something like that is possible.

They can be put up as a webpage. I'd argue that a link to that is just as effective as a link to your core materials, because presumably a promotional game of humorous or outrageous content would have a wider spread than your own indie game, because its more likely to recieve the viral effect of getting spread by others.

They can be printed as a one-off broadsheet and handed out at conventions and on the "free-stuff" shelf in a game store.

As an example, remember recently all the attention paid the d20 Sex Supplement--Book of Erotic Love or whatever it was? If somebody had thrown together a one-page parody of the book and spread it to the forums and newsgroups, they would have seen plenty of traffic of likely game buyers and an opportunity to convert them to sales.

Just a thought,

Joe Preston
Cognizant Chance

[DP]

Dibs on "Lejendary Sexual Adventures"!

Speaking of cons, one guerilla marketing tactic in I think '95 was having a couple of guys dressed in Big Scary Costumes just wandering around GenCon, with the CCG they were promoting prominently displayed (did they hand out sample cards? I remember not).

Hm. Mix Guerilla Theatre with guerilla marketing? An impromptu performance of Marat-Gygax-Sade, perhaps?

It boggles the mind.

Don't forget hacking the mainstream media like the local dead-tree newspaper; every little notice or article gets a few people who "never knew you guys even existed." This happy hair-farmer is going to get the small-town paper to note that I, a "local computer consultant," am donating a ponytail to Locks of Love. Gets my "brand" out there, which could have easily been a mention of a games company with which I was affiliated.