The question of whether marketing is important in this day and age is now fairly redundant. Of course it is important. In fact, it’s not just important; it’s damn near crucial if you want your products or services to stand any chance of getting noticed in the marketplace, and this is no more prevalent than in the digital space.
Let’s take the example of the iPhone App market. Gone are the days of your killer app totting-up tens of thousands of downloads per day just off the back of it being a cool idea. Some people suggest that the app store has become saturated. This may or may not be the case; I am personally of the opinion that the iPhone App Store is yet to go through another level of maturity, and will continue to provide developers with a healthy revenue stream, but this will only be the case for apps with a strong marketing strategy. So the question then becomes, not whether marketing is important, but who is going to roll-up their sleeves and 'do' the marketing.
Larger development studios with dedicated marketing personnel should have this covered, but what about the smaller teams and the one-man-bands? The two most likely approaches would be for them to submit their app to a publisher, or go it alone and self-publish.
With this second approach in mind, we’ve been running a placement scheme where graduates from Marketing, PR and Digital Communications courses are placed within digital/games companies. It gives them the opportunity to contribute to the tactical and marketing plan of a growing business, while the company gets the chance to experience the value of having some extra marketing expertise on board.
It's still in its pilot year, but the feedback we've had from participating companies is highlighting just how much these skills are needed in such a rapidly growing industry.
One such placement was hosted at mobile games publisher Chillingo, where trainee Rebecca Jones had the opportunity to experience both approaches to app publishing. When asked for her perspective on the subject of self-publishing vs. publisher, this is what Rebecca advised developers to take into consideration:
It's one thing to have a perfectly polished app, it's another for it to get the exposure and recognition it deserves. Indie app developers need to give serious thought to how they are going to market their app. Relying on people to find you in the sheer mass of apps on the App Store is somewhat akin to asking them to look for a needle in a haystack. As a result, choosing to self-publish or to go with a publisher can be a pivotal decision in the overall success of your game.
Choose your publisher wisely, look at their back catalogue and the success of their titles. Does your game fit with their portfolio and, most importantly, do you want your app to be associated with that brand? A great publisher will already have a massive list of industry contacts, including key press and reviewers. They will also have an established relationship with Apple, which could help in attaining the holy grail of an Apple feature.
Don't be too precious about your app: a publisher knows the industry standards so they will assess the quality of your game and will give you honest feedback. At the end of the day they want to market a great product and will help you get to that stage, so be prepared to listen to their advice. A publisher usually requires a commission, though if you pick the right partnership the overall sales can be far greater than you would have ever achieved on your own.
If you decide to go it alone and self-publish you need to be prepared to roll up your sleeves and immerse yourself in digital marketing. There is a lot of useful literature out there aimed at helping you. The 'Winning iPhone Strategies’ report by Kisky Netmedia is a great place to start. Talk to other developers, go to conferences, network your socks off and get as many tips from your peers as possible. Try to get a contact at Apple and show them your app, if they really like it they may be able to recommend it as a 'staff favourite' on the App Store.
Think about your target audience and how you can reach them. You may want to set up and maintain a Twitter feed, Facebook group, YouTube channel, and a microsite for the app. Build up your own contact list of target press and reviewers, then make sure you actually write press releases and send out promo codes. You could also integrate a social networking platform into your game such as Crystal, Open Feint, Scoreloop or Agon. These allow you to add in social features that increase product visibility via friend recommendations. These will help with the discovery of your product long after it drops out of the top 100 in the App Store.
At the end of the day it is up to you to decide whether to self-publish or use a publisher, but either way don't sit on your laurels and expect it to sell itself. Generate a buzz and make sure you listen to the critics, as they will help you identify what needs to be fixed in the updates.
Rebecca Jones
