Successful Strategies to Promote your First Online Game

Posted by Denny Cheyn on January 21st, 2021

Building a game is one thing but promoting it can be very confusing. There are many ways to promote anything online. But where do you start? I am a game developer with a big experience in this field. Moreover, I am a big slot fanatic. I usually play for free online with no download and no registration needed.

I noticed that creating great gaming products is not a guarantee of the success of your project. I built an online product similar to slot machines but with no money wins and thought I had to show it to people. It was rooky but I learned more and found some promotional actions that work. So, I thought I should share them with others who are also looking for methods on how to promote their projects. Keep reading! 

Use Social Media

Create a unique account only for this reason. Don’t just promote it on your personal pages. Make a new profile for the games to promote. Then start posting there at least twice a week. Use pictures, videos, demos, making-off shots, everything that will keep your audience interesting.

You can also get feedback. Repost stuff you want a second opinion for, on your personal accounts, and maybe on some groups with creators like you. This will give traffic and feedback at the same time. 

Limelight Networks report called “State of Online Gaming”, showed that, in 2019, the average person of the 18-25 age group played games for 7.78 hours per week.

Cross-Promotion with Other Games, I have fond only for 2019y

There are countless websites that gather games to keep all of them and their users in one place. One of the websites that do this very well is pokieslab.com which collects only slots. There are websites for any kind of slot that will be open to new additions. This is a good way of promotion because people have already decided to play something similar to your game, when entering the listings website.

Another way of cross-promotion is ads. This might be a bit of a stretch for a first game, but if you have more coming and need an audience, this can be a good choice. Explore your options of ads on websites, blogs, even Google.

Create a Website

You cannot make a Google add without a website. Building a website is easy and it can be very effective for promotion. You can make your own space on the web for your product and drive people to it! A good choice would be a WordPress site, but you should consider smaller sites or blogs on different platforms for a smaller but more engaging audience. 

Wherever you built it, make sure to track analytics. You want people to play your game and Google is not the only tool. Many other sources will offer insights into your promotional efforts. 

Create Forums for your Users

Forums combine many of the things already discussed. Your users can find your profile, leave reviews and feedback, discuss your projects or even start communicating with you. This is a classic old way of interacting with others but it still works. People want to get advice and information on products, especially games. You can also pop up to answer their questions and connect with them. 

Add a link to the forum on your website to urge players to discuss anything they want at a specific place. It will be easier for you to reply to one specific medium than on many social media accounts.

Video Previews of the Game

You should show off as much as you can from your new development. Promotional videos and demos can help in this case. Make a short video and publish it everywhere. Make sure anyone who finds you will see it. I’m talking on the top of your website, on your Facebook page, on Instagram, on any add. Repeatedly seeing something makes people want to try it. Make sure the video is high quality and suits the right dimensions of each medium. 

Add it to some Stores

This is the most important step. Find an app market where you can put your game on. There are many app markets you can choose from with. Just make a simple Google search. Some apps will let you upload it for free. Others are targeting specific countries, age groups, etc. The most popular platforms, in this case, are Google Play Store and App Store.  

My Experience in the Game Promotion

All of these actions worked for my game. I got decent viewings and feedback. Here is what I did in the following order:

1. Make a demo;

2. Create a website;

3. Create social media accounts;

4. Add it to stores;

5. Cross-promotion with other products;

6. Build a forum.

After every step, I followed up on my feedback to make my slot better. I changed it a little bit, to make it work more like free online pokie Where's the Gold by Aristocrat where you can try to hit the jackpot and win up to 1,000 in-game coins or a ,000 payout. The pokie offers a solid 94,9% Return to Player (RTP) value and is available in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It has 5 reels and 25 paylines. The game also features several symbols that increase winning odds vastly such as Scatter Dynamite (triggers up to 10 extra spins and sends players to the Gold Digging bonus round), Wild Gold (offering up to x1,000 the original wager), Prospector, Mine, Wagon, Lamp and others. Aristocrat's Where's the Gold also offers up to 100 spins as long as the chosen symbol becomes the Wild Gold—and streaking Gold Nugget bonuses as Miner leads to even bigger winning streaks. It takes a --content--,50 minimum price to play the pokie while a maximum of would spin the reels for higher stake players. 

Similarly to other games made by Aristocrat, Where's the Gold free pokies need no download nor account registration and can it is compatible with every mobile device available, including iPhone, iPad and Android devices. You can also play it on a standard personal computer.