Post by Grindalf Games in Marketing Ideas and Thoughts

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I think it would be a help if Itch did a wishlist function like on steam. I know you could do that by adding a game to a list but I don't think most people bother. An actual wishlist button would be nice, fast, easy, people would click it.
For instance with my game Dungeons of Mysteria I released the demo, got massive views, had quite a few people donating cash, loads of positive comments, people saying they could not wait for the full game and then when I released, very little happened(because itch gives a page a massive boost when its published but not when its released) but not many people added the game to any lists or followed me so they would not have been notified when I released the game. It almost feels like it would have been better to Delete the game page and recreate it when I made the finished game, so as to get the same front page boost(also seems like abusing a system)

For Balloonys adventure I didn't release a demo or publish the page before hand just published when it was finished but I did not expect as many sales for that as its more what you would expect to find free on mobile phone(but with ads) so I cannot say if it did better or worse :P

I think you also have to keep in mind the day of the week you release on. When are people more likely to see your game? you only have a few days where you are visible so may as well maximise those views.

animated gifs do well on twitter, images with a few seconds of action or something really cute(I am doing a zelda style game about cats so I got both of those covered)

clips need to be interesting from the start.
check out my trailer for Dungeons of mysteria Dungeons of Mysteria Trailer 2 - YouTube
It did not do very well because even though it goes lovely with the music, people are normally scrolling down twitter, reddit ect when they are on the loo, skiving at work ect so they often have the sound off, and they have a very limited time to scroll. If its not instantly eye catching they keep scrolling.

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The Star Legation2 years ago(+1)

I'm glad you brought this up, I noticed the same thing on Itch! I had lots of initial interest when first posting the game page, and just like you, a few donations for the free demo, lots of positive comments, etc. However, on release, very few views. A wishlist button would be great--they really should do this. I have my game on Steam as well, and so far have over 600 people that have wishlisted it (I think they're waiting for a sale, or maybe more reviews? Hard to say.) But at least I know people are interested and have noticed it. I feel like getting noticed on Itch is difficult after posting in new releases.

Interesting that you tried it the other way with your Balloonys adventure game. It does feel like timing is key. I think Thursdays-through Saturdays are great for game releases. The rest of the week--not so much.

I like your suggested for animated gifs on Twitter. I definitely need to do more with animation. I've tried linking youtube videos there, but somehow, mine never play, they just show up as links. I've seen people posting on twitter with high-quality videos that loop in their post. I still haven't figured out how to do that.

I liked your trailer, and felt like you got into the gameplay quickly, but I do see what you mean about a small delay before it really gets going. Good point about a video being instantly eye catching. The problem with my trailer is that the audio voice over begins with a static star background, and the "action" doesn't start until after she finishes her first sentence:

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Grindalf Games2 years ago(+1)

I liked your trailer and thought it was great but I started watching it at first with sound off(as a test as from what people tell me that is how most people watch these things on their phones) and it was boring as hell(sorry) but its great with sound on, you have put a lot of time and effort into that(I imagine a fair amount of cash as well) another thought is the target audience, My game is a fast action game, are my target audience more likely to scroll if a game looks boring in the first 5 seconds? with a visual novel people need a little more patience maybe they are less likely to scroll past so quickly if they are not instantly amused.
Maybe a shorter trailer with titles instead of voice over might work well for places like reddit and twitter though as I think they are right about the silent phone scrolling.
I think you need different types of advertising for different places and as of yet its all new to me so I am just testing things out as I go.
I look forward to seeing more posts from fellow indie devs who have more experience in this matter.

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The Star Legation2 years ago(+2)

Thanks for your feedback! Actually, I barely spent anything on the trailer--only the cost of the voice actress. I did everything else myself in a couple weeks, using the assets I already had from the game. But I do agree that it is boring without the music I wrote for it. The trouble with trailers for visual novels is that there isn't a lot of action to show, and most of the onscreen movement comes from slow zooms of the backgrounds and characters, with maybe a few clips of the text. Thankfully in my game, there are a lot of cinematic/animated moments, but back when I made this trailer, I had only programmed the first 45 minutes of the game (which is the demo) so I had to fabricate a few of the later scenes I was planning. I do think I should probably make a second, shorter demo for it that uses a lot more of the animated battle scenes.

You are definitely right that different types of advertising is needed for different places online. I plan to experiment with your idea of using gifs and I may try to put together a shorter trailer with more of the animated parts of the game on display.

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