By Sven Lubek, Managing Director of WeQ

With so many mobile games on the market and such stiff competition to get high quality players, dreams of creating an incredibly popular game that goes viral in the app stores can be crushed quite easily. That is, without the right mobile game marketing.

Developing and launching a game is only the beginning of your quest. If you don’t have a good mobile game marketing strategy in place, your game will get lost in the void. The challenge is making your game stand out amongst the rest and trying to persuade people to download your game onto their devices.

Whether you have just launched a new mobile game, want to relaunch an existing mobile game, or are just merely looking for more players, there is a range of mobile game marketing tactics that you can start implementing yourself – some of them are even free or relatively inexpensive.

Here are the game marketing strategies that you can start right now, to help boost your download rate and get people talking about your game:

1. Pre-Registration Campaigns in the App Stores or a Standalone Microsite

There are many benefits to enabling players to pre-register for a game - not only is it a great strategy to promote an app in the pre-launch phase, it can also improve the odds of discoverability if done through the app stores. For instance, Google Play allows developers to create a pre-registration campaign and setup a game profile page in the store in advance. Anyone who pre-registers will automatically receive a push notification to install the game on its release from the app store. Notifications to a mass of pre-registered fans will instantly boost app downloads.

Further, many developers offer in-game rewards, such as characters or weapons, to players who pre-register. Google makes it easy to create exclusive rewards for pre-registered players.

Whether you’re using a standalone microsite or the app stores for a pre-registration campaign, you’ll want to include teaser videos and screenshots featuring game characters and either eye-catching visuals.

2. Promotional Videos and Video Ads

An action-packed video speaks infinitely more loudly than screenshots or app store descriptions. Video trailers are a must for any game launch and can be leveraged for organic as well as paid placements.

A videogame trailer should showcase the most thrilling parts of a game and what makes it unique or absolutely interesting. Try different versions at 30 seconds, 1 minute, and up to 2 minutes - any longer, and you’ll lose user attention.

3. App Store Optimization (ASO) Tactics

ASO involves several tactics of positioning your mobile game the right way to boost its visibility and ranking on the app stores. The objective is to increase discoverability of your game from the app store search results pages by amplifying relevant keywords to your game. Also, this will help drive traffic to your game's page and convert visitors into players when they download your game.

Here are the areas to maximize keyword impact for your game:

• Game title and subtitle (i.e. short description)

• Game ratings and reviews

• Game number of downloads
• Game user experience (retention, uninstalls and engagement)

Additionally, the app Icon and Screenshots also weigh heavily for ASO, both on visibility and click rate. Start by conducting research to find out the keywords that best describe your game. Additionally, analyse the keywords of games that pop up at the top of the search results to have an idea of the best keywords that describe your game.

Once you have the right keywords, you'll have to use them tactically. Keyword density, while historically a factor, is not losing weight in ASO. Use the highest traffic score and relevant keywords in your Title and Subtitle for impact.

4. Soft Launching in Test Markets

Soft launches enable marketers to test the waters without jumping in too deep. Typically, in a soft launch, a game is released into a single or a couple markets before going to mainstream markets or worldwide. This means that you’re able to see how users engage with an app, and how it performs on a smaller scale, before going any further. Currently, many publishers are soft launching in the US, in order to get a better understanding of the game in this market before deciding when to scale.

A soft launch allows you to test the acquisition costs and lifetime value (LTV) of users across localities and demographics to those matching your ideal user. Soft launches provide feedback on all kinds of data points, including app performance, budget expectations, what users like, and what they don’t, etc. From here, you can determine where and when is the best time to ramp up and increase user acquisition.

5. Cross-Promotion within Other Games

Cross-promotion can be a simple, inexpensive way to acquire new users for a game. Although, it requires thoughtfulness around the approach. Cross promotion is when an advertiser utilizes the audience segments from its existing games to advertise its new game. The aim is to acquire highly engaged users at a low cost per install (CPI).

Most of the time, the new game is the same genre as the existing game where it’s being promoted. This is because you want to target users that show interest in the same genre. It’s also a good idea to target lapsed users of your old game in order to rekindle their interest with a new game. The reason for their being lapsed users might stem from the fact that they are searching for a new gaming experience, and your new game may be what they are looking for.

6. Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is on the rise for the gaming industry. In recent years, countless gamers have started live streaming their game performances, garnering millions of followers. While gamers across the globe use lots of different platforms to connect, the most popular channels for games are YouTube and Instagram.

These gaming influencers have built up massive reach with engaged audiences who are interested specifically in gaming—making them the ideal resources for mobile game marketers to engage. Many influencers have thousands of subscribers who get a notification every time they upload a new video. Also, gaming influencers usually have their schedules visible on their profiles — in addition to maintaining social media accounts for promotions and networking — to generate visibility and interest ongoing.

Influencer marketing got very big very fast and is still growing rapidly. What’s exciting now is that this growing base of influencers can develop a variety of engaging content to promote a game and acquire new players. In today’s world of millennials and Gen Z, setting the best gaming influencer marketing strategy can be tremendously impactful to ensure your games win big.

7. Reviews and Feature Stories in the Media

There are many of online publications that publish stories about games, take IGN, GameSpot and Polygon, for instance. Having your mobile game mentioned in media helps both your game microsite’s SEO and your game’s ASO. The more backlinks from vetted sites the better.

There are several different ways to pursue media coverage - either from previews and game reviews, or from pursuing feature stories that dive into the backstory of your game. Pursue interview opportunities to talk about the game’s development as well.

And, don’t give up if your mobile game’s story doesn’t catch the interest of a reporter the first time around. There are many factors that publishers consider when covering a story, including timing and trends. Try and try again until you hit the right ones.

8. OS and ASO Localization

Explore localizing your mobile game for a wider spread of countries. It’s important to do your research because some countries may favour one operating system (iOS vs Android) over the other. For instance, according to Statista, more than 80% of smartphones currently sold are operating on Android. However, in the US, more than 50% of smartphones are iOS. When your mobile game is playable on iOS and Android devices and available in different countries, your organic reach automatically becomes larger.

You also want to consider localizing for ASO. You’ll want to localize your game’s app store description and keywords for key markets.

9. Create a YouTube Channel

Build a YouTube channel for your game. YouTube is an amazing platform for gaming companies because it can be used to release game trailers and teasers, giving viewers a quick look inside your game.

The gameplay in your videos should excite your target audience. Whether it’s a trailer, teaser or walk-through video, injecting a sense of suspense and excitement will get them to want to install your game.

As with any social media channel, you should always interact with your viewers. One method of interaction is asking for feedback at the beginning or at the end of a video. Ask what else your players want from your game. By involving them in the development process, you’ll gain a loyal player base. They’ll also want to return just to see whether you’ve added the improvements and features they’ve suggested.