DevDiaries #1: Cost-Effective Promo Tool
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The game market is crowded. There are lots of games and content out there, but marketing budgets are often tight. How can you make your game stand out without spending a fortune?
One solution is developer diaries. These are cost-effective marketing tools showing the development journey. These videos are a great way to grow your audience from scratch to big numbers.
Marketing Objectives
From a marketing perspective, DevDiaries can help you achieve several goals:
- Showcase unique features, artwork or gameplay mechanics to increase interest in the game.
- Create excitement about the launch day by sharing regular updates and a story that players want to follow.
- Build a strong community. DevDiaries lets players join the dev team, making them feel involved. This creates loyal fans who feel connected to the project before it's released.
- Be transparent about your process and the challenges you face. This builds trust and understanding.
- Make the most of your marketing. Each diary entry can be used for social media and press as it increases visibility. This creates a steady stream of content that can reach more people.
If you focus on these objectives, you can transform DevDiaries from simple updates into something really valuable for marketing. They'll help you maintain a consistent presence in a crowded market, build up momentum towards the game's release and keep costs under control.
Content Ideas
Alright, so you've decided to make dev diaries. But what should you show and talk about? Let's break it down:
Team interviews
Show your team's passion and build an emotional connection with your game.
Behind-the-scenes footage
Let customers see how you work. This makes them feel like they know you, which makes them more likely to stick around.
Gameplay and demos
Showcase your game in action to generate excitement and give players something to look forward to.
Technical insights
Describe new features or how you overcame a problem. This will interest people who know a lot about technology and show what your team can do.
Trivia
Tell your audience interesting facts about your game. This type of content is easy to share and may become a discussion starter.
Q&A sessions
Talk directly to your audience. Answer their questions, get their feedback and show them you care.
Simple
Yet Effective Examples
You don't need a big budget to create great developer diaries. Many small studios have used simple, honest diaries to build excitement and connect with their audience. These diaries show that even small teams can use them to market their work.
Traditional DevDiary
This is an example of a typical developer diary. The developers are talking about the game. If the video answers the questions in the audience's heads, you'll reach your target number of views.
The Diaries with a Host
One successful technique is to use a host who engages in an active dialogue with the developers. This host could be a studio employee or an invited blogger, actor or presenter. However, this approach usually requires more filming space, lighting and cameras.
Call Recording
Video diaries featuring recorded video calls with developers are becoming more common as remote work becomes the usual practice in the game development industry. This approach is effective and familiar, but the quality of audio and video can sometimes fall short of professional standards, which brings a risk of reducing viewership and engagement.
Dev’s Commentary
If the game is already out, you can skip filming and just use the developer's voice. This is cheaper, but less personal.
These examples show how DevDiaries can be used to market your business. In the next part, we'll look at how to create DevDiaries effectively, including budgeting, time management and potential challenges.
