This presentation was given at the Evolve 2011 conference in Brighton and is focused on the best practice to market and promote free online games funded through microtransactions.
2. Marketing in the Age of Microtransactions Julien Wera - ICO Partners
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10. Uncreative Data-Driven Marketing Without creativity : it works, it’s relatively safe, but it won’t differenciate you from the competition.
11. Creative Data-Driven Marketing Data-Driven + Creativity : Data gives you the foundation, of your marketing, creativity brings this little extra that will make you special.
Pre-launch for Pre-Orders and to maximize the launch. Focus on the « launch effect » because of the limited retail space. Then do nothing, except sometimes on DLCs.
« Launch effect » is usually negative : at « launch » (Open Beta), a game is rarely stable enough to properly retain and monetize users Userbase is built over time, on the long run
Bumps for expansion launches and specific push Marketing spendings grow along with the revenue Requires ongoing optimization and testing
Anybody can organize events, but it’s up to the studio to make them newsworthy through assets, creative communication, etc.
Marketing is a lot of money to put in the hands of the wrong people Young people with no preconceptions might be more effective than expensive old-wolves with the wrong habits
Can be interesting for communication and visibility, but shouldn’t be a focus, and will only represent a very small share of your userbase.
