I am 100% new to online marketing, but it's something I feel strongly for. I am going to start working with a game review website and I was wondering if anyone here can give me some tips on how to get it's name out there. I have already read some posts about similar topics. Is there anything else you guys could offer me in terms of wisdom? if so, then please I am all ears
You should make a marketing plan. You can never plan enough and its importent that you stick to it. Make a google+, facebook, twitter and maybe youtube accounts related to the website aswell. On your website for the posts you should make a share button on each new post so people can share it to there friends. Consider making a video version of your reviews aswell for the youtube account and aim at something like 2 videos a week. For your facebook page you can make a short version of the review and then put in "read it all here: www.website.com". Your twitter should be more of a personal thing that will let people know what you are doing, thinking and upcomming news aswell as "just released, go check out" kinda thing. Dont expect to get 1000's of visitors in the beginning but if you keep releasing good content and stay up to date with the social media you will get there. Later on when you got some content and people have started to visit your site over and over you can start thinking about advertising. Either talk to other sites and bloggers about link exchange or you can pay for adds. I know you can get adds on a site like Newgrounds or you can simply use google adsense and yahoo. These are just some tips and there is alot more you can do but again.. make a plan and stick to it! If people expect new content every second day then give them content every second day. As soon as you start slacking you will lose visitors. And have good SEO on your website ofcause but I guess you either are or got a man for this. Good luck with the project!
The marketing plan idea is not bad but in most cases you will just stay there... in your marketing plan. I suggest action instead. If you already have the domain, start working on the design right away and even if it's not completely finished, start writing. I am sure you've played many, many games you'd like to write about. At this point you probably know how important content is and you don't want to be lack of it. So write The important thing is to start, you will more likely change your direction a lot of times before you can stick to a "marketing plan". Hope it helps!
My answer is based on him having a site and content already in place. You can have the worlds best content on your site but if you dont let people know you exist you wont get any visitors. The thing about a plan is to make it so you dont spend alot of time actually doing it. Lets take facebook as an example.. at 3pm the most people are on facebook and this is when you want to release something like a content preview. All the content you are going to put up on facebook should already be written so the only thing you have to do is copy/paste.. move on. Its a very good idea to have a few posts already written so that you never end up having to write something on the spot. Same goes for website content and youtube videos. Make a "plan" that says something like: Everyday at 3pm I post on facebook Thuesday and friday i post a video on youtube etc etc And do not forgget to be active on game forums! When you release something for lets say World of Warcraft then go to all the releated forums and post that you just have made a review of the game and so on.. You might change your direction alot of times but the marketing will most likely stay the same. Nothing motivates you more then visitors and feeback.
For starting out, you pointed out some great things to get started. I completely agree that having a plan is invaluable. Do you suggest any particular places to find a marketing plan?
No I would highly suggest making your own as you go. I does ofcause depend on what your target audiance is but research is king here. Find out where your target is, when they are there and so on. A marketing plan does not need to complex and actually the more simple you can make it the better. Otherwice you might find youself getting stressed out. Here are some points to consider when making your plan: Company mission: what is it that you want to do Long-Term goals: big milestones like being nr1 or getting 1million$ (dont be afraid to make it a "dream goal") Shot-Term goals: smaller milestones for you to focus on Strengths: where are you strong Weaknesses: where are you weak Budget: how much money you can spend on marketing Customer analysis: age, gender, where do they spend time on the web, etc Competitor analysis: where are they weak, strong, etc and then you want to write how you are going to market yourself. This is very dependent on your situation so I cant give that many pointers besides: Facebook: 2 posts a week Youtube: 1 video a week Google adsense: Budget of 200$ a month and so on.. I hope this will help someone and lead you on the way. The reason this is importent to do is so that you dont end up in a situation where you dont know what to do. If you spend 1-2 days figuring out most of this then you can avoid alot of mistakes down the road.
You pointed out some great things there. What it seems like you're saying, a SWOT analysis would be very helpful. Basically, you evaluate what you're good what you're not good at and go from there. And from that analysis you can base your marketing plan on it.
Exactly but a SWOT analysis is only a part of the planning. I suggest you consider budget, competition, goals, potential customers and so on aswell. Remeber again this is just what I would do. There is no guideline to planning.
Get accounts with all of the social media. Have a signature in your email. You can even send out emails to your friends and colleagues and ask them to pass the information on. Participate in forums that pertain to your particular topic and have a signature. You can join some list builders and send out emails about your company too. Write articles explaining what you are offering at article writing directories.
For sure, knowing all the parts of the process is key. By doing your research and knowing what you are looking for and who you are targeting can go a long way.
Money isn't my department. I will get more information as I go and keep in touch. Questions will be asked.