In my last column I introduced you to the sales funnel. A funnel is a conceptual model for how to move someone from not being aware of your game all the way to laying down the money to buy it. It is a marketing system. It was a pretty heady subject so I kept it high level. 

Well, this week I want to get deep into the weeds and take a look at specific marketing tactics and where in the funnel they are best utilized. 

Strategies vs tactics

The first thing to know is you should not and cannot do all of these for a single game. The following lists are just tactics. And tactics are worthless by themselves. You really need to chain together these tactics in a larger more cohesive strategy. 

You also need to pick tactics that work for the type of game and the strengths that you have. If you have never released a game before it is going to be hard to get the press to write about you. So consider focusing more on trying to build your app store / Steam page presence so it is easier to find your game. 

But most importantly, don’t just focus on one level of the funnel. You need to carefully move your potential fans through each level and have something that would be interesting for them. Rarely does someone see one screenshot and immediately buy. 

Triggers

In the real world, funnels move water down automatically via gravity. Unfortunately, in marketing, fans do not move down as easily. Instead, you need to actively encourage people to take specific actions to get deeper into your sales funnel.

If you have ever asked fans to “Follow me on Twitter” you have use a trigger. If you have asked someone to wish list your game on Steam, you have used a trigger. Copywriters call this a “call to action.” A successful call to action must always be quick, to the point, written in active voice, and easy for potential customers to accomplish. 

Common marketing tactics and their triggers

Top of funnel (Awareness)

Tactics at this level are all about getting noticed. These are what most people think about when they think about game marketing. If you hire a PR person they will typically do these (and not much else deeper in the funnel.)

Tactics targeted to customers at this level

Triggers to get people to the next tier (Consideration):

Middle of the Funnel (Consideration)

After your potential customer hears about your game, you need to tend to them to make sure that they fall in love. This is a slow process and can take weeks, even months. You need to introduce them to the game, give them the history of its development, and tell them who you are.

Tactics targeted to customers at this level (Consideration)