Table of Contents
Marketing Specialist
A Marketing Specialist plays a crucial role in ensuring your game reaches its audience. For solo developers and indie game studios, this role focuses on creating visibility, building a community, and driving sales with limited resources.
My live stream on Market Specialists.
Responsibilities
- Identify your target audience and analyze competitors to understand trends and preferences.
- Market Research Tools
Market Research
Market research is the foundation of any successful marketing strategy, especially for indie and solo developers. It involves understanding your target audience, analyzing competitors, and identifying opportunities to position your game effectively in a competitive market.
Market Research Tools
PC Games Free Analytics Tools
- SteamDB: Gives an insight into the Steam platform and everything in its database.
- SteamCharts: An ongoing analysis of Steam’s concurrent players.
- Gamalytic: A database of 50,000+ Steam games with estimated revenue, sales, player data and more. Free alternative to VGInsight
- Video Game Industry Statistics and Facts: Trending Upcoming Games. Needs support
PC Games Free (limited) Analytics Tools
- SteamSpy: Data and stats about Steam games.
- VG Insights: For developers, publishers and anyone interested in video game market research.
Other PC Games Free Analytics Tools
- Steam Revenue Calculator: Using the Boxleiter method we can use the number of review a game has on Steam to estimate the number of owners.
Streaming Analytics Tools
- Twitchmetrics: Insights about Twitch activity. Such as most streamed games.
Project and/or Market AI Assistant (Free Limited Trial)
- Ludo AI: AI Partner for Game Design and Market Research.
Advanced Tools (Budget-Permitting)
- Data.ai: Compares apps in the market against a large set of metrics to identify trends
- Newzoo: Title-level engagement and revenue data for thousands of PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch games.
- GameAnalytics: Analytics tool for game developers, providing insights for more than 100k games, and ⅓ of the world’s mobile players.
- Sensor Tower: Provides insights into mobile game performance, including downloads and revenue estimates.
- GameRefinery: Game development research on mobile game genres & features, and player motivations.
Wider Markets Tools
Advanced Tools (Budget-Permitting)
- Semrush: Keyword research, competitive analysis, site audits, backlink tracking, and comprehensive online visibility insights.
- Ahrefs: Used to analyze a website’s link profile, keyword rankings, and SEO health.
Project and/or Market AI Assistant (Free Limited Trial)
- Navigator by Solsten: Explores who likes any brand, interest, or product. Demands a commercial email
Other Free and Low-Cost Tools
- Google Trends: Identify the popularity of specific keywords related to your game.
- Itch.io Analytics: Review what’s trending in indie game marketplaces.
- Reddit and Discord: Engage with gaming communities to gather feedback and observe discussions.
- Social Media Listening Tools: Tools like Hootsuite (free version) or TweetDeck can help track conversations around specific games or genres.
Industry Reports and Data
- Check industry reports from sources like Newzoo or Statista for global gaming market trends.
- Indie game-specific reports, such as those from Gamasutra or GameDiscoverCo, can provide tailored insights for small studios.
Survey Tools
- Survey Tools: Tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms for direct audience feedback.