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No matter how unique your indie game is, it’s next to impossible to create a truly one-of-a-kind game, especially in today’s oversaturated market. But your game doesn't need to be a unicorn amidst a sea of horses to sell; it just needs effective, hyper-targeted marketing.
This is where understanding your target audience comes in handy. By getting to know what they want out of a game, you can craft a game that checks all their boxes! This is the surefire way of increasing your sales.
Here's how.
Understand your target demographic
Where does your target audience live? What age brackets do they fall under? Which social media platforms do they use the most? Having this data will help you learn about their interests, which you can use to guide your game development to increase player retention. Moreover, this data will also let you know which platforms to focus your marketing efforts on.
For instance, if your target demographic is Gen Z, you can tweak your in-game dialogues to include the slang terms that they’re most likely to connect to. But, if your target demographic is kids under the age of 10, you’ll need to keep things simple with bright, visually appealing graphics. You can use Steam to filter wishlists by country, age, or game category to help you with this step.
Think about psychographics
Now, it’s time to get into the nitty gritty of what makes your audience tick by learning about their personalities, habits, passions, and behaviors. Why do they play games in your genre? Do they crave the thrill or are they looking to relax? Do they like exploring a new universe? Or, maybe they want something quick and short during their commute to work.
Additionally, what kind of game elements do they prefer? Do they strongly follow any values? With this information, you’ll be able to design a game (including the storyline, themes, graphics, and art style) that’s appealing to them. For instance, if your target audience is a bunch of people who strongly identify as environmental conservationists who prefer intricate storylines, your game could be about restoring nature. Surveys, focus groups, and social monitoring can all help you with psychographic analysis.
Research your competitors
Find games that have similar elements such as yours, and you’ll find that your target audience overlaps with theirs. So, by analyzing their audience, gaming elements, and marketing strategies, you’ll get to learn a lot about yours! You can, then, tweak your own marketing strategy accordingly. For example, if you find that your competitors see the most success with paid ads on TikTok, that could be your first marketing step.
Social media and online gaming communities are excellent places to gather this information. You can also use market research tools like VGInsights, Sonamine, or Make My Persona.