Marketing through the Internet

[ace pilot]

Hey all,

It has been said many times here and on The Forge that internet promotion (e.g., forums, email and industry lists, etc.) is probably the most cost-effective and cost-efficient method of marketing for indie RPG publishers (as opposed to, say, paying for advertising). I was wondering if anyone could point to real world cases using strictly or mainly internet promotion for indie RPGs (published or PDF) and the numbers of units that people were able to sell and collect at full value (50, 100, 200, 500, 1000)?

Cheers

[Aries]

Originally posted by ace pilot
Hey all,

It has been said many times here and on The Forge that internet promotion (e.g., forums, email and industry lists, etc.) is probably the most cost-effective and cost-efficient method of marketing for indie RPG publishers (as opposed to, say, paying for advertising). I was wondering if anyone could point to real world cases using strictly or mainly internet promotion for indie RPGs (published or PDF) and the numbers of units that people were able to sell and collect at full value (50, 100, 200, 500, 1000)?

Cheers

There is always rpgnow.com. You can sell via .pdf or by POD and they seem to do a really good business.

Just a suggestion.

[ace pilot]

Originally posted by The Lone Gamer


There is always rpgnow.com. You can sell via .pdf or by POD and they seem to do a really good business.

Just a suggestion.

Hey Ryan,

I'm looking for evidence of marketing through internet promotions, not distribution channels (unless you are saying that simply putting a product on rpgnow.com generates lots of interest in a product- if so, which products have been able to sell what kind of numbers?), but thanks for the suggestion.

Cheers.

[Guildofblades]

>>using strictly or mainly internet promotion for indie RPGs (published or PDF) and the numbers of units that people were able to sell and collect at full value (50, 100, 200, 500, 1000)? <<

Well, we're not one of the "indie" RPG publishers, but we are a smaller tier manufacturer. Our Internet direct sales seem to be averaging 20-25 units per quarter per item. Now, we've got a few evergreens that actually sell double or tripple that, but 20-25 is about the "average". That may not seem like a lot, but multiplied over the 40 or so titles we have, its a major boon to our annual sales. Especially with less overall performance from the distribution tier.

That doesn't count auction sites, or sales made to retailers or foriegn distributors that were made possible due to the ecommerce portions of the website. Our Internet presence, combined with filtering more of our games into the general gamer populace through mail order has been making more retailers aware of our products and that has recently led to 2-4 new retail shops to the product each line, all initiated through the Internet.

So, our opinion is the Internet has the potential to be the single greatest marketing resource available to a small publisher. But that's just "potential" until you learn how to utilize it fully. Most publishers barely scatch the surface of what the Internet is capable of doing for them. Hell, we've barely scratched th surface. That all being said, by all means, don't think to rely on the Internet solely. Utilize as many other marketing venues available to you as well.

[HellHound101]

I can tell you FLAT OUT, that front-page mention on ENWorld sold hundreds of my own products each time I received that mention.

[Aries]

Originally posted by ace pilot


Hey Ryan,

I'm looking for evidence of marketing through internet promotions, not distribution channels (unless you are saying that simply putting a product on rpgnow.com generates lots of interest in a product- if so, which products have been able to sell what kind of numbers?), but thanks for the suggestion.

Cheers.

While I can't give you numbers I am heard from various sources that the companies that have used rpgnow have done really well.

Perhaps one will jump in and give numbers.

[HellHound101]

The thing is that he is looking for evidence of marketing through internet promotions, not distribution channels.

That being said, the exposure for being @ RPGnow is worth a few sales in and of itself, it is true. Having a product on the Hot Sellers list @ RPGnow also keeps sales flowing at a higher volume than not having it there, and getting onto the top 10 sellers of all time also guarantees a steady (if slow) stream of sales.

[RPGHost]

Originally posted by ace pilot
(unless you are saying that simply putting a product on rpgnow.com generates lots of interest in a product- if so, which products have been able to sell what kind of numbers?), but thanks for the suggestion.

That is exactly the case. Probably 75% of all our publishers do little more then the basic interent forum post and placing the product on RPGNow. I think they could do a lot more, sure... but I also think that RPGNow lets them be lazy and it's a place where 1000+ people go shopping each day.

For some hard numbers of sales to expect, check out our new ePublisher Guide as it has all those details and a lot more...

ePublisher Guide
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1668

James

[Samantha Downing]

As an internet publisher, I can tell you that mentions anywhere on the internet allow you at least a few sales. Also, everyone who does internet promotion knows that when you have a link posted to your site anywhere, it raises your ranking on a lot of search engines.

Being that we are indie publishers that don't do d20, it can be rough trying to get your name out there. ENWorld is a great move, but it only really works for d20 product.

I've noticed that when we're mentioned here or at The Forge, we get a spate of sales. Although one has to be careful of what one says, in order to avoid having people think one is fishing for compliments or sales.

I can tell you that when we get a review posted online, we'll get an upturn in sales of that product, and occasionally related product as well. When someone posts about our product and it's not us, we'll get more of a sales jump than if we post about it ourselves. Sending out press releases to online sites doesn't really help as much as posting on message boards, but it's an important part of doing business.

But as far as numbers are concerned, per post, we get about 2-3 sales a piece. Over time, that helps if you think about it, especially when you end up hooking new fans. Because those 2-3 people will come back and buy products when they're announced, then add to that the new people who come from the next posting... you get the idea.

[Matt M]

I've been involved with a fair bit of Internet marketing as part of my day job (not for RPGs, but the principles are the same). What Samantha says is true, any buzz about your product will boost sales, so a strong presence on relevant forums/lists is worth its weight in gold. Make sure your company website is in the sig and post on anything vaguely relevant to your product. Don't be heavy handed in plugging it though, people pick up on that really easily.

One useful method of marketing is providing content for other people, with a link back to your site. Interviews, samples, teasers, giveaways etc, all of these can have a big impact, because people can see the quality of your product in a "neutral" environment.

Don't underestimate newletter signups either. Just because people find your company website once, doesn't mean they'll buy straight away or visit it again without prompting. An email newsletter is a great memory jogger.

-Matt