Post by CoderGenius72 in The classic itch.io spike: How do you revive traffic after the initial launch?

Wow, then you must be very successful when it comes to marketing—because since the game’s release date, I’ve never been able to get anywhere near those peak figures. Would you be willing to share anything about your marketing approach?

Like Reply

CoderGenius725 days ago (3 edits)

Firstly, please note that this is per week not per day.

That high August spike is ~40 views a day.

Secondly, reddit.com posts and certain jams can help a lot.

I used r/GameDeals, r/itch.io and r/GameBundles

Be careful though:

r/GameDeals: Limits to once per month, doesn't work for free games.

r/itch.io: You can't directly advertise, as it will do NOTHING.

r/IndieDev, r/gameDev, r/gaming: DON'T USE. They don't do anything unless you have a AAA game.

r/GameBundles: You need a bundle

You want a high general vistors and a low general post rate for any site you use. Low site visitors won't give enough traffic to posts, and too high general post rate for sites will lead to post burial. It definitely takes a few trys to get right.

Like Reply

Juba5 days ago

Yes, yes, I realize the chart is on a weekly basis. There could be many reasons why our figures differ, so I’m not really hung up on that; your chart actually seems more reliable to me. If I were to switch my own traffic chart to a weekly view, it would look like an absolute disaster—it resembles a sheer drop-off. It’s as if no one who played the game ever came back, or perhaps my marketing efforts simply weren’t sufficient, causing everything to crash.

Regarding Reddit—sure, if you have an AAA-tier game, I’m certain you’d get great feedback, but for anything else, it seems like there’s hardly any chance. Do you make use of social media? Or, if your games are web-based, do you leverage other platforms that host browser games?

Like Reply

CoderGenius723 days ago

" Do you make use of social media? ": No, I stay off of all social media sites except reddit

"Or, if your games are web-based, do you leverage other platforms that host browser games?": I tried CrazyGames, but failed. I attempted too early.

"Regarding Reddit—sure, if you have an AAA-tier game, I’m certain you’d get great feedback, but for anything else, it seems like there’s hardly any chance. ": This is not true, except for huge subreddits

Focusing on one project and providing constant updates really helped.

Like Reply

Juba3 days ago

So far, the only platform where I’ve managed to get any results is YouTube—though I’m not even sure if it’s worth the effort involved. A video with 2,000 views only generated 20 plays. Reddit seems to be the most useful platform here.

Honestly, X, TikTok, and Instagram just feel like shouting into a void.

Like Reply

CoderGenius721 day ago

I personally don't use these other platforms for marketing. I have heard that X is impossible to crack the algorithm, and is basically pay to win. The other 2 probably have certain other requirements.

I will say, if a "discovery site" is missing any of the following:

A way to see new or "new and popular" posts/games/projects
A relevant, functional search bar
Indexing: You can find your post via search

then it is a waste of time to post and requires thousands of followers.

Like Reply