GGG Marketing Guy would love your ideas!

One of the fun parts about managing the marketing in a smaller Indie team is that we have to be smart and creative about where (and how) we do our marketing. Having worked for some larger publishers in the past I found it was only about the pure size of the media spend and how many sites, magazine and TV placements I could own in a specific launch window. As you know at GGG we don't have that kind of money to throw around - and to be honest we wouldn't do that if we did. That being said I would love the help of the community to tell me where you read your gaming news online and perhaps even throw out some fun (and cost effective) ideas for online exposure you might have seen in the past. I know the main gaming sites (Gamespot, IGN, etc.) might be the expected response but I'm hoping to glean some insights on outlets that I may not have considered. Sites that will give us a real 'bang for buck' both in placements and editorial. If you have any feedback or ideas please let me know - I'd love to hear from you - JT

EDIT 2/20: Thanks to you all with well thought out suggestions. It's always great to hear ideas from fresh perspectives!

www.mmorpg.com

This is where i read my gamming news.

I've suggested it in the past. I'd love to see an official GGG twitch channel up once in a while.

A web comic depicting a new exiles journeys through Wreaclast, or perhaps a series of small animated videos of the same on Youtube.

You could also get a little bit of exposure in the real world by offering Cosplayers some kind of reward for wearing PoE costumes at conventions, like a nice little Unique gold ring or some little trinket, just send in some pictures of yourself in costume at the convention hall holding a paper with your characters name on it :3

By the time the new leagues come out Kripp'll be your main source of advertisement.

And I hear a lot of people go on reddit

L2Format, maybe?

Also, I think you mean 'glean' not 'gleam'?

I enjoy reading Rock Paper Shotgun articles, they're alot of fun.

Additionally, Perhaps some sort of dev/youtuber let's play with a well-known toober (TB & the polaris guys, eg) could possibly work?

Another idea I have that seems to work quite well is sponsering a dota 2 tournament. You back the tournament and the casters will play an ad as part of their broadcast in between matches. These ads are part of the ACTUAL BROADCAST so adblock does nothing to stop them. This will help you get exposure to an audience that is likely interested in this type of game (moba players are pretty hardcore tbh)

total biscuit, kripparian, and maybe a dedicated twitch or youtube channel where a staff member answers questions from the community or plays through part of the game.

I was initially drawn to PoE via buzz on 4chan. While I certainly wouldn't encourage you to pretend to be unaffiliated on social sites to gain buzz there is a way to do it in the open. Come up with codes for $5 in MTX points, or for a specific MTX and post it along with a plug for the game.

For example:

"Hello X community. This is Jeremy from Grinding Gear Games. I am spreading the word about the upcoming Path of Exile mini expansion "Blood or the Artzi or something". We hope that the new content will be enjoyable to our long time players, players who might consider returning, or those who have yet to try Path of Exile. We also hope you enjoy these codes for a Weta Pet in game. Have a wonderful gaming day, and remember PoE is always free to play, but never pay to win.

XXX-XXXX-XXXXXXX

I get my gaming news from the standard sites you already know and use. I get neutral opinions on games from the community at gog.com. Given the nature of their business, I doubt there's a lot you could do for each other, but it may be worth getting in touch with them anyway if you haven't already. A couple of reasons why

- I've noticed their community mostly seems to comprise of an older demographic than many other gaming related forums. Presumably it's because until last year (possibly the year before?) they only sold old games. Incidentally, I think I first heard of PoE through this thread or one of the many like it.

- It's owned and operated by CD Projekt RED, they are an amazing team of people, and on the face of it they have a lot in common with GGG in terms of being a small but passionate team of gamers who managed to create an amazing game(s) that went on to achieve great success. If nothing else, I'm sure you'll get a nice chat out of them :)

- There have been a lot of PoE related threads there. I'm sure the community would think it was very cool if a GGG dev took the time to say a word or two in one of the threads, and it would cost nothing but a few minutes of your time.

- It's filled with arpg enthusiasts. Seriously. I've never met so many on a non arpg specific forum before.

I'd also like to make some suggestions that aren't really in line with what you're asking for, but that I would like to make anyway :P Here they are;

Offer money as race prizes. I know it's something you guys have already looked into, and I remember Chris saying it was amazing how people gave up their entire planned night out just for the chance to win a very small amount of money last time you guys did a LAN race.

Having the theoretical opportunity to win money just from playing a game is something that people will be excited enough to spread to each other without you having to do a whole lot to get the word out. I realize there are probably some legal issues that would need to be worked out, but still, get on it, it will more than pay for itself very very quickly.

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Sponsor gaming cafes in Asia (at least the markets that aren't covered by Garena). It's insanely cheap. There are loads of cafes here that are plastered in D3 images outside and in, and I don't think they get anything from it, they just do it to make it clear that they are a gaming cafe for anyone who sees it from the outside, and they seem to think it looks professional. I'm guessing Cambodia isn't exactly on your list of priority markets, but it's a similar story all across Asia. I'm pretty sure if you just made the marketing materials, they would be more than happy to display and promote it at no extra cost in many cases.

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Set up a deal with another company that produces an unrelated game (like a single player rpg) where people who buy their game get a few free GGG points included with their purchase, or a code to redeem an exclusive mtx or something. Publisher of said game gets to give his customers free stuff, he already got their money so he doesn't have to worry about cannibalizing his own sales, and his customers get a solid reason to come and check out your game when they are done with the one they just bought. It's win win for everyone, and it doesn't have to cost anyone anything significant.

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Branded hardware. Back when the Razer footprints thing was kicking off and I wrote an angry email rant, I noted that while I wasn't a fan of seeing the Razer logo in Wraeclast, I'd be more than happy to see some awesome PoE related art on my Razer products. They do it for other games, why not for you guys? I don't know what goes in to deals relating to branded hardware, but again I'd imagine it could be a scenario where both sides get a decent deal out of it in terms of boosting awareness and sales. Every single person who buys a product with PoE art on it becomes an advert for your game whenever their friends see the products.

I have to go out now, but will post some more ideas when I get back :)