http://www.pitofwar.com is an online browser game I created that targets a niche audience who likes strategy/simulation/text heavy style games.
EMAIL LISTS
When I first launched I had two email lists I used. The first was an email list I had laying around from an older game I had created many years prior. The second email list I stumbled upon for an old game with some similar mechanics to the game I was creating. I composed two sets of emails and sent them out to the lists. For the list of my old players I re-introduced myself and told them about the game. For the second list I started the email off with a sentence that said something along the lines of "this is a one time email, I will not email you again unsolicited. You are receiving this email because you may be interested in a game I've just created...". Those two emails got me my first 200 players.
ONLINE FORUMS
After that I found some gaming forums and asked the mods if it would be ok if I posted a message about Pit of War and they were cool about it and said go ahead. That style of marketing grew the player base again. I had a friend who was the mod for a high traffic web master forum and he made a post in their "off topic" section that helped get some more traction.
TWITTER
He also knew a handful of folks with a good number of Twitter followers and asked them if they'd make a tweet about Pit of War and they were kind of enough to do that for free to help me out.
PAID ADS
I tried Facebook ads a number of years ago and they weren't very effective, however, I'm told they are much better now. I may try them again in the near future. I then turned to cpmstar which is an ad network dedicated to games. This proved to be very good with the CPA (Cost per Action - which in my case is someone clicking on the ad and then signing up for the game) being much lower than the LTV for a player gained through this channel so I focused on that for awhile. CPA prices have gone up a lot since I started and there are many more games out there competing for the same eyeballs so this channel has started to wane but is still acceptable.
DEVIANTART & FACEBOOK
Using DeviantArt and Facebook I would upload some of the art from the game which would get shares and more eyeballs which helped increase exposure and player count.
WORD OF MOUTH
I asked my friends and family to try the game out and if they liked it to please share it with people they think might like it as well.
Hard to pick a best because each channel contributed. Having said that, the initial email lists and paid advertising via cpmstar were crucial for the success of the game I believe.
EMAIL LISTS
When I first launched I had two email lists I used. The first was an email list I had laying around from an older game I had created many years prior. The second email list I stumbled upon for an old game with some similar mechanics to the game I was creating. I composed two sets of emails and sent them out to the lists. For the list of my old players I re-introduced myself and told them about the game. For the second list I started the email off with a sentence that said something along the lines of "this is a one time email, I will not email you again unsolicited. You are receiving this email because you may be interested in a game I've just created...". Those two emails got me my first 200 players.
ONLINE FORUMS
After that I found some gaming forums and asked the mods if it would be ok if I posted a message about Pit of War and they were cool about it and said go ahead. That style of marketing grew the player base again. I had a friend who was the mod for a high traffic web master forum and he made a post in their "off topic" section that helped get some more traction.
TWITTER
He also knew a handful of folks with a good number of Twitter followers and asked them if they'd make a tweet about Pit of War and they were kind of enough to do that for free to help me out.
PAID ADS
I tried Facebook ads a number of years ago and they weren't very effective, however, I'm told they are much better now. I may try them again in the near future. I then turned to cpmstar which is an ad network dedicated to games. This proved to be very good with the CPA (Cost per Action - which in my case is someone clicking on the ad and then signing up for the game) being much lower than the LTV for a player gained through this channel so I focused on that for awhile. CPA prices have gone up a lot since I started and there are many more games out there competing for the same eyeballs so this channel has started to wane but is still acceptable.
DEVIANTART & FACEBOOK
Using DeviantArt and Facebook I would upload some of the art from the game which would get shares and more eyeballs which helped increase exposure and player count.
WORD OF MOUTH
I asked my friends and family to try the game out and if they liked it to please share it with people they think might like it as well.
Hard to pick a best because each channel contributed. Having said that, the initial email lists and paid advertising via cpmstar were crucial for the success of the game I believe.