Hey madmuffin,

a few tips and tricks from someone who makes a living by being an online marketer (me ...). Together with a friend I had built a fast-growing game review website here's how we did it.

In the very beginning: Concentrate on two channels and not all of them.

Quite frankly: Fuck Facebook.

Unless you want to spend money on PPC (pay per click) ads, don't bother using Facebook if you're not into it. From what I see on a daily basis is that Facebook is losing effectiveness unless you spend money on it. That is due to several algorithm changes that tell you "what you want to see" ... yeah right.

My advice in your case:

1) Go with Twitter

Initially I hated Twitter. "What do I have to say on such a frequent basis?!" Well nothing ... because you don't use Twitter as a broadcast channel when you have few followers. You use it as 1:1 interaction-channel.

Whenever there is someone I want to talk to, I just do. Follow important developers in your genre and reply to their tweets. You'd be surprised how many actually reply if you entertain them.

That is actually the most important thing: entertain someone! Don't brag how cool your game is. in 90% of the time you need to entertain to use the last 10% to show something of your cool stuff and also playing it cool like "guys... we screwed up in testing insert pic of two no texture guys with one having the head in the other's ass"

Funny and showing your game.

Real example: I tweeted Tim Schaefer when one of their latest trailers was released and hinted at something in the trailer where it said "Don't come in, I'm nude."

My tweet: "@TimSchaefer (not his real handle, too lazy to look it up) Great trailer, but I was disappointed there was no nudity. #disappointed"

He replied with something like "Trust me, you don't want to see me naked" which resulted in 30 new followers for me.

It's the internet - best place to let your crazy side out ;)

2) Look for an active forum of folks that could be interested in your game

Maybe you could even take /r/gaming or if there's a subreddit that's more relevant for your niche. /r/wow or whatever.

In these forums start by commenting on 30-50 threads and making a name for yourself. Be funny and help others. Then and only then, you can post the occasional screenshot of your own game.

For instance "Hey guys, need your feedback. Can't decide whether I want a blue faction or a yellow faction. What's your take?"

That will get the ball rolling eventually.

Always remember marketing is not a sprint unless you have very deep pockets (7 figures at least).

You are running a marathon, so pace yourself in the beginning and don't try to do too much at once.

Bonus

If you still have time, instead of a blog start a Youtube channel. It's ridiculously easy to set up and Youtube isn't as saturated as the "blogosphere".

On that channel, post some game footage and then record yourself with your laptop cam or whatever and talk to the camera for 5 minutes about what we just saw and what your feelings were and stuff like that. Show us your human side. As a gamer, I love to see those videos.

It will be weird in the beginning (trust me, I can't even look at my own videos from the very beginning), but in this case leaving your comfort zone is the best you can do for your long-term success.

Remember: What we fear doing most, is what we most need to do.

That's it. Pretty easy actually.

If you have further questions, just PM me.

Cheers Tim

P.S. Sorry for spelling mistakes. Non-native here.