WTF is PR

WTF is PR…really.It’s a lot of things:

•It’s smart people with strong writing and talking skills, helping you figure out how to tell your story.

• Sometimes we call this “Messaging” to sound smart and important

•It’s taking that story and feeding it to people that matter

• Media

• “Influencers”

• (read: anyone with some Twitter followers, basically)

• Consumers

• Investors/Business Audience

• (read: people who want to pay you a lot of money)

Why the #$%@Why should you do PR? It’s just an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad game, after all…

•Because there are roughly A BILLION other iPhone games out there, and extremely limited shelf space in the App Store.

• Six big banner slots in the iTunes App Store front page

• 20 or so “New and Noteworthy” and “What’s Hot” slots, etc.

• 10 truly visible positions in the Top Paid/Grossing/Free charts

•Direct marketing channels are extremely limited.

•Ads have been pretty much proven cost ineffective.

• User acquisition is cost inefficient (you pay more per sale than the cost of your cheap-ass iPhone game).

Why the #$%@, continuedSo, “PR” essentially means everything from media relations to social media engagement to grassroots community support.

Why spend your time on any of this?

•Launch Impact: Because you can directly influence your game’s performance out of the gate if you convert customers beforehand (more on this later)

•Mindshare: Because media coverage doesn’t disappear. While its immediate impact – when you’re on top of TouchArcade – is obvious, the long-term impact of great hits in the media (and great grassroots support) can’t be overvalued.

Why the #$%@, continuedAndrew Podolsky, Editor in Chief of Slide to Play:

“The vast majority of the PR people we work with are very professional and a pleasure to work with.”

They are timely in responding to our requests for assets or review codes, they are knowledgeable about the games they represent, they don't spam us excessively with news that is outside our range of coverage, and they are respectful of our website's policies.

“Fact is, we want to work with the public relations arm of any company whose games we cover.”

As long as PR companies respect our relationship with our readers, which is based entirely on trust and credibility, there is no reason why media and PR can't share a common goal: Providing quality information and entertainment to the people who love games.

How the #$%@Okay, so HOW do you work these dark magicks known as PR?

If you haven’t already, start reading the publications that matter. Who’s talking about iPhone gaming?

The iPhone sites are important – but think big, too. I guarantee you people at Apple follow these media outlets (and more) religiously:

How the #$%@, continuedFigure out how to tell your story:

•What makes your game unique?

•Since it’s probably not completely unique (we’re all building on existing concepts here), what makes your game better?

•What’s interesting about you – personally – and your business?

•How can you convey the awesomeness of your game visually?

• Make a video, man

• Take great screenshots

• Develop marketing materials that look more professional than you think they need to be

Now, pitch it!

YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!1

YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!1

Pitching 101Here’s a better example:

Subject: ZombieSmash! - Castle defense with adorable cartoon blood and gore

Hello [Person whose articles I read daily, and whose preferences I am very familiar with],

Hope you're doing great - I have the debut iPhone game from a German outfit called Gamedoctors that I think you might be interested in checking out.

The game is called ZombieSmash!, and we're dubbing it a "survival comedy" game because it involves the creative and often hilarious destruction of zombies for fun and profit.

It's a castle defense game with a dose of sandbox/god game thrown in, and it features great art and animations, ragdoll/environmental physics (including, no joke, the "SplatterEngine" gore simulator), and music from long-time videogame composer Chris Huelsbeck.

We're officially announcing it tomorrow morning (check out the trailer here), and I was hoping you’d like to check it out hands-on.

Please drop me a line if you'd like to preview it - we'd be glad to get you an ad-hoc build if you can pass along your UDID.

Start Early

geoDefense – no

previews.

geoDefense Swarm –

TONS OF PREVIEWS!

Any questions?

Be PreparedMake like a Boy Scout. Previews are super important, and having a well-coordinated launch is equally make-or-break.

•PLAN. The iPhone game PR cycle is a bit like a console game’s – but with everything squished into a smaller calendar.

•Set a hold date for your launch

• No, really – set a hold date. I know you want to show your baby to the world, but give it a couple weeks. Believe me.

•You’ll have promo codes available! Give them to people and tell them your launch date!

•Do interviews! Do podcasts!

•Tweet, post to Facebook, send emails, post on forums

•Tell everyone you know to tell everyone they know that you’re launching on [DATE].

So, how much does it cost?I get it. You’re an indie dev. You spent all your money on ramen.

Don’t worry – you’ve got options!

•$ - Do it yourself!

• Grassroots/viral approach (see Bolt Creative, Lima Sky, Imangi)

•$$ - Find a marketing partner!

• Revenue share with an organization or individual

• Publisher (Chillingo, et al.)

•$$$ - Hire an agency!

• Few PR firms are in this space, and fewer are good at it

• But – if you’re at the right stage of your business, the investment may pay off.

Not a Magic FormulaEvery game is different

And some games are bad.

To paraphrase geoDefense developer David Whatley:

Great Game x Crappy PR = ZEROBut likewise…

Crappy Game x Great PR = still ZERO!

PR is a force multiplier. If you’ve got a great product – you need to tell people about it.