Are you looking for new ways to create awareness for your indie game?
Getting new people to learn about your game can be tough - even more so if you're just
starting out.
You want to find places where your audience gathers.
Today we want to explore one of those places - A place that drives millions of active users
and is quickly becoming an important tool for indie game developers.
We're talking about TikTok.
TikTok is a video-based social platform made available worldwide in 2018.
In 2020 it saw a boom in popularity and became one of the fastest-growing brands of the year.
Just last year, 2021, TikTok announced it had surpassed the mark of 1 billion users.
This is great news for indie devs because TikTok charges no fees at all for the use
of its platform, and you can reach millions of users in hours with great content and good
marketing practices.
In this video, we'll be looking at some great tips we've gathered from other devs and content
creators to help you kickstart your TikTok journey.
Remember, this is not a sponsored video.
We just want to explore this enticing space - In fact, we are launching our own TikTok
channel.
If you want to check it out, we would love to hear what you think about our content.
We'll leave a link to the Ask Gamedev TikTok account in the description of this video.
Now, without further ado...
We are Ask Gamedev and these are 7 Tips for Indie Game Developers Using TikTok in 2022
Welcome back!
We make videos on how to elevate your game development and inspire others.
If after watching this video you want to continue the gamedev conversation, check the video
description for a link to our Discord server.
We are now making fresh Ask Gamedev content on all of the major social networks, so be
sure to check us out there too.
Tip number 1: Know the Basics
First off, let's go through some of the basics to keep in mind when starting your Tik-Tok
journey.
When you open the Tik-Tok app, you'll immediately start watching content from accounts you're
following or accounts related to your interests.
Swiping up will let you jump through randomized content indefinitely.
Down below you'll also find a "discover" icon that will let you explore content in a browser-like
environment.
Next to this discovery icon, there's an icon labeled with a "plus" sign.
If you tap on it, you'll access a built-in content creation suite where you can capture
or upload photo and video content.
In this suite, you'll be able to import and edit content, apply text, stickers, effects,
filters, add captions, record voice-over, and grab audio for your content's background.
You can also create content outside of the Tik-Tok ecosystem making use of more advanced
photo and video editing tools like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and After Effects.
If you do create content for Tik-Tok outside of its editor, have these guidelines in mind
so you can optimize the quality and efficiency of your work: As of this writing, videos uploaded
to TikTok should be 1920 pixels high, 1080 pixels wide, and a maximum of 10 minutes long.
It is also highly recommended to export your videos in mp4 and mov file types, using the
h.264 or QuickTime codecs.
Tip number 2: Know the Algorithm
Algorithms play a substantial part in our everyday digital life.
They are in charge of filtering, sorting, handling, and selecting most of the information
that we come across while browsing the web.
Every platform has its own algorithm, and big sites like YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok
have very advanced and clever ones.
If you are new to marketing and social media, it may seem hard to outsmart these ever-changing
algorithms.
There are several steps you can take to make the algorithms start working in your favor
and give you a gigantic boost in visibility with those you want to see your content.
First: Know your audience.
Is your content meant for teenagers?
Young Adults?
Industry Veterans?
Any social group in particular?
A mixture of some of those?
Second: With your audience defined you may research the keywords that resonate with them
and use them in the description and hashtags of your video.
Third: Investigate the best times to post content for your specific audience.
You can start with very standard studies like the one in this graph, which shows the best
average times to post for any audience.
Fourth: Try your best to have a consistent upload schedule.
Missing out will slow your engagement when you have few followers.
Fifth: Play around with the songs that are trending, these may give you the same if not
more reach than hashtags do.
Tip number 3: Be Ready for Reactive Marketing
Speaking of trends, TikTok is full of them.
Not only songs, but also memes, filters, gags, challenges, pranks, and more trend every single
day on social media.
If you're up to it, you can have a great time hunting down the best trends and integrating
them in your content.
Enter Reactive Marketing.
Aside from designing original content, you can also allocate some time to browsing content
in the top lists of every category and try to spot the hottest trends out there.
The sooner you respond with content of your own related to those trends, the better your
chances are with the algorithm.
You can either create content in line with the trends, or you can also create content
in response to them.
This is called Reactive Marketing, and it's best used in combination with other strategies
that are less volatile.
Some interesting trends happening in TikTok right now are:
* Trending Dances: Just hit #Dance and see what dances are trending.
Now imagine your game’s character doing those moves!
* #LearnOnTikTok: have an awesome piece of knowledge to share with the world?
Tag it with #LearnOnTikTok and you'll make someone smarter somewhere out there.
* #OddlySatisfying: Oddly satisfying videos and images were, are, and will always be a
trend.
Put your skills to the test and create something that feels visually perfect.
Tip number 4: Deal With Short Attention Spans
TikTok is no different than many other modern social-media hybrids.
You can like, be liked, follow, be followed, and share conversations with users through
comments and chats.
However, TikTok is proving to produce users with very short attention spans, at least
while they use the app.
This means, off the bat, your content will be prone to losing engagement quite easily.
All it takes for the viewers to jump to another post is a simple swipe of their finger.
When this happens in image-based environments like Instagram, it's usually no big deal because
a still image can be processed by a brain in approximately half a second.
On other hand, when a user skips your one-minute video in the first five seconds, they just
skipped more than 90% of the full message you wanted to deliver.
So, what to do?
In order to get the attention of users, it is recommended to break your topics into single
videos.
Addressing several topics in a single TikTok video is not recommended by experienced creators.
Also, when you define your topic, get to the point immediately.
Either visually, textually, or through audio, jump right into the core message of your video.
For this, you can make use of great hooks like:
* Cool aesthetics: Your game is beautiful - show it off with your most attractive gameplay
at the start.
.
* Creative, engaging, messaging with trendy text styles.
The TikTok creation suite includes several styles to fit your needs.
Choose the ones you like the most and put them right at the start of your video to maximize
your engagement.
Tip number 5: You’ve heard them a million times…
Remember to Like and Subscribe... and wishlist... share… etc.
Always include a Call to Action.
Once you show your game, your development process, your team, or share your message
in those first seconds, you'll have the rest of the video not only to develop your point
but to also provide a call to action.
Place a call to action inviting users to like your content, share their thoughts and reactions,
or follow you on TikTok and other media channels.
This will drive your user engagement forward and at the same time allow you to get to know
your audience better by developing conversations with them.
One of the best Call-to-Actions for indie devs is inviting viewers to wishlist and support
your game.
Indie dev Chewa has had great success using TikTok to drive wishlists for his upcoming
game, The Matriarch.
Before TikTok, the wishlist count for the indie game was around 400.
After a TikTok of his went viral, the game had gained 1,500 new wishlists after the first
day, 3,500 on the second, and 2,500 after the third day.
In the video, which received more than 1 million views and 100k likes in just the first day,
he included text that said "Check out & Wishlist 'The Matriarch' on Steam.
Play for free the demo soon!"
He kept on posting, and in his next posts, he included a call to action inviting players
to join his Discord server.
All of his work turned into a hefty sum of more than 23,000 Steam wishlists, far exceeding
his initial goal of 10,000 he set when the game's development started.
Tip number 6: Follow other devs and learn from their content.
Following rules, guidelines, and best practices is a good baseline to build your content around.
The next step in this process is following other devs and studying their content.
The more you do this, the more solid your own content will start turning out.
Learning from the experience of other devs will give you a great advantage when planning
your social content.
To start with your list, here are some awesome devs that have found great success using TikTok:
QaziTV: an excellent dev log about the solo developer's game Shotgun Farmers.
Qazi founded his studio Megastorm Games back in 2014.
In 2017 Shotgun Farmers was born from QaziJam 8 game jam, a game jam run by Qazi himself.
He decided to stream all his development of Shotgun Farmers from day one through Twitch.
Eventually, he got to TikTok and the channel can now speak for itself.
He has amassed nearly 1.5 million followers and nearly 50 million likes.
Devseb: a great example of how to implement reactive marketing, not only with trends but
also with what his viewers talk about.
Devseb is an indie game dev from "the mysterious lands of Toronto, Canada".
Some of his latest experiments include a platforming game inspired by comments from his viewers
and a hockey stick 3D model inspired by a real-life Auston Matthews collectible mini-hockey
stick.
indierich: an indie dev that started posting in 2020 about his steampunk open-world survival-craft
game Volcanoids.
indierich has still to surpass a million followers but that doesn't keep him from getting hundreds
of thousands and even millions of views in almost every post he makes.
If you want to get ideas on how to create algorithm-pleasing content, you may want to
check him out.
Inkyfox_: One of our favourite solo indie games of 2020, found a solid community on
TikTok.
Jonas Manke, AKA Inkyfox used TikTok to promote the launch of his game, Omno.
Clearly one of his strongest hooks was the beautiful aesthetics of his game.
Wholesomegames: This is a thriving indie game development community that first started on
Twitter when indie game dev Matthew Taylor decided to start curating wholesome indie
games.
These are games that inspire feelings of comfort, compassion, and coziness.
The community has since grown and spread to other media outlets including Youtube, Discord,
and TikTok.
You can find many communities out there like Wholesome Games that would love to feature
your game and help you boost your reach.
Ask Gamedev periodically hosts a community showcase where you can submit your games and
be featured along with other community members.
If you want to know more about it, head to our discord server and check the announcements
tab for The Ask Gamedev Community Showcase.
We'll leave a link in the description of this video.
Tip number 7: Try Everything
The path to success is unique to everyone and although the experience may help you find
your way, your journey will be unique.
Trust your authenticity.
Don't be afraid of trying everything out there.
Treat TikTok like a sandbox.
The more different things you post, the more chances you have to engage an audience.
Experiment with every tool that you find along the way and don't be afraid of trying things
that you haven't seen elsewhere.
Thanks for watching!
For more Ask Gamedev check out this video about The Best Game Dev Youtube Channels,
or this list about Game Dev Mistakes to Avoid.