@Phil It' a secret like the rest of our secrets... No seriously, if you would like to get more follower they are a few easy steps you can do. First thing I saw by looking at your profile is that you didn't put any profile description , so nobody know exactly who you are are and what you are doing. And also by adding more information in your profile someone could more easily find you if they do some search for twitter + iphone + france for example. You can check both my personal profile and Québarium for an ideas of what you can put. Second thing is to follow other people and tweet to them, this is how you will grow your network. I know for me if people are following me and tweet to me (and they aren't spammer and are interested in iPhone, XNA/XBLIG, game development, indie, etc...) ill follow them back. Some people/company wont follow back and just have a lot of follower but usually they tend to be famous people and/or well known company with very popular titles . Third thing is to spread the word about your twitter account and let people know you are there (I see you already have a link on your blog which is good, but you know you can also link your Facebook page to your Twitter account). Has people often search with keyword to find new people to follow you should adde #iphone #game to some of your tweet. For example you could tweet something like this : New upcoming #game #TwinBlades for the #iphone check the video http://bit.ly/1miFYJ Please RT Ill help you a bit, check my upcoming tweets ;-). Ps. Vive la France! Tu peux me parler en Français je suis un petit cousin du Québec hehehe
We use Facebook and Twitter in order to keep people informed of what we're doing, when we're coming out with more apps, etc. We just started not too long ago and are still expanding but so far there have been pretty good responses on both.
Oh well, I think social media networks are great to interact with our customers. We do it a lot on Twitter and Facebook. We also have a blog. The blog lets us discuss in detail what we are upto and stuff. When you have multiple products or apps, it's better if you create respective fanpages on Facebook. So that you can properly differentiate among your customers and give them what they want. When you have some great conversations with customers it feels that having a Twitter and a Facebook account is totally worth it. Find us on Twitter Facebook We also have a Camera Plus Facebook Page Flickr and Our Official Blog Do join us there! Currents apps: Camera Plus, WordDigest, Wisen Up and Charm Working on: Update to Camera Plus, Pro version of Camera Plus
Whilst I'm just an artist, I have to say that the thought of having to update facebook/twitter/linkedin/etc. send shivers down my aging spine. I'm either spending all my time looking for work, or actually...well...WORKING. BUT...I've been told numerous times that I need to work on my networking skills. Mark www.mjonesgraphics.com
You might as well Interesting thread. Tootle has been on Facebook and Twitter for quite some time and although we have about ten times as many followers on twitter, we still have unique users on facebook that are willing to interact with our posts just as much as the twitter contingent. In my opinion, they both have various advantages and disadvantages; Facebook is more visual and good for sharing media as well as customising with extra information that is always there, much like a blog, but there are obvious privacy concerns, those that use facebook generally only use it for a specific reason, only for friends for example, and there is a general feeling that page feeds are much like spam. Twitter on the other hand is great for sharing links and small nuggets of information quickly and obtaining immediate feedback from fans but it's less visual, the character limit can be a hindrance sometimes and it can be very distracting from doing any work. I find maintaining a facebook page (or a few) is no more hassle than updating a blog post but it can be as quick or a slow as you like really, depending on what you want to put on it and the image you wish to portray. At the end of the day, if you have a low marketing budget like us, then the effort involved with having a facebook page will far outweigh not having one, even if you only get a handful of people as 'fans' and they are just your mates - the value is in those people seeing your posts and passing on that information so long as you keep it up-to-date and interesting. HTH, Dibely http://www.tootlegames.com
You and me both! I caved in and started a twitter feed this summer after many people requested it. But I still say no to the facebook, myspace, and linkedin stuff! Any announcement, images or video that could be put on facebook to share would get 10x the exposure if I just put the info here, or on my own website. I guess those social networking sites are for people under 30 who don't know how to write HTML or run a webserver? (I kid, I kid!)
For those wondering whether or not fans (or followers) are important for your game, I would say it's an absolute necessity. Maintaining a presence on these social media pages only helps you stay in touch with the people who play your game - and lays the seeds for a lasting franchise in the future. After your game has been released, what then? How easily can you market your next game? I'll use a case study as an example to detail my thoughts: Bryan (creator of Geared), created a terrific and popular game and was rewarded. However, to bring awareness, ads needed to be bought, bloggers talked to, etc to get the word out. Then if you get in the top lists from all that cost and time, how do you get people who only just play the game to review it and let others know about how good it is. For a hundred thousand downloads, some are lucky that even 1000 review the game on the appstore and even luckier if the majority are positive. After that, suppose Geared 2 is in the works, does he have to do all of that over again? His solution was as follows: http://blog.playhaven.com/2009/11/how-geared-built-a-community-of-4500-fans-in-two-weeks/ Of course twitter and facebook, etc. are tools as well and icing on the cake. Don't discount the power of keeping in touch with your fans. He now has access to 4500 of his most devoted fans to let them instantly know when his next game comes out and with confidence that they'll more than likely go out of their way to give the game their reviews on the app store.
Hmmm, seems that Bryan does not think twitter or facebook are critical. I certainly couldn't find any reference to them on his website, and he doesn't list them in his sig here on TA. Maybe they are not so important to success Obviously keeping in touch with fans is very important for long term brand building. I think Bryan did an excellent job of promoting Geared prior to integrating your Playhaven community a few weeks ago, but I'm sure your site has taken some of the burden off his support needs! I agree that forums are an excellent method to keep your fans informed, and let them help each other out. If your game is complex enough, it pays to plan ahead and set up web based forums before launch. I did that, and it was pretty well received. Anyway, your site is interesting, do you have any usage stats that you can share? Can communities feed off each other to cross promote? What are the benefits over hosting my own forum?
Bryan does have a facebook but like twitter, I don't think he has the time to actively try to get fans involved especially to switch from the iphone to on the web. Like it's been discussed already, getting these fans is extremely time consuming and I suppose that's why he chose PlayHaven, since the fans just access the community right inside the game vs. having to switch over to the web to follow on FB or twitter. I'll ask him to come share his experience in more detail for you guys. One of the main goals of PlayHaven (aside from the obvious) is the need for cross promotion among games. Every game in the itunes store is on there and we make smart recommendations based on other games you play. Since there's a pretty significant crossover between iPhone gamers and traditional gamers, we also make recommendations on iphone games based on what kind of traditional games the player likes as well. Promoting is done outside the site as well, as players who become fans or write review or guides whatever, the content is shared through twitter and facebook to their friends. The main benefit over hosting your own forum is that its all done for you. You don't have to worry about moderation, you don't have to worry about hosting costs, you don't have to even go there - the community will probably grow itself if people love your game. You can go here to learn more and since we just launched two weeks ago here's a list of initial games who have it implemented so you can take a look. I can get you specific usage stats if you let me know what kind you would like to see.
in my humble opinion, definitely worth the effort, I cant release details, but you guys should do it, and interact Thanks Anton
We just started to Twitter to post some news on our games. We'll see how it goes http://twitter.com/10tonsLtd
Absolutely I follow the applications more than the developers. Like Airport Mania. Just love that game. I follow it so that I can get instant updates if any. It's fun that way as well. You also get to see who else play this game. Meet like-minded people It also serves as an instant forum for us to contact the devs
I had a facebook fan page set up and have 89 or so "fans". I don't know most of these people and doubt any of them has ever played my game. I don't know what's up. Maybe some people try to be a fan of as many things as possible?
facebook is more like a personal thing for me. Thats where all my friends and family members are. Twitter is for iphone dev, get connected with other developers. so if anyone want, can follow me: http://twitter.com/tutukun
We have just started getting a bit more serious about our Twitter-Account http://twitter.com/ymirmobile We have used Facebook quite a bit for our company and our products Ringo and Mobileguide Iceland. Our experience with Facebook is overall positive, which might also result from the fact that such a high percentage of Icelanders is using Facebook so it is a nice way for us to stay in touch with local fans, friends and family. I dont think it has benefited a lot us beyond that though... http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ringo/205517159947
Well, we created a page for our game as well and actually invested money for promoting it with Facebook ads. BIG mistake which we won't make a second time. We're getting close to having 4000 fans at http://www.facebook.com/pages/THE-ROADIE/299222735402 now, but judging by the number of fans in countries like India and the actual sales figures from there, it definitely wasn't worth the effort. We will look into Twitter, though.
That's really weird, how did you get that many fans in India? I think Facebook and Twitter are both worth it provided you can do it quickly and without spending money. After you've done it once you can do it a second time twice as fast, just to get it out there. If it fails, it fails, and you haven't lost anything except 20 minutes of your time.
I honestly don't know, but I guess they must be loving games. But then I don't understand why they don't buy it but want to be fans. Yep, you're right with saying that. But we surely won't make the mistake of investing money for facebook ads again, that's for sure
