Do advertisements work?

[BasiliskWrangler]

We are paying (quite a lot) per month to advertise through Google and on Facebook. If you have discovered this game via an ad on another website (Google places most of these) or on a Facebook ad, please let me know.

If we are not getting new customers through these ads, we really need to stop them because they just cost too much!

[geishaboy]

I found Book 1 on a games review site, as I'm sure a lot of other people here have. Hell, when I type in "Old school role playing game" into google, Basilisk Games is the first site listed.

I have also made you a sale by recommending the game to a friend (you can thank me later) and that didn't cost you a thing

In short, I don't think you should bother paying big bucks for advertising that essentially gets blocked half the time and ignored the rest of the time. People that are looking for a game which has what Echalon has to offer, i.e. (or is that e.g.? ) an old school, single player stat and story driven rpg, will have no trouble finding it on their own, or will be told about it by their alcoholic gamer friends

I would be very surprised if anyone found this game through google ads or facebook, but you never know

[Evnissyen]

One of the first things I did in advertising the GLE Project, years ago, was go to Wikipedia and stick it into the links of the Absurdism, Absurdist Literature/Fiction and Experimental Literature/Fiction pages. In those beginning days, when few people knew about the catalog: I really did notice some not-too-insignificant traffic coming from there.

I imagine it might be a little more difficult for you to do the same, but I guess the point is: sometimes with a little creativity (and you have plenty) you can get some good advertising for free.

Anyway... I think I agree with Geishaboy, that if the cost doesn't seem to be justified by sales, then it's not worth it.

This is a really niche-market game, and I think that the kind of people who're looking for this kind of game will mostly find it either by word of mouth or through websites and forums where they're likely to find it listed, advertised or talked about. And of course if they go to a search engine: they might be highly likely to find it there anyhow, whether you've paid Goo for special advertising or not. (And, of course, paying Goo doesn't get you priority placement on Alta-Vista or any of the other search engines, notwithstanding how many people use Goo vs. the others.)

Maybe you can send Jeff Vogel an email and talk some marketing ideas with him, considering he's been at this a while? (That is... if the two of you aren't already on speaking terms.)


EDIT: Just noticed: my catalog has been removed from the Absurdism page! Outrage! Time to fix that. (I haven't checked those pages in ages.) But it's still on the others... . (Please excuse the rhyming, by the way.)

[Randomizer]

You have an ad on Google? I've never seen it.

I heard about Eschalon: Book 1 when a topic mentioned it with a link at Spiderweb Software forums.

[BasiliskWrangler]

You have an ad on Google? I've never seen it.

I heard about Eschalon: Book 1 when a topic mentioned it with a link at Spiderweb Software forums.

The way Google Ads work is like this: I make a few banners and square ads, tell Google what keywords I want the ads to show up, and how much I am willing to pay when people click on my ads. Then on websites all across the "english speaking" internet my ad might show. The reason you've probably never seen it, Randomizer, is because I can only afford to have it show a couple thousand times a day across hundreds of thousands of web sites that have content regarding gaming, RPGs, or fantasy genre in general. The chances of you being on the right page at the right time is very low.

Overall, my ads are actually generating clicks- people are coming to the website. But, how many of those clicks turn into sales is very questionable.

[Mod.]

This is a really niche-market game, and I think that the kind of people who're looking for this kind of game will mostly find it either by word of mouth or through websites and forums where they're likely to find it listed, advertised or talked about.

Agreed, if I was on facebook and never played Eschalon book before, that advertisement would be absolutely meaningless to me. If you want people to click on that advertisement, it has to be at a place where people will be interested in it.

I luckily found your excellent games thanks to Jeff Vogel's blog. I normally don't read blogs, and I just happened to notice him blogging about the release of Eschalon book 2. Thanks Jeff! Now I found another good indie RPG company. I think I first found Spiderweb Software by finding a demo of the first Geneforge, which is still one of my favorite of his games. I think it was on one of those discs that contain a ton of demos. Hooray for demos!

[silverkitty]

AdBlock+ . it's awesome.

I find new games through blogs and such, where I can actually get an opinion about it.

[Rommah]

I found it through impulse actually...

As for adds, facebook used to be good.
But now I do not see any adds at all.
I never seen basilisk add.

[ElHombre]

Facebook ads don't work unless they're for a product that's free and Facebook-based. Don't bother with FB at all.
As for Google ads, you need to invest a lot of time and resources optimizing your creative, messaging and targeting keywords so that you not only get a larger number of clicks, but that those who click know what to expect and therefore convert properly.
Considering that the game is a niche product without eye-candy, I would stick to highly targeted advertising and PR through game blogs, etc...

PS: I found the game through Steam, the Mac section.

[macdude22]

I've seen the Facebook ad several times, I suspect it think's Id like to see ads on it because I'm at this site so much. I see Kace Ads constantly because I'm constantly logged onto my Kbox, and searching for Kace stuff. I already have a Kbox guys!

Anyway, I've seen the ads, alot. I don't know if it's effective, I generally tend to ignore facebook ads as they are all links to garbage. I would consider the idea that you are hurting your brand with Facebook ads.

[slm]

AdBlock+ . it's awesome.

I didn't even know Facebook had ads until I had to turn AdBlock PLus off for something else and forgot to turn it back on.

[CrazyBernie]

I have yet to see an ad, and I have Basilisk Games, Book I, and Book II as likes. Seems a little strange to me, since half the time if I even mention something in my status, I see ads for it for days.

[Dragonlady]

I haven't seen any ads. For the most part I ignore them on other sites. I figure if a game is good enough people here will talk about it or when I get in the mood for something different I can use Google and search for RPG computer games. Especially turn-based. I'd rather take some one from here's talking about a game than an ad's. Heck, I even zip through most of the ads/commercials on tv these days. I Tivo most of the programs I'm interested in just to do that!

[SpottedShroom]

Overall, my ads are actually generating clicks- people are coming to the website. But, how many of those clicks turn into sales is very questionable.

Could you track this by technical means? Maybe set a cookie in the user's browser when they visit the site via an add, and then record whenever someone with that cookie set buys a game.

[Painted Lady]

I found Book I through a fairly obscure reference on iTunes (before they became totally corporate and started talking only about their top sellers). Anyway, my gut feel is that people who are interested in RPG style games are not going to pick up on Facebook or elementary Google references. However, I'm not an expert on the subject