Do advertisements work?

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BasiliskWrangler
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by BasiliskWrangler »

Well, after reading everyone's replies (none of which confirm that anyone has bought a game from an ad they've seen) I have decided to stop wasting precious cash on Google or Facebook ads. :|
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Alain
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by Alain »

With Google Ads you can put a code on your "thank you for the purchase" page (most payment processors offer this feature, I am sure Plimus do it too).

This way you can know exactly how many conversion you did and with the exact keyword and banner.

Adwords is a great way to loose money if you don't take the time to tweak your campaign, but after some time it is possible to make money with it. It took me 6 month to start to be successful with my campaign. (But I am not on the game market)
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IJBall
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by IJBall »

Alain wrote:With Google Ads you can put a code on your "thank you for the purchase" page (most payment processors offer this feature, I am sure Plimus do it too).

This way you can know exactly how many conversion you did and with the exact keyword and banner.
You know, I have to say, BW, that this is a really cool/useful idea!

If you could funnel people from web ads to a separate Purchase Page (or something like that...) where you could keep track of the number of purchases funneled to you from ads, then you could figure out whether the ads were paying off. Heck! - you could use the revenue from, say, just the Google ads purchases to pay for the Google ads themselves! It'd be like setting up a little separate revenue stream! :)

BW, I know you've planned to knock off the web advertising for now. But maybe if sales are profitable enough, you can revisit this issue in a few months, and try what Alain and SpottedShroom were suggesting, to get a better idea if web ads really work or not. It'd be the kind of info that could be useful to you later on... 8)
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by Alain »

BW,

If you need help to set up a conversion goal into Google Adwords/Analytics just send me a PM I would be happy to help on that.
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BasiliskWrangler
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by BasiliskWrangler »

Alain wrote:BW,

If you need help to set up a conversion goal into Google Adwords/Analytics just send me a PM I would be happy to help on that.
Thanks Alain, I have no doubt that you could improve our Google Adwords efficiency, however I do feel (as others have stated) that since we produce very niche games, conventional advertising just isn't the best for us.

I am going to push for a more focused approach to promoting our games, such as getting reviews, interviews and special features posted on other websites where our potential customers may lurk.

I may also put on a basilisk costume and dance at busy intersections holding a large sign, while tossing free discs at cars. :lol:
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silverkitty
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by silverkitty »

The problem with technical solutions to tracking Google AdWords conversions would be that most of the people who click the ad and come to the site might try the demo, but then come back to buy it in a completely unrelated session some time later.

Really, the best things for this kind of game is to get the demo into as many eyeballs as possible - the people who like this kind of game will love the demo - and the ones will disposable income will almost certainly find it cheap enough to buy. The people who don't love this kind of game or don't have money were never potential customers. Blogs and websites and such for related games is an excellent way to do that. Getting the demo onto every freeware/shareware site in existence might be helpful, too. BW seems to be going in the right direction now.
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Wyberious
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by Wyberious »

I found the game sifting through titles on Steam. Being a Mac user I am of course limited to a smaller gaming universe (don't feel like running Bootcamp etc.) and being impatient I like the direct download functionality. I'm new to the RPG genre but what tipped me were the reviews etc. I read on a few sites. To that end I think your focus on leveraging those outlets for advertising is probably spot on.
Alain
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by Alain »

silverkitty wrote:The problem with technical solutions to tracking Google AdWords conversions would be that most of the people who click the ad and come to the site might try the demo, but then come back to buy it in a completely unrelated session some time later.
It is not a problem: Adwords put a 30 days cookie on the computer and if a customer purchase the game within 30 days, it will be counted as a conversion.

For sure you will miss conversions (if somebody click on the ad at work, but purchase at home for example) but it gives you a good overview of which keywords are working or not.

Anyway, I agree with BW, google ads is maybe not the most efficient way to promote a game like eschalon (maybe by putting ads on very specific rpg niche market it may work however). It is maybe better to ask for reviews on blogs and on site SEO.
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Rowanas
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by Rowanas »

BasiliskWrangler wrote: I may also put on a basilisk costume and dance at busy intersections holding a large sign, while tossing free discs at cars. :lol:
If you send me the costume, I'll dance :D I want t practice my cossack moves anyway.
JWenham
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by JWenham »

I never saw any adds anywhere. I found the game on Gamespot.
Ed Cakes
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by Ed Cakes »

I also found the game on Steam. When I discovered I could buy it directly from Basilisk, though, I did that as opposed to purchasing it on Steam.

I bought one game on Steam, and the client crashes for no good reason at odd times. It seems very unstable to me, which is a bother. Plus, why have an extra layer of crap to sift through when I could just go straight to the developer's website and get it from the horse itself?

Kudos on killing your ads on Google. I would go for exactly what you said to go for: Reviews, articles, specialized forums.
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macdude22
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by macdude22 »

I bought it on steam as well as direct, mostly because I had drank a can of Joose gaming in the basement (while a friend was watching what appeared to be the result of someone doing number 2 on a film cell, Horrorplanet) and decided I was too lazy to go upstairs and get the disk. Distribution services that store my CC should have a breathalyzer attached.
Ed Cakes
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Re: Do advertisements work?

Post by Ed Cakes »

That's pretty funny :)
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