Thread by @kylewbanks

For #indiedevhour I'm sharing some findings on everyone's least favorite topic: marketing. Specifically, on Imgur. Many devs ignore Imgur, as I did until seeing @DavidWehle's GDU content, but I’ve been testing it and I have some data that might convince you to give it a go!

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Before I share numbers, understand that none of this is meant to sound like bragging! I don't enjoy marketing, I'm not good at it, I don't think I'm a guru or anything like that, it's just important and I've had a little bit of success recently that I believe is reproducible.

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First, one big difference between Imgur/Twitter is people on Imgur don't really follow eachother. This is actually great, because every post starts on a level playing field, with just as much chance to make it to the top.

You don't need to build a following to be seen.

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Posts on Imgur regularly break 1K views and get a few dozen likes for me, with zero following. This easily beats Twitter, and these are actual gamers, not devs - which is the most important thing. Folks on Imgur click through and convert to wishlists much better than Twitter.

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I tend to get ~2x the wishlists per post compared to Twitter. So on average it's better and that along would be enough to focus on Imgur, but it can get better. Last Thursday, I was lucky enough to get this fabled notification:

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"Going Viral" on Imgur means you’re on the frontpage and will be seen by everyone on the platform, not just people following #gaming or #videogames - everyone! Within seconds of getting that notification you’ll be getting hundreds of views per minute.

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The post reached 2270 likes, 201 comments, 67k views, and in twelve hours my Steam page received more traffic than the previous 45 days combined, which is pretty swell.

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So how does this all convert to wishlists? Well of those 67k views over 800 clicked the Steam link I left in the comments. So that's 800 gamers who saw a video of the game and decided they liked it enough to click on the post, read the comments, and find the link to Steam.

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I don't know if I can share wishlist numbers due to the Steam NDA but again it was more than the previous 45 days combined, and converted at a much higher percentage than usual traffic. I know some devs are hitting 10s of thousands of wishlists, but for me this was great.

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Obviously you can’t count on hitting the front page on every post, but even still, I think you’ll find your average posts tend to convert very well on Imgur compared to Twitter. But there's more to why I think Imgur is a solid platform!

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Everyone focuses on Reddit, and hitting the front page on Reddit is certainly a bigger deal than Imgur. But the two platforms have useful similarities you can take advantage of, in that both are notorious for shunning self promotion and any hint of marketing.



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Imgur is maybe 25% less hostile (YMMV) to self promotion, so it works as a great testing ground. Post on Imgur regularly, see what works, and then post those to Reddit. This reduces the risk of sharing a poor-performing post to Reddit and dinging your self-promotion limits.

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I used this strategy with the post that went "viral" on Imgur and it managed to achieve over 1 million views on Reddit, and earn over 23,000 upvotes across three subs. Still got taken down on r/gaming though, what can you do. Point is, Imgur determined the right post!

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So, some practical tips for Imgur success: In my experience it’s all about being humble. Don’t try to sound like you’re the next Naughty Dog. Be a genuine individual, let them know what you’re working on, what you’re proud of, ask for feedback.

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Your content has to be eye catching, no block prototypes - that's better for Twitter. Don’t include *any* links in the description! Imgur seems to bury these posts. Write a thoughtful, genuine description (no marketing), and then leave one CTA in the comments.

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The CTA should be one link max, and again you need to be honest, genuine and humble. I can’t stress this enough, do not try to sound like a marketer or a big shot studio! Just be an individual that people can relate to, and they will.

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Anyways, that’s it! Hopefully there’s some useful data and tips here. I’m no expert and this isn’t intended to seem like bragging, in all likelihood I don't know what I'm doing and just got lucky. I’ve just been playing around and seeing some roads to success on Imgur.

Fin!

Oh, one more thing: if you want a more step-by-step guide from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about, checkout this post by Chris Zukowski (sorry don't know his twitter handle!) which offers some really good advice:

gamasutra.com/blogs/ChrisZuk…