Welcome to the Indie Bandits Marketing Lab
The Indie Bandits Marketing Lab is a 12-month course covering marketing, content creation, online visibility, and personal branding.
The Lessons
The course is delivered as a monthly call that covers our syllabus. These calls can be attended live by participants or watched back via VOD. During the live calls, lab participants can ask questions and participate via chat.
The Marketing Lab Newsletter
Members of every cohort will receive a monthly Marketing Lab newsletter that covers a particular aspect of marketing as well as including other goodies such as the VOD.
Ongoing Email Support
Lab members can also email us with ongoing questions about the course and the topics covered. There’s a special marketing lab inbox where we deal with these questions, inquiries, and tasks.
The Indie Bandits Marketing Lab Discord Channel
Indie Bandits Marketing Lab members will also be given access to an exclusive channel in the Indie Bandits Discord where they can discuss the course, lab activities, and questions, and share their work.
The Indie Bandits Marketing Lab Showcase
At the end of the course, every member’s project will be presented in an Indie Bandits Marketing Lab showcase on the Indie Bandits website and social media.
Curriculum
The Indie Bandits Marketing Lab’s course curriculum focuses on 4 main areas: marketing, content creation, online visibility, and personal branding.
These areas of study will be regularly visited and built upon during the monthly lessons, the email newsletter, and via email and Discord.
Marketing Foundations
Intro to Marketing
- Product, price, place, promotion
- The importance of marketing indie games
Building Foundations
- Understanding your Audience – (research)
- Understanding the Market
- Your Elevator Pitch
Funnels
- What are funnels?
- Funnel optimization
- Content types for marketing funnels
Marketing an Indie Game
Marketing Before and During Development
- Common problems faced by indie game devs marketing their games
- Problems to avoid
- Common mistakes
- Personal branding
Launching an Indie Game
- Socials, website, storefronts
- Pre-launch
- Testing
Tactics
- Influencer marketing and WOM
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing
Content Creation
Content Creation Pipelines
- Efficient approaches to content creation
Social Media Marketing
- Creating content that works
- Social media content types
- Measuring content success
Creating and Updating Marketing Assets
- Creating effective marketing assets
Making a Press Kit
- Making content for press kits
- Choosing the right content
Online Visibility
Building communities
- Developing an online presence
- Creating hype
- Cross-promotion
Working with Publishers, Partners, and the Public
- Dealing with testimonials, endorsements, reviews
- Working with publishers and partners
Personal Branding
Gaming Events
- Choosing and attending the right events
- Networking at events
Indie dev USPs
- The indie dev as a marketing asset
- Building trust
- The dev vs. the game
Planned Lessons*
Lesson 1 – February
Introducing Marketing and Building Foundations
Learn about marketing and the work you have to do before you start marketing your indie game.
Lesson 2 – March
Marketing Funnels and Marketing Before Development
The marketing funnel is an essential part of marketing any product. In this lesson, we’ll learn about how you can use it to better understand how people become players and the marketing you can do before you start making your indie game.
Lesson 3 – April
Marketing Tactics
In this lesson, we’ll cover the different types of marketing tactics that developers can use throughout every stage of marketing their indie games.
Lesson 4 – May
Marketing During Development
Here, we’ll focus on the marketing you can do for an unreleased indie game and how during development is the best time to market your project.
Lesson 5 – June
Content Creation Pipelines
Marketing is built on strong content. In this lesson, the cohort will learn about effective ways to come up with ideas for content, create content, and publish it in effective ways.
Lesson 6 – July
Making Marketing Assets
During this session, developers will learn effective ways to create and update their marketing assets and make a press kit.
Lesson 7 – August
Community Building
Every indie game needs a strong community to champion it before and after release. This lesson will cover developing your online presence so you can build a community that will generate hype for your indie game.
Lesson 8 – September
Social Media Marketing
Social media is a key part of marketing any indie game, especially since almost every game is bought via a digital storefront.
In this lesson, we’ll look at effective types of social media content, the different types of content you can use, and how to measure the success of your social media marketing.
Lesson 9 – October
Working with Publishers and Partners
It’s dangerous to go alone. While not every indie game will need or want a publisher, this lesson will cover how to reach out to and work with publishers and partners.
Lesson 10 – November
Testimonials, Endorsements, and Reviews
Throughout development and after release, indie games will be subject to reviews and opinions. This lesson deals with how to manage and use them to market your indie game.
Lesson 11 – December
Launching Your Game and Marketing After Launch
Marketing your indie game doesn’t stop once you’ve launched your indie game. This lesson will cover the ways your marketing will change once your game is released.
Lesson 12 – January
The Indie Bandits Marketing Lab Showcase
The Indie Bandits Marketing Lab Showcase is our cohort’s “graduation”. In this lesson, we’ll assemble the materials for the showcase, using everything we’ve learned about marketing indie games.
*Disclaimer
The Indie Bandits Marketing Lab is a participatory course; curriculum content and lesson structures are subject to change to meet the requirements and needs of the cohort.
We’re always open to suggestions and will prioritize the needs of the cohort over the planned structure and curriculum if it will provide greater benefits and more value.
Indie Bandits 