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| my most popular videos: lunch shitpost, BL joke, Australia complaints... three different genres? |
Numbers-wise, I'm doing OK. Not that follower counts mean much, but I have 2000+ followers on TikTok (from 0 a year ago) and 4000+ on IG (from ~1500? a year ago) and a couple viral videos with 1 million+ views across both.
More importantly, I do feel like I understand much better how to make videos, craft-wise and culturally.
The common cynical marketing advice for game devs here is to automate a third-party app to schedule gameplay clips every day. I don't think it's great advice. Personally I don't really watch these videos much myself. It's also a short-sighted media strategy, because what about your next game, what about when you quit / escape the game industry? Even from a cynical marketing lens, gameplay clips will not foster a parasocial fanbase for you.
If cold robot gameplay posting is working for you somehow, that's great. But if you're looking for an alternate strategy, here's what's been working for me -- posting like a human being...
Specifically:
- Post videos that riff off whatever you watch yourself.
- Post a variety of genres, about your life, community, interests -- and yes, your projects.
- Post every 0-30 days, when you feel like it.
Maybe all that stuff sounds obvious? But no one told me this stuff when I started a year ago.
So now, sure I post videos about my games and Quake maps, but I also post about the local music gigs and festivals I attend. As a result, I've now accidentally become a local D-tier nightlife / music influencer? Some people now know me as a local "expert" in Aotearoa New Zealand, and they have no idea I'm vaguely notorious in video games.
Of course it's all a bit of a cursed lottery. My most viral video is just a shitpost about my lunch, and of course that's the one that gets 2 million views and now pollutes my in-app notifications every day. But I watch a lot of lunch videos and I like shitposting, so I guess the psychic energies balance out.
I do feel like I have a better sense of "how to make viral videos" now, but I think it's important to resist the algorithm in my head, and post videos that I know probably won't go viral. It's tempting to chase big numbers, but on principle, we mustn't let big tech companies completely guide what we make. Some things are worthwhile even if they're not massively popular.
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| less popular videos about indie NZ culture... but I'm gonna keep making these videos anyway! |
All this stuff doesn't seem related to game development, but it could be.
These videos help me test gay dad joke material for my upcoming gay rugby game. When I post about local music, it helps me scout musicians to collaborate with. And maybe this is the validation I need to put a lunch-themed shitquest in the game now?
So I guess my general big-picture advice for anyone interested in videos is don't just make one type of video, because no one is just one thing. Everything you do is relevant to what you make.
If you treat it like a boring robot marketing chore, that's how it's gonna feel to everyone else too. You wouldn't want to make a game that you hate making / playing, right? Then don't make videos that you hate making / watching either.
See you over in video land!
