Friday, May 30, 2008

Marketing a larp

With my new larp Calam slowly getting it's participants I came to the realisation that larp marketing of the old days is no longer the way to go.
In the old days we just put out word that there was a new larp coming and suddenly you were the center of attention of the larp community.

Now that is no longer enough, there are now so much more larps organised that you really need to stand out, you really need to have a website that says: if you're into larping then you just can't miss this larp.

This is a lesson that I'm now learning. In the past it was ok to say: more info coming soon. Today that no longer holds true.

So this is my option of marketing a new larp today:
  • include pictures on each and every page of your website (drawings are no good, people want to see finished costumes and finished props).
  • make sure that when you start your marketing that ALL the info is available, don't go for: info coming soon.
  • when posting video make them firstly appeal to those who have not yet subscribed. The video should be an introduction to your larp and make people think that they just can not miss this larp. Other video with scenario clues are ok, but they won't draw the new people in. New people need to be awed, when they have subscribed then they'll want the scenario video's.
  • when all the above are done, you can start your marketing, post a note on all larp fora you know, and keep visiting those fora, as questions will be posted there. Always answer kindly and point them to you events fora, that way directing more people to it. Also write to larp organisers to let them know of your new larp, they in turn will check your site out and if they are impressed they'll contact their own playerbase.
  • keep your own website and forum alive: make periodic posts on your website to keep it alive, if your website doesn't get updated regularly with news or such, people will stop visiting it. The same holds true for your forum, posting regularly keeps people coming back and keeps the forum alive.
  • lack of updates to the website/forum will mean that people start thinking of not going anymore, they start to doubt. Even if your team is very active behind the scenes you might loose people due to the lack of communication.
  • since you already posted all the info on your website when you went live you might wonder how to keep it alive. Here are some possible idea's:
    • add new pictures (and update the pictures on all pages regularly)
    • add new video (post the video on youtube, vimeo, facebook, ... the more channels you can be found on the better)
    • add an IC newsletter (this is the best way to keep people coming back, especially if you can make it a regular newsletter)
    • add a news section: new prop finished, made deal with a shop, FAQ updated, ...
Well that's all for now. I'm now in need of updating the Calam site to follow the above guidelines :-) Other idea's are always welcome.

1 comment:

Chaotic Dutch Weirdo said...

Now you're talking ;-)