Marketing of any game is important: it's how you get the word out on your game. Without it, we wouldn't know about a ton of games. It's difficult to just plain discover something.
Sometimes, a marketing strategy can only do so much for a game. That's where word of mouth comes in. And according to a study presented by Gamasutra, when it comes to mobile games, word of mouth cannot be understated. It accounts for a large chunk of why people discover a game in the first place.
According to research from analytics firm EEDAR (in data given exclusively to Gamasutra), players frequently discover games via word of mouth alone. The firm reports that word of mouth (including social networks) accounts for more than half of all mobile app discovery — that's far more significant than it is in the HD game market, where word of mouth accounts for a mere 25 percent of discovery.
Given how powerful word of mouth can be on mobile, developers should be doing everything in their power to ensure players are talking about their latest games.
Perhaps not surprising to hear this. And so companies try to make the most of out of this data by treating users with high clout and fierce loyalty particularly well. They're the ones that are likely to go out there and evangelize your product, after all.
It would be interesting to hear how non-mobile games use word of mouth, versus other forms of marketing. Like say: how much do reviews influence purchasing habits?
