Author Topic: Social Media  (Read 13514 times)

Wimpie

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Social Media
« Topic Start: September 26, 2017, 02:27:17 PM »
Greetings members of the Forum,

I have been brainstorming with Renodin on the IRC chat about the possibility to boost our player number by more actively using the social media of Battlemaster.

I currently have no idea who actually owns our Facebook or Twitter page (I'm guessing it is Vita, I left him a note). But we would need someone to keep these things alive and post new and original content.

I found this on the volounteer page as well:

Quote
Social Media
Would you like to help spread the word of BattleMaster? Want to help keep the Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2215079182) and Twitter account (https://twitter.com/_BattleMaster_) updated with news of in-game events? Have other recruitment or marketing ideas?

About the exact content, we were still brainstorming. Renodin mentioned something about interesting Roleplays, or nicely written ones. Important events in BM history (I'm thinking about the death or birth of new realms, invasions, death of legendary hero?,..), dev updates on new features or bug fixes (basically the announcements section),..

I created this thread for the following:
1. So Delvin/Vita would see it, because ultimately the decision what to do with those accounts is in their hands I think.
2.Search for someone (or more than 1?) who is willing to put in time and effort to post such stuff/handle the social media in general.
3. Get more ideas of interesting content we could share on those social media
4. If any of you have other types of ways of spreading awareness about BM or marketing/advertising, be my guest.

Feel free to add/apply/discuss/...
Osgar (Thalmarkin, BT), Jeames (Perleone, EC)
PAUSED: Nasgar (Avernus, DWI), Jari (Outer Tilog, COL)

JeVondair

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #1: September 26, 2017, 04:42:00 PM »
Hi Wimpie,


I am pretty active on social media. I've had to be just to get GX the numbers it had. I serve as an admin, moderator, and owner for several pages and groups on facebook, for example. I also work closely with my current' company's social media manager. In that science, there are three general factors that drive a following:
  • Consistent posting
  • Original Content
  • Discussions/threads
Constant posting is absolutely essential. It is the new advertising/marketing goal for companies to be on top of your news feed. For followers to click like and share, etc. Constant posting proves that there is an active and dynamic community following and that alone lures new followers every day. Consistent posting gets more shares, more shares means more followers, more followers mean more players, etc.


Original content is probably THE most important thing on this list. Followers are less and less interested by the shared and reshared posts that float around the internet. Everyone wants to be on the cutting edge of the next new thing or big story. And, unfortunately, simply posting roleplays won't generate the sort of traffic that would boost our player base, imho. Current players may love it, I know I would, but new people would more than likely find themselves lost. What I mean when I say OC in regards to BM, I am talking about pictures, videos, that sort of thing. Things that are unique enough to BM, or striking enough to the outsider, that they are compelled to learn more.


Both of these lead to the final portion: Discussion threads. People talking about your posts is the best indication of a healthy, active following. Take the recent conversation about graphic violence in roleplays, that was an outstanding conversation and, if shared to social media, may only grow. Discussing complex social issues, researching historically relevant items, comparing in-game situations to current media trends like movies and shows, these are the tie-ins that will help anchor new players. I have ideas for this: Roleplay of the Week, Featured Realm of the Day, Featured Character of the Day, etc.


All of that said, we won't get very far at all unless we motivate our current player base to feed into these three things. That means getting as many players as we can to join the facebook group/page, to follow BM on Twitter, hell I'll even make a fake Tinder/Grinder account just to randomly bring in more people if I have to, but unless we can find a way to get our current layers on board to get the ball rolling, I think we'd be doomed to fail before we even began. We need volunteers willing to like and share BM posts daily. To comment on threads daily.  To suggest new topics and generate new content daily. It may sound like a lot, but in reality it may only take 5 minutes out of each of our days. but 5 minutes from each of us over an extended period will add up, my friends. I know it.
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Wimpie

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #2: September 26, 2017, 05:00:58 PM »
Perhaps I'll start with getting to know who owns the FB/Twitter accounts (again, I think Vita) and linking them on the main page of BM. That and putting in a new announcement to join & share!
Osgar (Thalmarkin, BT), Jeames (Perleone, EC)
PAUSED: Nasgar (Avernus, DWI), Jari (Outer Tilog, COL)

Crownguard

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #3: September 26, 2017, 06:29:03 PM »
I like a lot of what JeVondair is suggesting and it is what we also found worked well with our social media accounts. Our business went from luke-warm to we couldn't hire enough people to handle the workload in about a year. We found that posting 2-3 times a week on consistent days so the content was expected and looked forward to.

Targeting the LARPers and MUD players are the top targets that come to my mind.

Also, adding some, dare I say it... "bling" to the interface. Personally I prefer the minimalist nature of Battlemaster to allow my imagination to handle the visuals for me and the fact that all we have is a map to go by. But, with that said, humans are visual creatures and nothing says more than a picture to getting a concept across.

A call for entries might work out with all the talented folks that play the game to create visuals. Maybe a group of talent is assembled of players with artistic talent and they divvy up the work between them so there is a plan and consistency. Perhaps instead of monsters and undead, we get more descriptive, specific and visual. Some monsters are more powerful than others as are the undead. Visual imagery and distinctive descriptions of the different types of monstrosities and shamblers add appeal and terror even... people so love terror in their entertainment.

So, piggybacking off of JeVondair's ideas, have a featured monster (or undead) a week with a description, what continent they are mostly found on, etc. Featured images, player-made images... I think what I am saying is if you want to attract more players add more visuals and variety to the threats involved.

I think any of the invasions could be touted like WoW, Eve-Online or any of the other MMORPGs do when they have a special event. New wars breaking out or major turns that take place in on-going wars would also garner interest.

Not sure if there is any cash in the kitty, but advertising on Facebook and paying to promote tweets would be a huge leg up with spreading word to a targeted audience.

First steps would be:
  • Call for creative/visual volunteers
  • Form a social committee
  • Social committee meets every other week to discuss direction and divy up work
  • Designate a gatekeeper to handle the postings and ensure that they have a deputy gatekeeper for when they are unavailable
  • Offer in-game bonuses for participating (gamify the participation without unbalancing the game itself)
  • Setup a request/suggestion thread to collect ideas for imagery they would like to see in game and ensure there is a voting structure around the requests just like open source software development

Just some ideas.

JeVondair

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #4: September 26, 2017, 07:07:08 PM »
Nice ideas! I especially like the idea of having a featured monster/undead/daimon as well. I mean, we know from the advy item list what kind of monsters actually exist in the world, a few images and a wiki link could improve the role play game.




Additionally, to further engage our player base, I really believe that we should start using some sort of incentive. For example, if your character's wiki is selected to be featured, perhaps that character or family should be entitled to a small, IG reward, be it a magical item or scroll, a bit of gold, a fame point, what have you. Generating the momentum is really my biggest target here and, for various reasons, players have rarely shown inclination to do more than the minimum when they get nothing out of doing so.
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Bronnen

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #5: September 26, 2017, 07:08:17 PM »
Has no one considered getting LARP groups involved in this? Maybe reaching out to some of them to see if they'd be willing to share? Larpers are most likely the ones that are going to be interested in this sort of game.

JeVondair

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #6: September 26, 2017, 07:15:32 PM »
Has no one considered getting LARP groups involved in this? Maybe reaching out to some of them to see if they'd be willing to share? Larpers are most likely the ones that are going to be interested in this sort of game.


That's how I boosted GX. I tapped Belegarth and Dagohir (much more the former than the latter) but in the end I was only able to retain a handful of the dozens I recruited for various newplayerquit reasons. I've tried posting multiple times on facebook forums like Tabletop and RPG grouops, but those groups have such low traffic, and everything smacking of advertising is so often struck down, that I don't think any measurable good came from it.
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Bronnen

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #7: September 26, 2017, 07:22:22 PM »
I'd focus more on smaller groups or LARP communities rather than the huge LARPS. Probably north American ones too rather than European ones.

Miriam Ics

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #8: September 26, 2017, 09:44:46 PM »
Perhaps I'll start with getting to know who owns the FB/Twitter accounts (again, I think Vita) and linking them on the main page of BM. That and putting in a new announcement to join & share!

Tom alone is the owner of those accounts. At Facebook we have a group that can be usefull for spreading the game.
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Miriam Ics

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"Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces."

Wimpie

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #10: September 26, 2017, 10:27:06 PM »
From all those ideas of groups where to post about BM: PLEASE DO SO. I have no idea what LARP is or should be but if you can post in there, go ahead :-).

Furthermore, nice ideas around here! Keep them coming.
Osgar (Thalmarkin, BT), Jeames (Perleone, EC)
PAUSED: Nasgar (Avernus, DWI), Jari (Outer Tilog, COL)

JeVondair

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #11: September 27, 2017, 12:33:56 AM »
Well, like you said Wimpie, we should start with the official facebook page. i don't even know if we have a Twitter, but that could be a huge, untapped potential source and should be explored immediately.
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MTYL

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #12: September 27, 2017, 12:54:37 AM »
Generally that's a great idea and congrats to Wimpie for coming up with it. New players is what BM needs the most and getting social and tapping those hidden potential playerbases is the best way to get them.

Some ideas of where to look for new players:

  • reddit
  • indie game message boards (eg. bay12)
  • discord
  • tabletop communities message boards, local even

And don't forget to use many hashtags on twitter (I'm probably stating the obvious here).
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Re: Social Media
« Reply #13: September 27, 2017, 01:41:18 AM »
thought bay12 people hated BM for closing western dwilight?

Wimpie

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Re: Social Media
« Reply #14: September 27, 2017, 08:21:19 AM »
Whenever you post to forum or boards, feel free to add links to it here so others can see it and maybe react on it or help spread the word.

I've just contacted Tom to see if I can get those admin rights to both Facebook & Twitter pages. And then we're off to find some good content to post!
Osgar (Thalmarkin, BT), Jeames (Perleone, EC)
PAUSED: Nasgar (Avernus, DWI), Jari (Outer Tilog, COL)