To understand Discord's marketing strategies, let's first understand what Discord is. It’s a popular voice and chat platform with over 200 million active monthly users. While it’s used by creators and brands, it’s also a goldmine for game developers looking to build a thriving community around their projects.
The platform has a massive audience, with around 67% of users being male and approximately 32% female, according to Statista. If you're a game developer, this presents a significant opportunity to connect with your target market.
Before getting to Discord marketing strategies, let's know how Discord works
Discord is a powerful tool for game developers to connect with their audience and build communities. Users can create servers, essentially group chats, where they can communicate through various channels: voice chat, text chat, file sharing, and even video sharing. This enables easy collaboration and information exchange.
As per a Statista report, the average US user spends over five hours on Discord monthly. As of June 2024, the Midjourney server, an AI-powered text-to-image tool, is the largest community with over 20 million members. LimeWire follows with over 2 million members.
What sets Discord apart from similar platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams is its strong focus on building communities. This community-driven space allows game developers to directly engage with their audience and build a loyal following.
Benefits of Discord marketing for your game
Community building and marketing
To build and expand your game’s online presence, it’s a great idea to start a Discord server. When starting a Discord server, keep these tips in mind:
- Create community rules
- Frequently interact with your community members
- Consistently post engaging content
- Create automated rules to welcome new members
- Assign dedicated moderators for support and promote a positive environment
Customer support
Customer service is crucial for a positive experience. Discord allows you to quickly respond to questions through instant messaging in live chat. You have the option to create multiple channels for specific inquiries (technical issues or game updates).
Effective branding
Discord is a central hub for gamers, providing an immersive experience beyond in-game chat with real-time communication and strategy sharing. It has also evolved into a community platform for various interests. This versatility makes it an attractive space for brands to engage their audience through exclusive content, giveaways, and interactive experiences. But how do you create a Discord server that fosters a vibrant community around your game?
Step 1: Understanding channel types
The best servers have a healthy mix of these channel types to cater to different communication styles and needs.
- Text channels: The standard channel type for typed conversations, similar to traditional forums.
- Voice channels: Virtual conference rooms where you can chat, stream video, and use your camera for a more interactive experience.
- Forum channels: Categorized discussions with dedicated threads, ideal for FAQs and feature requests.
- Announcement channels: Broadcast updates to your server members, who can also follow them to receive announcements on their servers.
- Stage channels: Special voice channels for significant events with designated speakers and a large audience, perfect for AMAs, fireside chats, or webinars.
Step 2: Organizing your server
Now that you understand the channel types, it's time to design your server's layout. While there's no one-size-fits-all approach, some common sections include:
- Support: A dedicated space for players to seek help with the game. Consider sub-channels for bug reports, general help, or specific game mode questions.
- Internal: Channels reserved for server administration and moderation discussions.
- General chat: An open channel for casual conversation and socializing.
- Beta testing: A private channel for beta testers to discuss feedback amongst themselves.
- Announcements: Keep players informed about game updates and important news.
- In-game advice: A channel for players to share tips and strategies.
- Welcome: Greet new players, introduce them to the community guidelines, and help them navigate the server.
- Rules and guidelines: Outline your server's expectations to ensure a positive environment for everyone.
Step 3: Establishing roles
Once you've finalized your channels and structure, define user roles within the server. Standard roles include admins, moderators, and general members. But you can also introduce elements of fun and prestige:
- Factions: Align roles with in-game factions, granting access to specific channels for strategizing and friendly competition.
- Content creators: Offer special roles and perks to dedicated players, YouTubers, or Twitch streamers who actively contribute to the community. This can include early access to features, or participation in monthly prize draws.
Step 4: Converting to a community server
Community servers unlock additional functionalities compared to private servers. Benefits include the ability to create forum channels, access data insights once you reach 500 members, and potentially gain visibility in Discord's public discovery section upon reaching 10,000 members.
Upgrading to a community server is a simple process within server settings. Discord will guide you through creating or selecting relevant channels and setting default channels for new members to avoid overwhelming them with too many options at once.
Step 5: Onboarding new members
With your community server established, it's time to streamline the onboarding process for new players. Discord's welcome screen allows you to showcase key channels based on common activities, directing users straight to the areas they'll find most useful.
8 Discord marketing strategies to reach more players
Discord is a unique platform for game developers to connect with their audience and build a strong community. Here are eight key Discord marketing strategies that you should know:
1. Curate and control
Control who joins your server, assign roles, and delegate permissions, thus allowing for personalized communication and active participation. How can you use these roles?
- Granting access to exclusive channels, early release, special discounts, etc.
- Recognizing and rewarding members who are active.
- Assigning roles based on behaviors and interests to ensure that members receive personalized content.
2. Value and exclusivity
Provide exclusive sales and promotions to community members to incentivize participation. You need to consider what attracts your target audience the most. These could be-
- Early access to new game content or updates.
- Discounts on in-game purchases or events.
- Special access to exclusive in-game events or beta testing opportunities.
3. Regular events
Host events like Q&A sessions, product launches, watch parties, or gaming tournaments to increase engagement. Knowing what your community enjoys and what motivates them to interact is key.
You can also take advantage of Discord’s voice channels to host virtual hangouts and podcasts for the members.
4. Set up channels
Create channels for specific interests relevant to your audience and encourage interaction. Make sure to have a well-organized server with a properly named channel. This is because channels with a proper name will have much better member retention than those that don’t. Keep general chat channels and important channels in separate categories to help members find information quickly.
5. Network and collaborate
Join relevant servers to connect with like-minded gamers and expand your reach. Build meaningful relationships on Discord by networking with:
- Influencers, both macro and micro.
- New members who have joined through word-of-mouth or recruitment efforts.
6. Utilize UGC (user-generated content)
Encourage members to share content in channels dedicated to UGC. These could be memes, reviews, testimonials, fan arts, and a lot more. This will not only strengthen the bond between members, but also enhance your brand’s online presence.
7. Bots to streamline
Integrate bots to automate repetitive tasks and manage your server. By using bots, you can create appropriate responses, send welcome messages to new members, discuss community rules, etc. These bots can also be used to automatically detect and remove spams and violations, and implement corresponding penalties.
8. Discord ads
Leverage Discord's ad platform to reach a specific audience with relevant messaging for maximum impact. Discord, once known for its anti-ad stance, now lets companies pay for sponsored quests. These encourage viewers of player streams to join the game and earn in-game rewards. This ad format is still new and less intrusive compared to other social media platforms.
In the end, monitor user activity, demographics, and server growth to optimize your strategy accordingly.
Takeaway
Discord is a great social media platform that allows businesses to engage with millions of prospective audiences through chats, videos, and voice interactions. Especially popular with Gen Z and gamers, Discord has expanded to cater to other industries as well.
By embracing Discord marketing, you can organically increase your game's visibility and grow your community. For more information on how Game Marketing Genie can help you execute these strategies, get in touch today!