Like we covered in our previous article of Board Game and Card Game Marketing Fundamentals, there are two types of marketing: Discovery and advertisement. In this article we will go through 10 steps you can take to increase the awareness of your game so more people get exposed to it. 

Below are some steps that you can take to help increase the discovery and marketing of your game:

1. Build a Facebook Page: A Facebook page for your board game can be a great tool to help people follow and know who you are. You can also consider creating pages on other social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter or Instagram. Make sure to post regularly and engage with your followers. (Facebook pages are not what they used to, and Facebook does not share your posts to other people’s feeds, still, it is important to maintain it for appearances and you can ask people to leave there 5-star reviews that will be shown in google search). 
2. Marketing Emails: Create a list of 5-10 marketing emails that you can send out to your audience. You can use services such as Mailchimp or send them manually. These emails can include information about your game, news about upcoming events, or special offers. For this one, you will first need a place to capture your audience. Make sure you first build your website.
3. Personal Facebook Page: This is even more important than your Facebook page. Make sure that your personal Facebook page represents who you are and the game/games you have made. If someone checks your personal page, he might continue to checking and purchasing your game.  
4. Join Relevant Groups: Join groups on Facebook, Reddit, (Board Game Geeks – only for some), and other social media platforms where your specific audience hangs out. Engage with other members in a constructive way, and share information about your game when appropriate.
5. Find Reviewers and Community Leaders: Within these groups, you can find the perfect reviewers and community leaders that will help you share about your game. Look for people who have an established following, and who get the most likes in those groups and ask them to mention your game as well.
6. Reach Out to YouTube Reviewers: Find reviewers on YouTube that will talk about your game. Do not over do it, as many reviewers will not necessarily bring sales, but they will generate a bunch of super awesome User Generated Content for you to turn around and use in your ads. Check out our website for a list of over 160 different game reviewers
7. Find Active Blogs and Publish PR articles: Find other active blogs that talk about board games and see if they will review or feature your game. Make sure to do your research and find bloggers that are a good fit for your game and your target audience. Beware of blogs that charge too much money and do not bring traffic. Use Ahefs or SEMrush to check how much traffic these websites actually get. The same goes also for press releases (PR), you can find freelancers on fiver and Upwork that will have your game show up in some news channel, but do not expect too much traffic from them. Be careful when spending money on it. 
8. Donate Games: Donate copies of your game to charities, hospitals, game clubs, or other organizations to help increase awareness of your game. People that go there will see your game, and then go on Amazon to look for it.
9. Host Giveaways: Doing giveaways can be an effective way to increase awareness of your game. However, be aware that they can become a bloated expense with no direct result, so use them with caution.
10. Offer Existing Customers Benefits: Offer existing customers benefits for friend referrals. Word of mouth is still one of the most powerful marketing tools out there, so incentivizing your existing customers to share your game with their friends can be a great way to spread the word about your game.

Please remember, that you first MUST identify your target audience before you start investing time and effort in any of these steps. Your audience will determine your tone of voice, your messaging, the platform and groups to be on, your colors, and so much more.