press and influencers outreach
how to make the outreach to the press and influencers
INDIE GAMEGAMING
You should be aware of the international holidays and celebrations, also for the different time zones, the editor hobbies, and nationality. Where the editor is from, where is located, their celebrations, when will be and how much time.
By following these steps, you can create a well-organized structure for your press materials in Google Drive named “Media Kit”
Create a Main Folder:
Open your Google Drive.
Click on the "+ New" button on the left side.
Choose "Folder" and give it a name, such as "Press Materials" or "Media Kit."
Create Subfolders:
Inside your main folder, click on the "+ New" button again.
Select "Folder" to create subfolders for different types of materials. For example:
"Images"
"Videos"
"Press Releases"
"Logos"
"Screenshots"
"Documents"
"Graphics"
Upload Files:
Open the subfolder where you want to upload materials.
Click on the "+ New" button and choose "File upload" to upload individual files, or "Folder upload" to upload an entire folder.
4. File Naming Convention:Establish a consistent and clear file naming convention to make it easy for others to find what they need.
Share Folders:
Right-click on the folder you want to share.
Click on "Share."
Enter the email addresses of the people you want to share the folder with and set their permissions (view, comment, or edit).
Add Descriptions:
For each file or folder, you can add descriptions to provide additional context.
Use Color Labels (Optional):
Right-click on a folder.
Choose "Change color" to assign a color label for better visual organization.
The best option,is to convert the timezones, follow them on socials,connect with them, on X & LinkedIn.
Also for LinkedIn there's a catch 👀 having your QR code for your LinkedIn profile at the events too, will get you more connection 😉 and stability. Making even deals 🤝 or future ones .
If you are thinking to use a CRM like Brevo , you should be aware of the keys for Google & Yahoo to pass the protocol, not going in inbox and so on, a lot of settings with the domain provider/DNS.
Be aware when you are sending emails in mass, to segment them like “press” “streamers” “ review” “gamers” etc. Not sending a press release to a streamer.
Also using a SMTP server will get you a lot of security and will pass any protocol 😃 and can send depends of the plan minimum 300k emails/month.
The content of the email 📨 needs to be more than “out now” or “coming soon” 😁 They need exclusivity, to assure you coverage, and don't make an embargo date, too soon,like will be out in 2 weeks.
They need time to open the email, because are receiving 50.000 emails / DAY from a lot of PR firms. Also some of them are in spam,the reason:
Not passing the protocol, have attached something, pdf, video, zip , and not being sent from a @ domain . com email address.
Never upload a zip file, on your media kit from Google drive. or PDF AS PRESS RELEASE.
What you need to do:
Artwork ( vertical & horizontal)
Logos ( game & studio) with a transparent background
In-game screenshots (vertical & horizontal)
!! If it's a coming soon game without any B-roll gameplay footage or trailer, teaser trailer, then you need to restrict access for the branch “videos” send it only to IGN and say they will need access because it's private, exclusive only for them .
Press release ( Google doc link in the media kit) ~ should have your email, WhatsApp number, dev name, studio name, if there is a quarter of launch, i.e. Q3 2025 and which platforms or consoles, your elevator pitch about the game, unique features, similar games, any coverage you might have i.e. interview with “The Gamer” article on “Gamerant” ,any viral tweet, or anything viral, awards, if you are planning something i.e. gamescom 2025 with the game, big streamer coverage, all o his needs to be as a hyperlink, or into a LINKTREE and link it in the press release, with steam and others.
It is very important to know the person, and research about what genre did they cover, and if there are major releases.
Why it is important to be in touch with the editor or freelancer ?
Because if you are planning to go to Gamescom for example , you need to get in touch,contact them in advance to get a deal, meeting, interview,showcase, event coverage from them, like one month before the event to start.
For example at gamescom there will be more than 300k people's including media outlets.
If you don't know and schedule in advance a meeting with them in day x hour x ,x place , and give them exclusivity there, you will ruin everything. It is not ok, just to rent the booth , pay for everything, and wait . You will have only 2% chances to get some coverage.
Just a fyi, that's why I'm taking games with me, at the events and ask the editors, influencers in advance if they are interested to meet, and when, where and how.
And also contacting the exact person for the x objective, like IGN to come at the x booth align the timing and desire with them, to take an interview,and / or do a Livestream,article.
What's important also to have :
Personalized business cards, and personalized separated game cards , great cutting ✂️ not just rectangular. QR needs to match to the media kit, for media outlets , and your website for gamers .
The website needs to have :
A separate subdomain page 📃 like playtesting form built-in, for signing up ( that will be a QR code for the game card too)
All the widgets for discord server , socials, steam page , newsletter, the media kit/press kit on top,like a button or a separate subdomain page
All the coverage you got so far
Localization for the website in other languages
Here you will find the exact step by step how to build a media kit/press kit on a Google Drive
Don't include a steam key in the email. Just suggesting if they are interested in covering the game, then reply for this email to get a steam key.
If you will include the steam key, is like forcing them to cover it, and with so many games they are receiving, will go in trash.
It is not a perfect timing for an open rate when you are sending emails in mass.
Some editors for a different media outlets, are working only on Monday & Friday. And there's a specific hour for them. Into a launch break.
Some of them are working only Monday and Wednesday from a different media outlet.
Some of them are working, but open the emails only on Sunday to catch up.And the x hour. A lot of them even if they are working on week days are mostly open the emails on a weekend day, and answer in dm's as well.
Never,ever send dm's on every socials, or resending the emails in a short time. Only one social,and wait for it. Also for a follow-up email,needs to pass 2 weeks.
You will get a block. From socials and email.
And also I repeat, having the exact connection, who cover the exact genre that you need, it's very important.
And aligning with their needs and struggle, also reply very fast when they are finally responding.
Be careful with the “to” and cold emails ✉️ when you reach to the media outlets. If is not a personalized one, to see that you’ve put effort in it, and IT IS FOR X PERSON , and saying something about their work too,in specific, that will go directly in the trash. 🗑️🚮
They will see, that you made the effort to research about them, watching their work, and being there on their communities. Like almost all media outlets,has a forum 👀 IGN, PC Gamer etc, search for it.( I did write about them in another article on Notion) but i'll migrate it here
Pro tip: 💡 Give them a motive to want it. Also, take care of your social followers before reaching out to media.
Having a website ,discord, subreddit, views, not on steam yet, or coming soon, without a trailer or playable demo in a public mode.
Have DM’s open 👐 . A lot of media outlets,are contacting the PR’s to ask about the game because they can't reach you directly. In my case was 145 messages in dm’s, because they can't reach out to the devs, having their dm’s closed. Obviously, when I contacted the dev, they didn't believe, and we're hard bounced. You are lose a lot of opportunities.
You can put your email too, in the bio or somewhere in your profile. But media don't want to use that form of contact, spoiling their email, and future case of spam emails/sharing it.
For videos needs to have subtitles, and not having a watermark, and being like 10 min long ,with gameplay footage. Vertical & horizontal. This is what you will send in exclusivity to the media outlets. They will not post it, without asking you, also they will not posting it if there's a watermark on it. Why do long?
You will give them freedom to cut & edit it as they wish 😀 .,to fit for their audience and put the text etc. the audio and text files needs to be separated but in the same media kit. Can be one edited by you too.
Be careful with the subject line. If it's not revealed yet, needs “unannounced game” 🎯 to get the highest rate for opening the emails.
If you will send with a Gmail / yahoo email address, to a domain email address, that's 80% chances to go in spam. For using hyperlinks, not passing the key from the servers, having attachment, or a keyword that google don't like it.
Having a website & email, will not cost you a fortune. It's annual payment, and cheap. You can take a private email but needs a domain as well.
Be careful with websites/domains to match with your studio name. If you don't have a studio ,then game name.
Like I said in another article, register the ownership, and take all the metadata on Google Search Console from the website, about the studio, coverage, game, title, cover, video, socials, publisher, release date, steam page etc.