Report To The Stakeholders

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by csm

I think the main problem is it's quite easy to tune out those sources when they're a flood of other material that isn't of interest.

An idea is to subscribe to the GURPS Speculation Thread each year. That way new posts can show up in your email. I try to post a reply when I add an update for that very reason since edits wont trigger an email.
I am with you on the Twitter and Social Media feeds, follow a bunch of people and you wind up missing a lot. Though I recommend they continue as they do generate traffic.

[csm]

Originally Posted by Refplace

An idea is to subscribe to the GURPS Speculation Thread each year. That way new posts can show up in your email.

I've followed those threads in the past, but they tend to be more Kremlinology and tea-leaf reading than actual information. I'm not as worried if "DF88 - Dungeon Jellies" is due for a release next week. :)

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by csm

I've followed those threads in the past, but they tend to be more Kremlinology and tea-leaf reading than actual information. I'm not as worried if "DF88 - Dungeon Jellies" is due for a release next week. :)

Right but by just looking at the first post you can see what has recently come out. The email subscription would just trigger any news.
You could also just go to the GURPS page every now and then if your just looking for recent stuff.

[lordabdul]

Originally Posted by philreed

So: A few questions.

* How often do you visit the Steve Jackson Games front page/Daily Illuminator?
* Do you follow any of our social media channels?
* What can we do to put the news in front of you regularly?

I have the Daily Illuminator in my RSS feeds but whether I read it or not just depends on the volume of other news that day -- I'd say it only reaches me 50% of the time at best. I also follow @SJGames on Twitter but the rate is vastly lower there, given the nature of Twitter (I'd say it's mostly useless). I don't follow other SJGames media channels.

Places where I would like to hear from SJGames would be mainly the KARTAS podcast and the Geek & Sundry website. I don't go very often on RPGNet but a huuuuge number of people do, so advertising there would also make a lot of sense. Last, this would be a huge departure from past policies, but selling GURPS products on DriveThruRPG might be a debate worth having.

As someone said previously, don't also underestimate the, errr, let's call them the GURPS Blogging Community. I have a lot of them in my RSS feeds too, and they tend to cross-link a lot so any one blog carrying important enough news will actually reach all the other ones in under a week.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by csm

I think the main problem is it's quite easy to tune out those sources when they're a flood of other material that isn't of interest.

I fear this may be a key issue. Specifically: all of your channels are mostly Munchkin most of the time. Now, I get why that is. That line is making you literally millions of dollars, it is most of your actual products, and it's what most of your customers want. Unfortunately, that creates a wall of noise if you're not into Munchkin, and it's easier to just turn it off than to monitor for non-Munchkin blips. Your biggest sellers are, in effect, suppressing news about things outside that realm.

I'm not really on the Munchkin train, but I am consistently interested in your non-Munchkin games. GURPS products? Yes, please. More variants on Zombie Dice, like the Batman game? Yes, very much into that. Eagerly awaiting Car Wars. I went in for Ogre and the minis. And when you come out with new products that aren't part of an existing line (thinking back to, say, the introduction of Castellan or Revolution), I'll at least look into them.

Now, I'm more tuned in than the average bear to what you're up to for various reasons, but thinking about this from the point of view of someone who isn't in my specific position, I think what this means is that I don't want or need your news. Or, at least, not all of it. I want a subset of your news that I am interested in, a Munchkin-free or at least Munchkin-lite channel. And I don't know that you've got one of those. (Would this be worth your while to assemble customizable social media feeds of various kinds? No idea. Just telling you what someone kind of like me would find useful.)

[Refplace]

While were talking about Marketing....
W23 sells a lot of stuff besides SJG products and that might be a missed opportunity. Several people have mentioned GURPS should be on Drive Through RPG. When you have your own store I can see the reluctance to use someone else's, though maybe one single product say How to Be a GURPS GM could be sold over there just for the visibility. Other items could be slow sellers of physical product.

But what about advertising W23 more?
I get a newsletter from Drivethrough, I only sometimes bother to read it but the format is nice. It just rarely has anything of personal interest.
W23 could send out a subscription based news letter that was focused by product line or category.
Say Munchkin, Dice Games, Roleplaying Games, Oddities
Show one or two items per category and preformatted links to W23 by category so people could see more.
More of a push for all the product on there, not just SJG material so we can get more eyes on the site. After all your selling the stuff anyhow.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by philreed

Would a large "follow us" in the navigation bar -- that links to a page showing all of the places you can interact with us and learn about things -- be in any way useful to you?

This seems like a good idea.

Originally Posted by philreed

* How often do you visit the Steve Jackson Games front page/Daily Illuminator?
* Do you follow any of our social media channels?
* What can we do to put the news in front of you regularly?

I see the Illuminator in my LiveJournal feed, although I'll probably stop reading LJ soon, as most of the people I read are leaving, owing to the new Terms of Service which require compliance with Russian domestic law. Then I'll put the Illuminator on my daily scan list.

I'm not very interested in Munchkin but I can filter it out without using enough brain to be bored. Munchkin Shakespeare will be the first Munchkin product I have ever acquired. I backed it because it was such a wacky idea.

I don't follow any other SJG social media channels, but I do read Kromm's LJ, and PK's twitter once a week. Most of my news about the company comes from reading the forums, which are my most-visited Internet location.

[Refplace]

So a summary...
We need to reach more people who are already fans with news of products they might be interested in but tune out if there is too much to filter through.
We also need to reach more people who are not yet fans.

Social Media already includes Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
SJG website has a New Releases page and announces products in the appropriate forums. Some lines like GURPS, Munchkin and Ogre have a dedicated page that lists new products. Menu button to get there is I feel reasonably prominent.
The Daily Illuminator is a humorous news feed that covers a variety of interests. While it may not have news of your favorite game on any given day it is short and funny so hopefully attracts readers.
Kickstarters advertise to new people but a given project ties up resources and may not make much money.
Bloggers post a lot of content but most of it is geared towards current users. If your not a fan already your probably not reading a blog about it.
An exception might be Pinterest, I made a GURPS section and have noted it gets loves and followers as well as me seeing other RPG people post pics of GURPS and other products so that is a little more crossover.

The trouble with most of the above is it reaches the people who already know and like the products.
FLGS and MIBs are the feet on the ground but have limited visibility and sometimes competing interests or limited resources (shelf space).
Some ideas...

• Retweeting or sharing things like Facebook pages can reach our friends, family and followers.
• Bloggers can use a mixed blog approach so attract eyes to products from people who are not already fans.
• Advertising or selling on other sites. The PODs on Amazon may not be selling all that well but hopefully they attract fresh eyes.
• Put a flyer, marketing sheet in physical products that advertises other lines. I was very disappointed not to see GURPS in my munchkin boxes for example. I don't even think TOON was there and it really should have been.
• We can answer questions and talk about our games on other sites like RPG.net. Trouble with this one is for example if your a GURPS fan why go there when you get better info here? Phil Reed posted a thread asking for help recently that got a few people to pop over and answer questions and several did for the kickstarter. But that does not seem practical as a long term solution. Maybe it could be part of the MIB program?

What other ideas do people have?

[Þorkell]

[QUOTE=philreed;2092060]
So: A few questions.

Originally Posted by philreed

* How often do you visit the Steve Jackson Games front page/Daily Illuminator?

Almost never. However, I subscribe to the DI in my RSS thingie.

Originally Posted by philreed

* Do you follow any of our social media channels?

I only just discovered that you have an Instagram presence, consider that followed. I follow SJG on Twitter and FB. If we include personal accounts I follow you, Kromm, and Hackard on some form of social media.

Just to be clear, what social media channels does SJG have?

Originally Posted by philreed

* What can we do to put the news in front of you regularly?

As far as I am concerned I think you're doing an excellent job of getting the news to me. But I don't seem to be the problem, since I know of and follow many of your social media channels and visit here regularly. The problem seems to be getting more people to do what I do, and I don't have a clue how to do that.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by philreed

So: A few questions.

* How often do you visit the Steve Jackson Games front page/Daily Illuminator?

The front page, almost never. The Daily Illuminator, daily - it's on my "load these tabs first thing in the morning" list.

Originally Posted by philreed

* Do you follow any of our social media channels?

Until you asked, I wasn't aware that Steve Jackson Games had any social media channels (as opposed to particular staffers having a social media presence) - but I rarely follow social media other that a few select Twitter feeds anyway.

Originally Posted by philreed

* What can we do to put the news in front of you regularly?

I'm getting the news here, in my old-fashioned web-1.0 way. It's everybody else you need to worry about. (In an effort to help, I've forwarded your questions to everyone else in my gaming group; if they reply, I'll post their answers here.)