Fundamental Marketing Checklist

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A Quickstart Guide to

MARKETING A BOARD GAME A step-by-step checklist to help you focus on what matters most: selling your game. Marketing a board game isn’t about doing everything it’s about doing the (right) things, in the (right) order.

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Marketing & Selling Your Board Game

Introduction to Marketing Channels There are two main types of marketing channels you can use:

Discovery Channels

Advertising Channels

Word of mouth, press releases, reviewers, influencers, and community management.

Google Ads, Amazon Ads, Facebook & Instagram Ads, banner placements, and more.

While these channels work differently, they all rely on the same core foundations.

Do These First

Marketing Fundamentals Define your audience Who are you targeting, and (why) will they love your game?

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Engage and listen Interact with your audience. Learn their preferences, habits, and expectations. (Anonymous surveys work great.)

Build a strong website Your website should present your game clearly, build trust, and match your target audience.

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Optimize for conversion Your site should either: Generate sales, or Capture leads (emails, contacts)

Need advice on website conversion?

Guide to marketing a board game

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Discovery Marketing Create a Followable Home Base — and move leads into a nurture path Facebook works well—Instagram, X (Twitter), and TikTok can also fit, depending on your audience.

Prepare 5–10 marketing emails Tools like Mailchimp work well, but manual campaigns are fine too.

Make sure your personal social profiles support brand People check who you are before trusting your game.

Join relevant community groups Only join groups where your (actual audience) hangs out.

Identify reviewers and community leaders Identify reviewers and community leaders

Reach out to YouTube reviewers Video reviews are one of the strongest trust builders for board games.

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Run giveaways (use cautiously — they can become expensive with low ROI)

Find active blogs willing to feature your game Donate copies to increase awareness Offer referral benefits to existing customers Start talking about your game with your target audience early in development, not after Marketing Fundamentals production. Click to learn more about Awareness Steps and

Advertising Your Game Text-based ads Search-driven platforms like Google, Amazon, and SEO.

Visual-based ads Platforms where you can show images or videos (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube). From our experience, visual ads convert better than text-based ads for board games.

Guide to marketing a board game

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Advertising Checklist Choose at least two platforms (e.g. Facebook + YouTube)

Research what content works Check existing ads and analyze engagement (likes, shares vs reach) — by segment.

Create multiple ad variations Best practice is 10 ads total, including: • 3 short video ads (Facebook / YouTube) • 3 static image ads (Amazon, Etsy, Walmart) • 3 banner ads (if applicable)

Each ad should highlight a different angle: • Gameplay • Table presence • What’s in the box

Capture User Generated Content (UGC) Whenever people play your game, record it. UGC consistently converts better than branded content.

Run ads for at least 10 days — for each audience segment Perform A/B testing Optimize based on results Repeat until you find the best-performing combination Encourage referrals from existing customers All of these practices also apply when promoting a Kickstarter page.

Crowdfunding is not free money! Only if you must.

Successful crowdfunding campaigns usually require: • Significant advertising spend • Infrastructure setup • No guaranteed return On average, campaigns raising up to $30,000 spend around $6,000 on marketing alone and even then, success is not guaranteed. If your game is affordable to produce and you believe in it, you may be better off launching directly and following this checklist to build sustainable income....

The Ultimate Guide to Board Game Crowdfunding Sites Guide to marketing a board game

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If You Choose Crowdfunding Anyway Learn Kickstarter fundamentals and terminology

Decide on Early Birds

Create a 1:30–3:00 minute campaign video

Decide on Stretch Goals

Define pledge levels clearly

Find collaborators

Set a realistic funding goal (based on calculations)

Once the steps above are complete, it’s time to focus on the content of your campaign page itself. Below is a comprehensive list of all possible content elements. Review each item carefully and check only the pieces that are essential for your project.

Kickstarter Page Content Checklist Part | Section of the campaign (not in any particular order)

yes

might

don’t need

Campaign video Engaging intro section High-quality images Cohesive visual theme and banners GIFs highlighting key elements How-to-Play section “What’s in the box” / pledge descriptions Stretch goals (if used) Shipping, tax, and duties explanation Reviews, previews, or walkthroughs Player quotes Gameplay video (live or Tabletop Simulator) “Why back now?” section Rulebook access Highlighted features (mechanics, components, miniatures) Add-ons to increase pledge value Disclaimers (if applicable) End-of-campaign policies (returns, cancellations, risks)

Guide to marketing a board game

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