How To Get Your Small Indie Game To Show Up To More Customers On Steam

If you're a small indie game dev, and your game isn't getting any visibility on Steam, then here's a simple marketing strategy to help your game show up to more customers on Steam.

So let me show you what this strategy is, and how it works...

"How can I get my game to show up to more customers?"

Steam shows games to customers in many different ways. New Releases. Specials. Tags. Genre Tags. Recommend Based on the Games You Play. Because You Played {enter game name here} Game. Special Events.

Steam will showcase your game in many different spots...

Steam's goal is to match games with the RIGHT players who love those games because it's good for business. They don't want to show a game to a player who might not like it -- because it's bad for business.

But still... most small indie games won't be seen by customers on Steam.

That's because most game devs put up a Steam page and then just hope for the best.

But putting up a Steam page, and waiting is not a good marketing plan.

That's because a static Steam page with no engagement tells Steam that this game might not be liked by players. So Steam won't show this page to players.

So what can you do? How do you get people to engage on your Steam page so that it tells Steam that there is interest in your game -- and so that they show your game to more customers?

Let's tackle that next...

Visibility On Steam Is Driven By Fans

The strategy is this: if more fans engage with a Steam page, then the Steam algo kicks in and starts putting that game in more places. (i.e. New Releases, Specials, Events, Recommendations).

And don't take my word for it. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you watch Steam's video about how games get surfaced to players...

And the ONE key takeaway from this video is this:

It's not Steam that pushes games... it's the FANS that push the games.

And yeah, is it possible that big studies get better treatment on Steam? Sure. But still, a static Steam page that has no engagement is not a good marketing strategy.

Ok, great. Then what do you do? How do you get more customers to engage with your Steam page?

Well, let me show you an example of how this works...

Make It Easy For Customers To Find You

The best way to start getting engagement on your Steam page so that more customers find you is to start posting news and updates in your Steam Community Hub.

Let me show you an example...

A popular indie game that is getting a lot of attention is Rue Valley. And if you go to their News section, you'll notice that their very first post is, "What is Rue Valley?" posted in 2022. This was before they got the attention of a publisher, and before they started posting on Twitter.

My point is, you gotta "push" for visibility. And Steam makes it very easy to do this. They basically give you a platform to help you market your game.

But what most game devs do is?... nothing. Their marketing strategy is to put up a Steam page. Post on Twitter or Reddit or TikTok. And wait. They hope that the platforms will do their marketing for them.

But again, hoping and waiting is not a good strategy.

To start getting engagement on your Steam page so that FANS push your game and give you more visibility, then have a look at Rue Valley as an example. Simple posts about what your game is, how mechanics work, the story behind your game -- all of this effort will pay off because you're making it easy for players to find you.

"But What About Social Media -- Isn't That Better?"

Now I know what you might be thinking... isn't social media better in gaining visibility?

Even if you manage to get a lot of traction from social media, this doesn't solve the problem with a static Steam page that gets no engagement. Just because you're getting a lot of traffic doesn't mean Steam is going to show your game to more customers.

Here's what Steam says in their Marketing / Visibility Doc:

Steam page traffic doesn't matter...

Store Page Traffic Doesn't Matter
The traffic landing on your store page is not a factor in your Steam store visibility. More users landing on your page may result in additional sales, which can impact your visibility, but traffic alone doesn't matter.

Again, just because you're getting traffic to your Steam page through social media, doesn't mean Steam is going to start showing your game to more customers.

But, if you have a lot of content in your Community Hub that a player can engage with, then it tells Steam that your Steam page isn't "dead on the vine". It shows Steam that since players are engaging with that Steam page, it means that THOSE are the RIGHT players.

And remember, Steam's goal is to match the right fan to the right game -- because it's good for business. And a Steam page that is getting a lot of engagement tells Steam that the right fans are finding this game.

Key Takeaway:

If there is one thing I want you to take away from this strategy is, if you have a static Steam page, then it's very hard for players to discover you.

And that's because Steam is less likely to show your Steam page if there is very little engagement.

Even if you manage to get a lot of traffic going to your Steam page, there is no guarantee that Steam will show your game to customers.

To help you increase your chances of getting Steam to start showing your game to customers, then you have to have create content that players can engage with.

And to do this, Steam basically gave you a content platform to help you market your game: Steam Community Hub.

So put in the effort. There are no shortcuts in business. A "sit and wait" mindset isn't going to get your game in front of customers. So let's do that right now... let's put in some effort, and here's exactly what to do...

Your Action Step To Get Your Game In Front Of More Steam Customers

Do this right now. Pick a day this week. Block off one hour. And in that one hour, go to your Steam page Community Hub. And then make your first post explaining:

"What Is {Your Game Name Here}"

Take 45 minutes. Write quickly. Explain what your game is. Then take 15 minutes to edit. Then publish.

And then next week, on the same day, do the same thing. But this time, pick ONE mechanic in your game, and explain how it works.

The idea here isn't trying to be perfect. It's about action. It's about getting stuff done, incrementally, over time.

And the idea here is, it's not about grinding, or pumping out content everyday. It's not trying to go viral on Twitter or TikTok. It's not about trying to get likes. It's about slow, long-term growth. It's about creating evergreen content so that months from now, new players can still discover your game. If you just rely on social media, then you're playing the short-term game where you're only good as your last post. And that's how they suck you in never leaving their platform.

A better strategy is to put all your efforts and time in your Steam page and Community Hub because that's where YOUR target customer is hanging out.

So do this right now: pick a day next week. Block off one hour. And when the day comes, take 45 minutes explaining what your game is. Then take 15 minutes to edit your post. Then publish. Then do the same thing next week, and explain how your features in your game work.

Commit to doing this simple strategy until your game releases. And I promise you that this slow, incremental, long-term thinking will pay off, and you will start seeing more engagement on your Steam page... which in turn will get Steam to show your game to more customers.

But you gotta commit. You gotta put in the effort. Nobody, or no platform will do this for you.

Have Questions? I Invite You To Reach Out To Me. Here's How...

Dariusz Konrad
Email: dariusz at mainquestmarketing dot com
Discord Username: dariuszkonrad
LinkedIn: My entrepreneurial successes
Work: Game devs I've helped so far