25 Board Game Marketing Tips for 2025
Howdy there, board gamer, war gamer, TCG gamer, TTRPG gamer, and all-around tabletop games reader!
Are you somewhere between the “I have an idea for a board game” and “I have created, play-tested, and developed my board game”?
Great :) Always amazing when a creator can make their dream a reality.
But you have one final mountain to climb:
MARKETING.
Ideally, this is something you have been doing for months (if not years), because unlike promotions/advertisements, marketing is an ongoing, ever-evolving process.
And yes, you will NEED to do marketing.
Because relying on word of mouth for roaring success is romantic daydreaming, not reality.
The truth is straightforward:
No one can play your game if no one buys it…
And no one can buy it if no one knows about it…
And no one can know about it if you don’t communicate with them…
And you can’t communicate if you never have their attention...
That is marketing: communicating your value to the right people at the right time. Every B2C business needs to do it, and your board game is no exception.
Quick disclosure: there is a chance that you read this article and think: “None of these ideas are revolutionary… ”.
DAYUM RIGHT.
If everything I wrote was sparkly-spankin' new, then it probably isn't proven, and you probably shouldn’t trust it. 99% of "innovative marketing" is just someone else using your money to experiment for kicks and giggles. Real marketing... the one with the closest thing to a "guarantee"... relies on tried and true principles.
And that is what this post is about: the proven fundamentals you need to market your tabletop game. These tips form a board game marketing guide to help you gain support for your board game. Most of them you should be working simultaneously as you playtest the hell out of your game with your team and other gaming groups. And I'll start this 25 board game marketing tips off with the most fundamental concept:
1. Marketing is about being clear and effective, not clever and original
Bottom line: no one buys what they cannot understand.
It doesn't matter how creative, shocking, or memorable you make your ads and art. If A) what you are offering, B) who it is for, and C) how it improves their lives is NOT clear, then people will not become customers.
When marketing, clarity goes before everything else. Because at the end of the day, when it comes to closing the sale, CLARITY IS KING.
2. Select the Right Tabletop Games Marketing Strategy for You
Before you start branding, marketing, and promoting... before you utilize any of these tips... you need to pick a direction. And that direction is determined by two things: 1) WHERE will the customer decide to purchase and 2) WHO will they purchase from? Each comes with its particular benefits, downsides, risks, and expectations...
A. Crowdfunding Campaign (Kickstarter, Backerkit, Gamefound, etc.)
It's no accident that crowdfunding is so popular for board game developers. Quick summary: if you want to crowdfund, you will still need to follow every step on this page and apply it to your Kickstarter page, which is basically a super-duper sales/landing page. It is also important to know that your Kickstarter campaign is the LAST step... not the first... in your board game marketing journey.
Obviously, that is not enough information to get started. Fortunately, not only do I have a whole page dedicated to Kickstarter board game marketing, but I also have written a series of posts on the marketing channels you will need for your tabletop games crowdfunding campaign (start with the first one here).
B. Organic E-commerce Sales (and Popular Online Stores)
However, while crowdfunding is popular, waaaaay too many tabletop creators assume it is their only option. Spoiler alert: IT'S NOT. Platforms like Kickstarter are helpful because customers know what they are dealing with, the campaign creates urgency, and the structure offers incentives and bonuses. But even with those advantages, it is still not always the best choice for marketing your new board game.
The alternative is just normal e-commerce marketing. People visit your site and decide to make the purchase there. No middleman. No hype. No narrow timeline. While your sales will come with a lot less fanfare, you'd be surprised how a combination of organic social media and SEO is enough to get the attention of A LOT of people!
The benefits? You can make sales year-round, rather than just during a month-long campaign. And sales are even easier if you use a familiar online store to handle the actual transactions. Examples include Drive Thru RPG, My Mini Factory, Gamenerdz, and even Amazon.
C. Finding a Publisher and/or Distributor
But what if you do not want to crowdfund your tabletop game? In fact, what if you want to do ZERO marketing and sales? Well, in that case, you can find a business to distribute your game on your behalf! Sure, they will take at least 60% of the profit. But they have the connections with FLGS and big box stores that you can only dream of. Some of the biggest ones include Alliance Game Distributors and PSi.
Every other direction you can choose involves you actively getting your game in front of customers. They are all a form of "business-to-customer" marketing (B2C). But in this case, all of your efforts are "business-to-business" marketing (B2B). You still have to do marketing, but your messaging and strategy is not about convincing customers to purchase. Rather, you want a distributor to warehouse, distribute, and handle fulfillment for the game on your behalf. Have fun showing off your prototype at the tabletop games conventions!
"Which Board Game Marketing Strategy is Best for Me?"
Finding the strategy that works best for you depends on your goals, budget, and the time you can devote to marketing. It also depends on what kind of game or game accessory you are making, if you have plans to expand and your customers' expectations.
image is not property of Riley James Copy
The Essential Steps You Must Take Before You Begin Marketing Your Tabletop Game
3. Budget Time and Money Accordingly
This is a no-brainer, and yet many people don’t seem to realize the magnitude of an investment needed to sell a game or tabletop games product. Simply put: development costs aside, just marketing and selling your board game will cost you thousands of dollars (anywhere from $10k-$50k). That’s for video production, copywriting, social media management, etc., and around 60% of that will be before you even launch your game or crowdfunding campaign. That said, the more hours you devote to doing it yourself, the less money you spend. Regardless, it will cost you A LOT of something that is valuable, so count the cost before you begin the journey.
4. Know WHAT You are Selling ("Board Game Fundamentals")
This may seem like a stupid tip, but it's actually really important. Yes, you are obviously selling a board game or TTRPG. Or maybe you are selling war gaming minis, a dice tower, or a TCG sleeve holder. But those are just the physical things you are selling... they are not what you are REALLY selling. u\
Ultimately, you are selling either a SOLUTION or HAPPINESS. And not like "transcendent life-defining happiness," just a little slice of happiness in your customers' lives. In other words, you sell EMOTION that makes THEIR lives better.
Selling is the transference of emotion when you promise benefits the customer desires. So befor eyou start marketing, you need to understand the emotional benefits people get out of playing board games in general. And the benefits they get out of your game specifically. But to do this correctly, you need to understand the next tip…
5. Know WHO You Are Selling To
Your ideal customers… the ones that love your board game the most… are your “target audience”. And they are the ones you are talking to in ALL your messaging. If other people buy your games, that’s great! But you fixate on your target audience.
Why? Because they are the ones that form the perfect product/market fit, which means they have an innate urge to buy your game and support your game development. Resonating with them is your new North Star for all your design, images, and messaging. And when you get it wrong, your marketing will not only fail, but actively harm your brand (read an example here). Which means...
6. Understand Your Target Audience Intimately
... you have to get in the heads of your target audience. Once you have identified the populations that comprise your target audience, you need to “get to know them” by creating at least three “customer avatars”. All your messaging should be about speaking to a single person, and that person you imagine should belong to your target audience.
How? Imagine you are sitting at a table across from three of your ideal customers… what are they wearing? What do they look like? What mood are they in? What did they do that day? What are they eating and drinking? Why are they excited for the weekend? Why do they love board games? Who do they play with, and where do they play?
7. Differentiate Your Board Game
Ok, this might be the most important step in the process...
It is not enough to be good... you also need to be UNIQUE. Remember: there are tons of tabletop games out there, and people have limited time to play them. Which means you need to not only show why they should choose you, but also why they should choose you instead of something else. This is not toxic competition... its just how people operate. For 95% of your customers, when they say "yes" to something, that means they say "no" to other options.
That said, if you create the BEST game there is, then of course that is unique enough to differentiate your game from everyone else. But even if your game is excellent, you need to find SOMETHING else. Don’t get discouraged if you find this to be a struggle… this can be one of the hardest parts of branding and marketing.
So ask yourself... what is your niche? What makes you different from aaaaaaaaall the other board games out there? It might be a brand new mechanic, a never-before used theme, or as simple as a bonus with every purchase. Get every little advantage you can!
8. Establish Your Brand Messaging
Your brand is not just your logo or graphic design. It is the identity of your tabletop game or company. Everything you have ... themes, words, colors, images, tone, logo... should be consistent, because altogether they form your brand identity. Out of your brand identity comes your brand messaging: the consistent message you send to potential customers that communicates your identity.
And within that identity is the unique value you offer your customers. This is known as "your unique sales proposition". A USP is a statement that summarizes the most important, distinctive, bottom-line offering from the perspective of your customers. It is the core benefits you can promise them.
Because here is the sneaky truth that every business owner forgets: the customer is not you. They do not have the intuitive grasp and intimate understanding of your board game that you do. Which means it is not clear to them WHY they would find it fun and should support/buy it. So spell it out for them: be CRYSTAL CLEAR, describing what kind of game you have and why THEY will find it hella fun!
90% of the time, the first service I offer is a brand packet.
It helps you find your direction and create your identity
Setting Up Your Board Game Marketing for Success
images is not property of Riley James Copy
Navigating Your Board Game Marketing Strategy; Tips for Every Step of the Process
9. Create Your Marketing Funnel
Once you have picked your direction and established your brand identity, you can begin outlining the channels and tools you will use to market your board game. Starting with a marketing funnel.
A marketing funnel is your plan to take strangers and turn them into customers (or even better, die-hard fans!). Why do you need a funnel and not just a great ad? Because your target audience is at different stages in the customer journey. That's right, not even some of the people who would enjoy your game the most are not ready to purchase or become backers right away.
A funnel uses multiple marketing channels to engage, inform, and inspire potential customers. Each step is designed to turn away people who wouldn’t like the product anyway, as well as walk the curious closer to a sale. The further down the funnel they get, the more direct and urgent your communication becomes.
A marketing funnel is the core of any marketing strategy. And it is very complex. You need to know the place of different channels and adjust the communication without straying away from your brand messaging. While much of board game marketing can be done by the creator, designing an effective marketing funnel will require someone with marketing experience (like me!).
10. Pick a Customer Acquisition Strategy
Customer acquisition is a fancy way of saying “How will people find out about you?”. While a sophisticated marketing funnel includes a post-purchase customer journey, many businesses have funnels exclusively for acquiring new customers. Here are three main ways for e-commerce businesses to execute outreach:
A) Use SEO and blog posts to drive organic traffic to your site,
B) Purchase Google/Meta ads,
C) Post regularly for organic social media
D) Hire/ partner with influencer(s) to promote your game.
Each lead generation tactic comes with its own strengths and weaknesses, but all require that you send these potential customers somewhere: your website or Kickstarter page (notice that Kickstarter is NOT a customer acquisition tool!)
11. Create a Kicka$$ Website
Your website is your greatest digital marketing asset. End of discussion. It is the glue that holds all your digital marketing together. A website is professional and communicates that customers should take you seriously. Many choose Squarespace or Wix, but even simple Wordpress site with a main page and a blog will do, so long as it directs people back to your Kickstarter page.
However, if you plan on developing/have developed other board games, or sell merchandise related to your game, then you will want a home page (brand building), about page, and online store. And make sure there are TONS of CTA’s directing people to buy your game, follow on socials, and sign up for emails!
12. Get High Quality Photos
Another “duh” one, but it's good. Take at least 10 GREAT photos of your board game… preferably like 50 photos. So much of what makes tabletop games fun is the physical aesthetics of it. Which means board game marketing must be highly visual and aesthetically pleasing a well. They need to be high quality too, because audiences will associate the quality of your game with the quality of the images.
Don’t skimp out on this: get a friend who knows what they are doing or hire a professional photographer. Get in a studio, get good lighting, get different angles, and get different arrangements of everything related to your tabletop games product. Show it on a table and with a blank background. Take photos of all the pieces together and of each group of meeples separately. The more the merrier!
13. Start Making Gaming Content
If you are doing SEO, you MUST to blog. But even if you don't go the SEO route, blogs are a still a good starting point. Every blog post can be a launching point for your social media posts, youtube videos, and emails. So immediately after you finish reading this, you should create a content calendar and get to work.
What should you post? Anything related to your board game, themes of the game, discounts, announcements, info about your team, the development process... anything the customer may find interesting, valuable, and relevant!
And if you are inexperienced, don't sweat it. No one knows your game as well as you, which means no one is better situated to teach. And with board game marketer, like myself, lightening the load and consulting, you'll get better as time goes on. Don't wait to be perfect... just start making content!
14. Select Your Social Media Platforms
Digital marketing doesn't necessarily require social media. But digital board game marketing is a form of entertainment, does. You cannot avoid it. Organic is best for long term, and paid is best for Kickstarters or sales, but sooner or later you need both. At a bare minimum, you will want to post daily and comment on multiple other posts as well.
If you have a social media manager who can be everywhere at once, great! But if not, then you have to pick which one (or two) will receive 99% of your attention. Pick whichever one you like the most. Or, perhaps more honestly, whichever one you hate the least. It doesn't matter if it's Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter... just pick one and stick to it.
15. What Are Your “Call to Actions” (CTA)?
This just means “what do you want them to do?”. As you create content, you will need to redirect customers to a different page that is more focused on persuading them to support/purchase. But you should never assume they will get there on their own. Rather, you include obvious, visible, bold CTA's telling them what they should do next.
But what SHOULD they do next? That depends on the funnel… some people you want to follow on social media… others you want to become a backer… and others you want to tell their friends about the game. Each stage of the funnel has a different CTA, encouraging your potential customers to do something in their best interest.
16. Pick a Customer Retention Strategy
It is 6x easier to sell to someone who has already purchased from you, and if you created a great board game then they already trust the heck out of you. Which means they are more receptive to new content, bonuses, add-ons, exclusive deals. That's right: board game marketing does not end once they have purchased the game!
So... how do you keep them around? Will you offer bonuses for loyalty? How do you keep the lines of communication open and not lose them? This is where platforms like Youtube livestreams, Patreon and Discord come in handy: they are formats for building more intimate relationships with your fans.
You can use this community to help test future games, survey them for ideas, and even allow significant backers to have a say in future game development. And while you can use any of these effectively, none should be chosen instead of the next tip...
17. DO NOT SKIP EMAIL!!! (especially for backers)
This is the only tip that is in all caps because it is that important. No, email is not dead. And yes, it is still insanely relevant and profitable (ROI $36:$1). Even if your target audience prefers social media, I guarantee the majority of them still use email.
For perspective, 99/100 marketers would prefer a 500 person email list to 5000 followers on ANY social media platform. You’ll need drip emails (once a week/month) and trigger emails (abandon cart, purchase, etc.) Furthermore, email is the easiest to segment, test, and adjust, and for that you will need an automation and tracking platform as well. Already have an email list, but you have not been emailing regularly and/or it iss not specific to your upcoming tabletop game? Then you will need to re-engage and, sooner or later, delete some of those contacts. Yes, I said delete. And yes, it is worth it.
Myself (and my Board Game Marketing Associates)
Are Niche Experts in Every Marketing Channel You Need to Succeed
We Can Help You with Your Website, SEO, Graphic Design, Social Media, Ads... and More!
Other Important Tabletop Games Marketing Insights
18. Identify Your Values and “Rules”
Yeah, weird wording, but it just means A) find 3-5 things you care about and B) come up with some promises you can make to your customers. These are the virtues and aspirations that define you/your team/your company, and what it will be like for customers to interact with you. For a lot of your board game marketing strategy, this will be implicit and in the background. But it becomes important when your potential customer is on the verge of a sale, and wants to investigate whether or not you are trustworthy.
Ideally, they are shared by your target audience, and it is more than likely it will happen naturally. Regardless, do NOT violate these values or promises for any reason, no matter what opportunity comes along. They are SACRED and essential for the long-term health of your board game marketing strategy.
19. Select Conventions to Attend
Anyone and everyone in the tabletop gaming world will be at GenCon, Origins, or Pax Unplugged… including game publishers and developers. If you want to go that marketing route, then picking the right convention for your game is a MUST. But if you are going the local/e-commerce/Kickstarter route, then it is optional…if you have the time and money, then go and have fun!
Just make a plan beforehand: will you have a banner or tv? Will you have tables for people to play your game? Will you be in a cheaper area or a high-traffic area? Will you focus on players or distributors? Have an overabundance of samples, flyers, and goodies to hand out. And on everything you give away, should be your USP and a link/QR code to your website... because it is still part of your board game marketing strategy!
20. Keep a “Game Development Journal”
Of course, if the game is said and done, then you’ll need to rely on your memory. But if not, then you need to start recording ASAP! What should you record? Ideas, experiences, and moods as the game was created. Start with your origin story (why you were inspired to create the game) and problem solution story (how you stumbled upon the unique mechanism of your game) and go from there.
Why record them? Because this will serve as a GOLD MINE for future content, allowing you to provide a genuine and engaging story your players and backers can be a part of. People who are supporting you want a peak behind the curtains!
21. Make Important Videos
This is especially true if you go the Kickstarter route, but even on your website these videos will be helpful. You want to remove every obstacle people may face when trying to play your board game, which means you should have at least three videos:
one introducing the game
another teaching people how to play
and a final video that hypes people for the game's launch.
This is the bare minimum. But some of you will prefer to begin posting regularly on Youtube. But if you are doing any sort of high-quality or long-form content, you need to have tools in place to measure the ROI of your video marketing.
22. Get “Hero Shots”
This is the “not so duh” photos tip. Get images of people PLAYING your game. And when they are playing, have the image matches your USP, themes, tone, etc. Is it a horror game like Arkham? Then make sure the players are serious and full of suspense. Is it a simple, hilarious party game? Then have a group of friends laughing hysterically on couches. The people in the shots should be relatable for your target audience, and the emotions communicated are making a promise to potential buyers: “This is what you will experience if you play our game”
23. Connect With Your Local FLGS
By nature of you being a local, your tabletop community is naturally going to be the most receptive to playing your game. And you should go to as many as you can within a 2 hour radius. But don’t just walk in and ask them to sell your game. Connect with the owners (take them out to coffee), present your game, offer to run a free event where you teach people the game. Even if you live somewhere rural, your FLGS is your best place to get some initial positive reviews.
24. Collect Customer Testimonials
A testimonial is some sort of positive review of your game. And long story short, you need credible people to authentically promote your game. This includes industry experts, influencers, and just random tabletop gamers.
I’ll be frank… every good copywriter knows that “proof” is more important than “persuasion”. There are all sorts of psychological studies and examples on this, but just take my word for it: detailed, personal, verified positive reviews will do more to sell your game than any discount, ad, or persuasion tactic. You cannot get enough, and as soon as you have some post them wherever you can.
25. Build a Team or Hire Board Game Marketing Agency for Help (conclusion)
This is just a “top tip list” for board game marketing... and yet it might already feel overwhelming. That is because marketing is, ya know, a big, complex chore. And you aren’t meant to do it alone; you’ll need a team. If you use volunteers it will take longer, if you use freelancers it will require your constant involvement, and if you use an agency it will cost like 5x more (ie. at least $25k).
