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How to make good social hooks ✨ Community Dev Newsletter #31
Published about 2 months ago • 7 min read
Community Dev Newsletter
Hewwo ✧♡(◕‿◕✿)
...
Ahem. Anyway. It's spooky month, and despite being absolutely unable to handle any horror content, it's strangely my favorite time of the year!
Me clocking into work every day this month.
We have some LEARNING to do this newsletter. Enjoyyyy! And don't forget you can now submit a question for next week's community activity.
This month's newsletter dives into:
Thinking of how you can capture attention immediately on social media
A community question about events
Several links to marketing-related updates and job posts
Social & Game Hooks
By this point you might've already heard about game hooks. In short, the "hook” is the thing about a game that is so intriguing that it will attract an audience and draw them in to learn more.
Here are some game hooks you might recognize:
Title - Surprising name (e.g. Boyfriend Dungeon, Clickolding)
Visuals - Aesthetically distinct, beautiful, or striking (e.g. Return of the Obra Dinn)
Theme/story - Interesting or resonating premise (e.g. Spiritfarer)
Audio - Catchy or pleasant tunes (e.g. Crypt of the Necrodancer)
Emotion - Stirs up an immediate reaction like joy, sadness, or anger (e.g. Squirrel With A Gun)
Familiarity - Nostalgia or immediate recognition of a game's mechanics (e.g. Stardew Valley)
Uniqueness - Perception of a mechanic or theme that is new and exciting (e.g. Unpacking)
Fame of developer, studio, or franchise - Self-explanatory, I think? (e.g. Kojima)
And while a game hook might be something a lot of us have thought about, something game developers fail to understand is that there is a difference between a game hook and a social media hook. They can be similar/intertwined, but not completely.
Dealing with the curse of existence while also want to always learn more.
So, here are 7 social hooks (specific to games) that you can experiment with!
Trends/viral formats 📈 This is pretty self-explanatory! Hopping onto trends (in a timely fashion!) is an easy way to interest people. The beauty of trends is that it's already proven to be an engaging format and makes people curious about your rendition of it. Examples:
Well... any current trend! Keep an eye out for what's currently making the rounds. For instance, the Olympics, bad taxidermy fish, or of course, Moo Deng.
Surprise 😮 The more emotions you stir up in someone, the more likely they are to stick around (either out of joy or anger.) Examples:
Stimulation 👂 This is more for video content. This can be more difficult, but I recommend pairing the audio hook with something equally as visually stimulating. The audio grabs attention while the visual keeps them intrigued at what happens next (or provides a hook in case their audio is off.) Examples:
Pairing an action shot in a game with a loud bang.
Metal Gear Solid alert sound paired with a game character looking surprised.
Slamming down a book and launching into an explanation about your game.
Relatability 🤗 Scenarios in which people already know and understand the feeling or situation, but translated in a way that's reflected back at them. This helps them connect much quicker to the content and view it more favorably. Examples:
Real life scenarios reflected in gameplay.
Character feeling a way that might be out of the universe, but relatable.
Thirst for a character.
Nostalgia.
Answering a question/tackling a problem 🤔 We love resolutions and things wrapping up nicely! Find ways to create a satisfying resolution to things that bother people or that might still be weighing on their mind. Examples:
Game updates - "you hated [bug] so we finally did [solution]".
I hate [problem in game genre] so I did [this] to solve it in my game.
Answer gameplay questions - "Why do games always have [feature]? Let me explain why!" or "Want to get as good as a developer? Here are our tricks to getting a high score in [game]!"
Confusion 🎭 Now this hook is a fine line because confusion here can't mean "they can't understand anything that is going on." It's more that it's weird, strange, or subverts expectations. Examples:
Think of games that have an inherent "weirdness" to them: What the heck is going on in the trailer of Pony Island 2? Why is a strange man watching me click a clicker?
Even if the game is not "weird" in itself, you can use confusion! It could be a developer messing with the code, or doing something you would not normally see someone do like cleaning(?) a motherboard...
Satisfaction 💕 This is where you share something celebratory or that gives kudos to the fans of the game. This could be a significant milestone or achievement, but it could also satisfy their love of seeing favorite characters getting together. Examples:
Numbers/results e.g. "1 million players have downloaded out game!"
A social hook will depend on the platform, but it's always good to think of how the very start of your content can be eye-catching. TikTok notes that the first 2 seconds of a video being absolutely crucial. Combined with your game hook, you can create some hard-hitting content!
Community Activity 📝
Every month we do a skill testing exercise or discussion question together.
Do you have any tips/advice for presenting games at events like GDC, PAX, Gamescom, etc.?
This one was a submitted question, thank you!! Feel free to email me back with your answer - I always respond. My answer will be in the next newsletter.
Last week's activity:
What advice do you have for community managers trying to establish a meaningful network of peers?
Networking can be hard! It can also depend on the resources you have available to you - how much you can travel, where you're located, etc. But here are some tips on getting started:
Network sideways: Don't get caught up in trying to only network with people who you perceive as being more successful than you. (That just gets uncomfy in all sorts of ways!) But finding people who are in the same sort of experience level of you is a great way to establish some truly long term connections. People that started out community management around the same time as me are still some of the folks I'm most fond of speaking with.
Contribute: Help out where you can! You don't have to be an expert in a topic, but sometimes just being vulnerable and sharing experiences can help. For example, I became friends with a marketer after he kindly cold DM'd me after reading one of my earlier posts about not being able to crack IMGUR with things that he found helpful from his experiences. (Make sure to ask though! Sometimes someone is just venting versus actually wanting you to explain their job to them haha, some EQ is needed here.)
Find common interests outside of work: Not everyone wants to talk about work all the time! Being able to talk to someone as a friend with common interests can be so refreshing.
Attend local events: The more you show up at events, the more familiar faces and eventually (hopefully) comfort people wil lhave around you. One of my earliest memories when I first joined the games community in Montreal was a game dev friend remarking at one point that I was incredibly good at showing up and they couldn't imagine me not at an event. (That being said, watch our for your energy levels! Don't burn yourself out trying to do everything. I was just young and spry!!!)
Community Chatter 💬
Here are the interesting and helpful things I've seen this past month.
Communities: Subscribers will be able to post on a Creator's channel page, sort of like a Reddit-Discord hybrid.
Hype: If a video's been out less than 7 days from a creator with under 500,000 subscribers, you can hype it which puts in on a weekly leaderboard in that country - this doesn't affect your recommendations
Success through shenanigans with community management.
Hi, I'm Victoria! Join my Community Dev Newsletter for insight into games marketing, social, and community management. Get actionable tips, a skill testing question, and a roundup of resources straight to your inbox every month.
