Advertising your Minecraft server is easily the most mandatory thing server owners should learn, but at the same time it gets the least coverage in Minecraft guides and videos. Until now.
⛔ The big fail
You create your own server, configure all plugins perfectly, prepare fun gameplay, you work hard to polish everything, finally you set a public release date and announce it on your Discord. The day comes and... no one joins. Wait. But why?
Why does a well-made, polished server, clearly better than the unoriginal popular servers, get so little players? It's very common to believe your server is way better than the competition, it might be true, it might be false. But that doesn't matter, because no matter how good your server is, it's meaningless until players are able to discover and experience it.
If that ever happened to you, if you have ever released a server and it turned out to have no players - congratulations. You have released a server. You've made the most important step. But we need to finish the job, shall we?
💡 Before advertising, ensure your idea is original
The biggest problem new minecraft servers encounter is the lack of an original idea. I'm sorry to say that, but no one cares about another survival or skyblock server that's basically time-warped 2014 server with modern plugins.
Creating a copy-cat, indistinguishable server idea and trying to advertise it is like putting crutches on your legs and trying to win a race. Painful and non-sense, yet so many creators are doing it to themselves.
How to make your server unique?
✅ Absolutely ensure your server idea is original in it's very core. The best case scenario is when you come up with a completely new type of server. Non-existent or under-utilized server ideas are: racing sims, dungeon crawlers, RTS, board games, dungeons & dragons, music-based gameplay, roleplay based gameplay and many MANY more.
✅ If you can't do that, ensure everything around of your core idea is original. Okay, you can have a survival, but make sure it's accompanied with fresh mechanics, such as completely redesigned player progression (I'm not talking about battle pass here!), magic, new mobs, new dimensions, you name it!
❌ If you plan to ignore both tips, then good luck, you are now marketing against the largest, least original servers that already have the spotlight, have the budget and have the youtubers and loyal players. Good luck competing with that with no budget and no advantage at all. BECOME ORIGINAL RIGHT NOW.
📢 Effective marketing channels
Okay, but where do I advertise my server, you ask. According to data, the cheapest and most effective marketing channel is social media. That means: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Discord or whatever you're using at the time of reading this post.
⭐ Effective advertising on TikTok
TikTok allows you to reach hundreds of thousands of Minecraft players with the least effort possible. Follow trends, create relatable, fun and short videos to success.
Focus on creating great content, be consistent, over time you will learn what's trending on TikTok.
One of many TikTok guides you can find on the web
What matters on TikTok?
- Make your videos short. Long videos just won't work on TikTok.
- Make your videos easy to watch till the end! The 'watch through rate' is the most important metric TikTok uses to tell if your video is interesting and worth promoting to other users!
- Make your videos interesting and relevant. TikTok is not the place for mindless videos! Put the effort to make the video actually interesting and fun to watch.
- Make sure your videos end in a satisfying way. Either give an answer to a question asked in the beginning of the video or give your viewers a satisfying conclusion to the story.
⭐ YouTube Shorts
YouTube Shorts work similar to TikTok. Create fun and engaging content and viewers will appreciate it!
⭐ Press
There is a lot of editors eager to write about an upcoming fresh Minecraft server. You just need to reach out to them. Extra points if your idea is actually original. Do you think someone would like to write about a yet another copy-cat survival server? No! Aim for press coverage, create original server!
Ensure your idea is original and remember, to get press coverage, you only need to convince one person that your server is great and that is, the editor!
- Write a fantastic description of your idea and really sell it to the editor.
- Give him a lot of details, interesting facts, screenshots and videos.
- Promise exclusivity.
- Offer an interview.
💵 Should you pay for advertising?
It depends on your budget and on your goals. If your budget is too small, you simply won't find a professional who will be able to create an effective ad. If you have the budget, you have to be smart about it. In short, if you're asking this question, then you might not yet be experienced enough to purchase effective advertising.
🕒 Practice matters
Please don't expect results overnight. Learning to promote your server takes time, just like polishing it and making the gameplay perfect does. You have to invest first and only then you will be able to harvest the fruits.
✅ Make sure to consistently practice your skills.
- Record TikToks regularly.
- Post YouTube Shorts.
- Experiment with Instagram, Discord and your favourite social media.
- Be on a lookout for new gaming and Minecraft editors who could be interested with your server.
📖 Additional sources
Here's a few books that are worth reading if you are serious about improving your marketing knowledge and skills. Read them to get an advantage. I've personally read them all and I can recommend them. They're really great.
- The 22 Immutable Laws Of Marketing - Al Ries
- Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook - Gary Vaynerchuk
- Blue Ocean Strategy - W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne