How to Promote your Nexus
Your Nexus should be uniquely you. The branding is yours. The game selection is yours. Even the audience it caters to… is yours. So, in a way, you know your customers better than we can hope to, what content they engage with, and how to best reach them.
But… this isn’t our first rodeo, either! We’ve been working with creators like you since 2016, helping them to promote game sales in ways that are simple, but as effective as possible. We’ve seen what has worked for others in the past, and we’d like to share these strategies with you. So, here’s our two cents.
Preparing to Launch
Alright. Humor us for a second, and imagine your Nexus is a shiny new spaceship, about to embark on a five-year mission into the vast unknown. Once that bad boy is up there, you’re going to feel pretty silly if you have to tell the crew that you forgot to bring water.
A clumsy launch can feel just like that, but it’s easy to prevent. We encourage you to follow this pre-flight checklist before taking your Nexus off the ground.
✔️ Build anticipation by teasing out your launch! A simple tweet, community post, or discord announcement about your upcoming store launch can go a long way.
✔️ Add a command for your Nexus to the livestream chatbot of your choice. We’d recommend a command like !nexus, !games, or !store that links to your Nexus. Putting this message on a 30-minute timer may also be helpful.
“Check out our Nexus store, where you can purchase indie games, and all of our proceed earnings will do directly back to charity. Visit https://www.nexus.gg/IndieLand”
✔️ Explain what Nexus is to your channel moderators. Your mods can remind users to buy games in your store by using your Nexus chatbot command.
✔️ Update the links featured in your YouTube descriptions, YouTube banner links, and Twitch panel links to feature your Nexus. (We offer assets to help you create unique Twitch panels for this purpose.)
✔️ Enable purchase alerts via Streamlabs or StreamElements in the settings tab of your Nexus dashboard. These alerts celebrate viewers who support you through the store, and remind others to check it out!
✔️ Familiarize yourself with the direct link function, which can be found in any game’s details panel. Even if you’re not currently promoting a Nexus sale, you might find that there’s a demand for a game you’re currently streaming. It’s possible to quickly provide a link for viewers to purchase that game.
Launching your Nexus
Okay, so, you know how dogs get excited when you get excited? It isn’t just a dog thing. Whether you’re teaching a class, giving a speech, or launching a game store, your audience is picking up the vibes you’re putting out.
So, when launch day finally comes, it’s important to make a big deal out of it! Bang your drum, shoot up a flare, and let the world know that if they’re gonna buy games, they should buy them from you!
Consider timing your launch around a sale! Upcoming discounts are visible in the games dashboard. While you are not allowed to share what games are discounted ahead of time, you can still time your launch around a game that you feel your audience is likely to buy.
Announce the launch of your store on Twitter, the YouTube Community tab, and any other social media that you’re active on. Linking to the store itself is a must, and images/video to accompany the announcement are a huge plus!
Showcase your store in a YouTube video, livestream, or both! It’s important to set aside time to explain Nexus and answer questions. Most importantly, make sure your audience understands that these purchases support you!
Based on the feedback you get during your store launch, create direct links for games in high demand, and share them with your community! If these links get a lot of traffic, you may consider adding these games to your store.
Once You Have Launched
Remember the spaceship metaphor? We’re not done with the spaceship metaphor. Once you’ve launched your Nexus, it’s easy to mistake it for a passive thing — something that exists in the background for anyone who may be interested. But Nexus works best when it becomes part of your routine — something that is frequently mentioned, often updated, and always evolving. You’ve launched the spaceship, but now it’s time to fly it.
Any time you cover a game, consider Nexus. If we have it in our library, you can sell it — even if it’s not one of your ten showcased games. Direct links obtained from the dashboard don’t expire, and will always feature any reviews and content you’ve included. Use these links in video descriptions, and direct your viewers to them as a part of your “call to action.”
Nexus offers image and video assets that can be helpful when creating pre-roll, mid-roll, or end-card content for your videos, as well as assets for stream overlays and Twitch panels. Once again, any of these assets can be altered to better suit your brand, and are offered for your convenience.
Some Last Tips! A TL;DR
Here’s a roundup of platform-specific tricks that can help you along the way:
Twitch Best Practices
✔️ Integrate purchase alerts from Streamlabs or StreamElements to notify you and your viewers of sales in your store
✔️ Make your own Twitch panels to link to your store, or use our Nexus-branded panels (which can be found here)
✔️ Use a timed chat-bot to offer automated reminders (30-minute intervals are best) and link directly to your store
✔️ Manual bot commands like !games, !nexus, and !store make your Nexus easier for your audience to find
✔️ Ask your channel mods to get involved by directing your audience to your store!
YouTube Best Practices
✔️ Put your Nexus link above the fold, and direct your viewers to it during the video
✔️ Include Nexus in the “Links” section of your “About” page, as well as in the banner links for your channel
✔️ Announce your Nexus launch with a Community Tab post. The community tab can also be useful for advertising discounts, announcing new game releases, and polling viewers about games to add
✔️ Use Nexus-branded bumpers in your videos, or design your own! Whatever works best for you, make sure to actively promote your Nexus in your videos
