How Long Does It Take To Setup And Execute Marketing Campaigns

The first crucial point to understand, and also one of the most overlooked areas, is when to begin your marketing. I want you to think of when to begin marketing like throwing a ball at someone running across a field.

If a person is running across a field, and you throw the ball where they currently are, you will miss them because they are no longer in that same spot. If you throw a ball to where the person is going to be, they can catch it because you're aligning their speed and trajectory with where the ball needs to be.

Marketing follows the same concept: you do not base marketing on where your development currently is and begin when the development is ready. Instead, you base it on where development is going to be (even if estimated) and then work backwards from there.

A great example: NextFest is happening on October 13, 2025, and you want influencers involved. October 13 is where you are throwing the ball. It takes about a month to get influencers onboard, which means you should start throwing the ball on September 13, 2025 to hit the target. With that understanding, let's dive into timelines for various marketing activities.

Influencer Marketing Timeline

You want influencers to market your game, and you're frustrated that an agency hasn't delivered any results yet. With influencers, there are two routes you can take:

Spray and Pray: This is the approach where you send out keys to influencers in hopes that they play your game. Results vary widely with this approach in terms of getting content created and created in a way that's best for your game.

Campaign Approach: This approach is when you work more closely with influencers to establish campaigns with set deliverables like short-form videos in addition to live streaming with specific usage rights.

So how much time does it take to get a single influencer? Let's break down how the process normally works: