| Course | D379 Social Media Marketing |
|---|---|
| Task | Task 1 |
| Paper type | Social media strategy |
| Length | About 1,100 words, 3 pages |
| Format | APA 7 |
| School | Western Governors University (WGU) |
| Program | MS Marketing |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for D379 Task 1
Two Platforms, One Community, Forty Thousand Wishlists: A Social Media Strategy for a Composite Independent Game Studio Launching Its Second Game
Student Name
School of Business, Western Governors University
D379: Social Media Marketing, Task 1
Course Instructor
Month Day, Year
Two Platforms, One Community, Forty Thousand Wishlists: A Social Media Strategy for a Composite Independent Game Studio Launching Its Second Game
The Studio and Its Goals
Lanternfish Games, a composite independent studio of nine developers in Austin, Texas, released its first game, a cozy fishing and exploration title, two years ago. It sold about 180,000 copies, largely through word of mouth, and built a small but devoted community. Its second game, a cooperative island-building adventure, launches on PC and consoles in ten months. The studio has a marketing budget of $60,000 and one community manager.
Business goals for the social media strategy are to reach 40,000 wishlists on the main PC storefront before launch, since wishlists strongly influence storefront visibility and launch sales; to grow an engaged community that gives feedback during development and promotes the game at launch; and to sell 60,000 copies in the first month.
Target Audience
The core audience is players aged 18 to 34 who enjoy cozy, cooperative and creative games, often playing with a partner or friends. Many discovered Lanternfish's first game through short video clips and streamers. They value charm, relaxation and developers who listen to players. A secondary audience is content creators and streamers in the cozy games space, whose coverage reaches large numbers of potential players.
Choosing Platforms
Social media encompasses many kinds of platforms, from collaborative projects and content communities to social networking sites, each suited to different purposes (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Lanternfish cannot be everywhere with one community manager, so it will focus on two platforms that fit its audience and goals.
Short-form video platform: the audience discovers games through short clips, and the first game's most shared moments were 15-second videos of fish catches and island scenes. Short video is the main discovery channel.
Community chat server: the studio's existing server has 6,000 members from the first game. It is where players talk with developers, give feedback and organize, making it the home of the community.
Other platforms will be used lightly: a presence on a microblogging site for press and industry announcements and a monthly development update on the storefront page. The studio will not start new accounts on platforms it cannot maintain.
Content Strategy
Social media activity can be understood through functional building blocks such as identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation and groups, and firms should match their activity to the blocks that matter most for their audience (Kietzmann et al., 2011). For Lanternfish, conversations, sharing and relationships matter most. Content will follow four pillars.
Moments: short clips of charming or funny gameplay, posted three times a week on the video platform, designed to be shared.
Behind the scenes: developers explaining how a feature was made, a bug that went wrong or early sketches, building a personal connection.
Players in the game: community feedback shaping development, such as a vote on a new creature, with results shown in a later update.
Creators: early access keys and assets for 80 cozy game creators, timed to demo and launch windows.
Calendar and Campaign Moments
Months one to four: build momentum with weekly clips and monthly development updates, and open wishlisting on the storefront. Month five: a public playtest for server members, generating feedback and shareable moments. Month seven: a free demo during a major online games festival, with creator coverage. Month nine: launch trailer and date announcement. Month ten: launch week, with live developer streams, creator coverage and community events on the server. Each moment has specific content, a posting schedule and an owner.
Managing the Program
The community manager will own the calendar and respond to comments daily, with developers rotating through one weekly question-and-answer session. Social media works as an ecosystem in which traditional and digital channels interact and consumers participate in creating and spreading content (Hanna et al., 2011), so the studio will encourage players to share their own clips with a campaign tag and feature the best ones. A clear policy will guide responses to criticism and bug reports: acknowledge quickly, explain honestly and follow up publicly when problems are fixed. The budget is split: $25,000 for creator partnerships and demo promotion, $20,000 for paid promotion of top-performing clips, $10,000 for festival participation and $5,000 for community events and prizes.
What Could Go Wrong
The studio sees three threats to this plan. Most serious is a negative moment going viral: a buggy playtest clip or a heated argument on the server can spread faster than any planned post. The studio will prepare holding statements for likely problems, such as a delayed launch date or a crash at the demo, and the community manager will have authority to post an honest first response within two hours without waiting for approval from the founders. Hiding or deleting criticism would damage the trust the first game earned.
Next is burnout. One community manager answering comments seven days a week will not last ten months. Moderation duties on the server will be shared with six trusted volunteer moderators from the existing community, who will receive early builds and credit in the game, and the manager will have two protected days off each week, with a developer covering urgent issues.
Last is dependence on the video platform's recommendation system, which can change without warning. Every clip will link to the storefront page and the server, so that viewers who discover the game on short video are moved to channels the studio controls. Growth in server membership and storefront followers therefore matters as a hedge, not only as a vanity figure.
Metrics Tied to Goals
The primary metric is storefront wishlists, tracked weekly and attributed where possible to specific clips, creators and events. Supporting metrics include video views and share rate, follower growth on the two main platforms, server membership and active participants, creator coverage reach and, at launch, first-month sales. If a content pillar or platform does not contribute to wishlists after three months, effort will shift to what does.
Conclusion
Lanternfish's strategy concentrates a small team and budget on two platforms where its audience discovers and discusses games, uses content that invites sharing and conversation, and treats players and creators as partners. Measuring success by wishlists and sales rather than followers keeps the strategy tied to the studio's goals.
References
Hanna, R., Rohm, A., & Crittenden, V. L. (2011). We're all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem. Business Horizons, 54(3), 265-273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.007
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003
Kietzmann, J. H., Hermkens, K., McCarthy, I. P., & Silvestre, B. S. (2011). Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Business Horizons, 54(3), 241-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.005
What the D379 Task 1 instructions ask
The first D379 task asks you to develop a social media strategy. You will usually state goals, describe the audience, choose platforms, plan content, set a calendar, assign management and address risks. Evaluators look for goals that are measurable, an audience described with behavior as well as demographics, platforms chosen for where that audience spends time, content organized with a framework and a calendar tied to business moments. A strategy that posts on every platform, or content with no link to goals, will not meet the strategy aspects. Choosing fewer platforms and doing them well is often the stronger plan for a small business.
How this D379 Task 1 example is built
The strategy opens with the studio, its first game and what the second launch must achieve. The audience section describes who plays cozy games, where they find new ones and how they talk about them. The platforms section compares options and explains the two chosen. Content is organized with a research framework, and each type of post is linked to a goal. The calendar moves from early momentum to wishlist pushes to launch week. The management section names who posts, who responds and how developers take part. The risks section names three threats and a response for each. A sample week of posts shows how the pillars rotate.
Where the D379 Task 1 rubric puts the marks
D379 Task 1 aspects are rated competent, approaching competence or not evident. A goals aspect asks for measurable targets. An audience aspect rewards a description with behavior. A platforms aspect looks for choices justified by audience. A content aspect wants a plan tied to goals and a framework. A calendar aspect asks for timing tied to business moments. Management and risk aspects look for ownership and responses. Evaluators notice when fewer platforms are chosen with reasons, and they expect social media research to be cited. The calendar aspect is rated competent when posting rises around business moments, such as a demo release or a sale, rather than holding a flat daily rhythm. Management and risk aspects look for named roles, reply times and a written response to at least one likely crisis, not a promise to monitor feedback.
D379 Task 1 help: what sends it back
D379 strategies lose marks when goals are vanity counts, such as followers. Tie goals to business results, such as wishlists. Audiences may be demographic only; describe what they do online. Platforms can be chosen by habit, so justify each. Content often lacks structure; use a framework and link posts to goals. Risks may be ignored, so plan for criticism and viral mistakes. Last, assign ownership, since a strategy without someone responsible for daily posting and replies rarely survives. Calendars sometimes list dates with no content; show what goes out and why it goes out then. Measurement can also be missing, so pair each goal with the platform metric that tracks it, such as wishlist additions from a link, and say how often the team will review it. Cite platform research on where the audience spends time rather than assuming.
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D379 Task 1 questions, answered
What is a content pillar in D379?
A recurring theme that organizes posts, such as development updates or community art. The sample uses pillars tied to its goals so every post has a purpose.
Is the D379 studio real?
No. Lanternfish Games is invented for this sample. The social media research and platform descriptions cited in the strategy are real. Plan for a business you know or one your course supplies.
How should D379 handle criticism?
Respond promptly and honestly, acknowledge problems and explain fixes. The sample plans responses for negative moments such as a buggy playtest clip. It names who replies and how quickly, so a bad moment does not wait for a meeting.
How many platforms should D379 use?
As many as the audience and team can support well. The sample chooses two where its players discover and discuss games, rather than spreading effort thin.
Where can I find a free D379 Task 1 sample paper?
The game studio social strategy appears above, annotated section by section. Tell us the business and goal you are planning for, and your first custom D379 strategy is free.