What should a FiveM server marketing checklist include?
Fix the listing first — name, tags, description, slot count — because those are free and they multiply everything else. Then visibility, then a community channel, then retention. Doing them out of order wastes whatever you spend.
Free fixes, first
These cost nothing and they change the return on everything after them.
- Hostname readable in the first forty characters.
- Tags that match what you actually run — check what your config publishes, not what you meant to publish.
- Description that answers what kind of server this is in two lines.
- Slot count matched to your real peak, so capacity reads as busy.
- Discord link reachable from in-game.
Skipping this stage and buying visibility means paying to show more people a listing that does not convert.
Visibility
Position on the discovery grid is decided by upvotePower. Options, in ascending order of cost:
- Ask your existing players to vote. Free, durable, limited by how many you have.
- Post where advertising is permitted. Cheap, slow, needs consistency.
- Buy upvotes. Fast, works from zero, recurring because the score decays.
Community
- A Discord that is actually staffed, not an empty shell.
- Somewhere players can report problems and see them fixed.
- Events that give people a reason to come back on a specific evening.
Retention
- First fifteen minutes working end to end for a brand-new player.
- Queue and load times that do not lose people before they arrive.
- Staff visible during peak hours.
Measurement
Track two numbers weekly: upvotePower and peak players. Their relationship tells you what to fix.
- Both rising — working.
- upvotePower up, players flat — visibility is not converting. Listing problem.
- Players up, upvotePower flat — engaged community nobody has asked to vote. Ask.
- Both flat — start at the top of this list.
Your server's page here records both at every snapshot, so this is a look rather than a spreadsheet.