Social Gaming is one of the aspects businesses are focusing for brand advertisements. The question is what is the difference between a social game and a casual game? There has been a lot of debate, some say the games on social networking site are called social games, some doesn’t agree with this statement. In our opinion, a game having the following characteristics can be called a social game:
- Multiplayer games, this uses player’s social connections as part of the game. The example of such game can be Parking Wars.
- Games which involves social activities like chatting, trading etc. Example game can be YoVille.
- Turn-based games, which are played with friends or social connections. Example game can be Texas Hold’em Poker.
- Competitive games that includes social connection’s leaderboard. Example can be Brain Buddies.
There isn’t much difference in the development cycle of the social game as compared to the casual games. Businesses have started to gain more interest in social gaming and it has become a big industry. The major attraction for businesses to get involved in social gaming is the opportunity to reach the huge user base of Facebook. There are a number of ways brands can use social games on Facebook, here is the list we have gathered after research on the topic, which may help you understand, as a business, of the things you want to perform when you decide to enter in the social gaming arena:
1- In-App Ads:
Ads a term we frequently use as a business, and the thing which is all over us (i.e. on the websites, applications we use on our iPhones, Androids, Blackberries, Tablets, billboards across the street, newspaper etc.).
Study made on social gaming provides a fact that users between the age of 18 and 44 play social games every day (this is over 70% population of Facebook).
With over 750 million users on the board and over 70% users using the social games on daily basis, businesses see the potential of the results they might achieve with the use of social gaming ads.
2- Gamification:
A term used for including a gaming functionality on the fan pages of Facebook. More and more businesses are using such techniques on their fan pages to attract users to compete or participate with their friends. Badges, Quizzes, Giveaways etc. are all used in such campaigns. For Example, Rihanna’s fan page offers giveaways using the Rihanna Unlocked. Users receives exclusive content for the newest album released like lyrics, music videos and album art etc.
3- Charity and Corporate Social Responsibility:
Businesses not only use social gaming for profits on Facebook, they also complete their social responsibility by raising funds or charity campaigns. For example, Farmville, with over 120 Million users, is performing the charity campaign very successfully by offering special items for purchase to users. The charity is used to support different charity programs like FATEM, Water.org, World Food Program etc. and different natural disasters happening around the world.
4- Build Community:
Marketers, in this era of social network boom, know the fact that people like to perform activities with their friends and the people they know i.e. they like to do things together and be a part of a community. Social gaming is yet another way to highlight the user’s need to perform things in a group or a community. As long as your social game provides the user a community experience, the expected results are assumed to be in reach.
That all said, you now might be wondering of how many games you are playing which are influencing you to brands.
