Thursday, November 15, 2012

Social Media Gaming - The Next Advertising Frontier

Author: Gagan Masoun
Social Media Gaming - The Next Advertising Frontier
Social media gaming is becoming more of an advertising space than a gaming venue. Not to say that it is equally exciting to engage in advertising through social media gaming. There isn't a single venue where advertisers haven’t ventured into and now they are targeting the social media gaming platform.

The reason is simple; they want to be where their customers are. Unlike other ways of advertising, social media gaming is not just about showing up and waving hands to attract the attention of people, but making them interact with the brand and make it a serious activity which could result in a business transaction. There are five basic reasons behind adopting social media gaming as a platform for advertising.

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Inclusion Of Brand Name In The Game:

One of the basic advantages of advertising through social media gaming is that the brand name can be included in the game itself rather than being displayed somewhere in the page. The advertisements on social media pages can be placed only on the sides or the space outside the area where the user interacts most of the time. However, in social media gaming, the brand names can be included as part of the games themselves. For instance, the brand Old Navy is a part of Crowdstar’s game, It Girl.

Brand Name Recognition Outside Gaming:

The brand names that were recognized while playing the game can be recognized when the gamer finds the product on the shelves of a supermarket. For example, 7-eleven has started selling iced coffee with a picture of Farmville, the most popular Facebook game, in its carton. They also announced a point redemption scheme and it worked perfectly well, encouraging the other brands also to follow the same strategy.

Huge Audience:

Another reason behind advertising through social media gaming is its audience. Statistics say that some social media games have a large audience than some popular TV shows of premiere channels. And the difference is a few millions, which is not definitely negligible. Moreover, most of these games are offered for free, which results in the games gaining millions of players in a small amount of time. The players connect with each other in social media games and they sometimes get to discuss the brands. A satisfied customer who plays the game can act as a word-of-mouth marketer indirectly.

Rewards:

Advertisers can introduce schemes like receiving game points for the purchase of a product. This method is already being used in Farmville and has received huge welcome. The purchasers of Farmers Insurance blimp and Old Navy products are allowed to get protection levels in the game and virtual currency for playing the games. The response of the players was more than expected and Old Navy could have a good sales record just because of introducing their brand in the game, It Girl.

These are some of the reasons why you may consider social media gaming as your advertising platform. It is a tried and tested way of promoting your brand and business. A considerable portion of the people who are members of social networking sites engage in playing games and so advertising through these games will help you reach them easily.

Author
Author - is the owner of Blogs Daddy Blog. Gagan lives in India, has been blogging since 2010 and writing Blogs Daddy Blog since 2011.You can follow him on twitter @BlogsDaddyYou can also follow him on Google+.

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