Chapter 6: Social Gaming
In This Chapter
Considering social gaming as a marketing tool
Understanding the surprising demographics of gamers
Using social games and apps for marketing
In social gaming, video, online, and smartphone games are shifted to a social media paradigm, in which users play against each other (rather than against a machine). According to www.appdata.com/leaderboard/apps
, at least 15 games on Facebook boast more than 10 million monthly players apiece, and FarmVille alone had more than 28.5 million Facebook players as of March 2012.
Social gaming enables people to play games with friends as well as strangers. This concept isn’t new, but the extended combination with social networking is. It may portend a change in the entire sociology of gaming; it has already changed the demographics. And that’s where your business opportunity arrives in the form of brand recognition, image-building, customer loyalty, and the viral spread of your message among gamers.
In this chapter, we show the options for integrating your marketing with the social gaming environment so you can decide whether it’s cost-effective for your business.
Assessing the Marketing Value of Social Gaming ...
