Red Bricks Media: What Can Marketers Learn From Social Games? - Vincent Ma - MediaBizBloggers

As of May 2010, more than 78 million of the 400+ million Facebook users fertilized virtual crops and gifted their friends a lost cow or two in the wildly popular social networking game FarmVille. Zynga, the company behind FarmVille, has recently closed another round of funding, bringing the total amount raised to an impressive $366 million dollars. Given that the challenges of building a community of users, keeping them actively engaged and ultimately driving revenue are not specific to social game developers; what lessons can marketers learn from the tactics and strategies that have made social gaming so successful?

Although there is no secret recipe for a successful social game, the best ones do share a few common attributes.

+ Collections: Many social games have ancillary goals of accumulating points or collecting different sets of virtual goods as they progress through the game. People who have checked-in to places through Foursquare to accumulate badges, or purchased a McDonald's Happy Meal to get that last beanie baby understand that there is just something satisfying about completing a collection. Point systems and loyalty programs have been around for decades, but in the virtual goods world, the rewards are that much easier to administer and have negligible marginal cost associated with them.

+ Scarcity: Closely tied to collections, is controlled scarcity of items. Certain game related virtual items are intentionally difficult to acquire or limited in number. Grounded in basic economics, the increased rarity of an item tends to lead to an increase in perceived or actual value of that item. Follow the lead of companies like the Gilt Groupe or Google and launch products on an invitation basis only. In addition to the rarity of an item, another way to add a sense of scarcity is by putting a time limit on a particular offer. We've seen Amazon use this mechanic for their Black Friday specials as door buster deals were rotated throughout the day that are valid for only 3 hours (or until supplies last). Many ad networks offer access to real time inventory data for limited offers and capabilities to integrate an offer countdown clock directly in the ad unit.

+ Bragging Rights: Whether it's a race to build the biggest farm, earn the most points, or obtain the rarest game item, social games inherently have a dimension of competition about them beyond simply beating the game. Leader-boards, player rankings, and community voting are social game mechanics that tap into people's desire to brag and show the world just how awesome they are. Consider adding a customer spotlight section to your website, running a creativity based (e.g. photo or video) contest to allow your customers to show off their skills, or rewarding your top contributors to your support forums with special expert or MVP statuses,

+ Groups: Borrowing from Maslow's hierarchy of needs, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. Many social games ask players to build a community of neighbors and friends to experience the game with them. Groups can be formed through shared experiences, shared ideas, or shared love of your product. Provide your loyal customers with a formal environment through customer support blogs or social networks to gather, share ideas and create dialogs around your product. Getting like minded people together is only half the battle. Remember that every group needs a leader, so stay active and engaged with your customers.

+ Individuality: At the same time that we yearn to belong, we also strive to be different and unique. We want to feel special. Many social games offer players the opportunity to create customizable in-game avatars, or digital representations of a gamer, allowing the gamer to express themselves. Research shows that even a modest amount of customization increases the emotional attachment to the user's gaming experience. Consider a basic avatar system for your online communities or offer sneak peaks to new products to only your loyal customers. Also look into adding that personal touch to your marketing campaigns by leveraging behavioral targeted ad networks, providing smart product recommendations, and offering personalized discounts.

+ Feedback: A mainstay of role playing games, the concept of "leveling-up" or acquiring experience points is a time tested game mechanic that keeps players engaged. Users play the game to grow their character and to open up different features of a game. An important element of the level-up mechanic is feedback about the player's progress throughout the game. People love completing things. Take a cue from Linked-In and incentivize your users to complete certain actions by implementing a progress bar that reminds them of the next step in the process and shows them how close they are to finishing.

+ Luck: Although it doesn't apply to everyone, there is something exciting about games of chance. Many social games have a gambling or a luck aspect to them. For example, Mafia Wars offers players a "mystery box" of items. Players effectively buy a lottery ticket to see if they get a mundane item or hit the jackpot with a rare item. Marketers can offer a game of chance around a particular promotion where the percentage offer ranges from 5%-25% or you can randomly choose a community member that posted a comment on your blog/social network page to receive a product discount.

+ Sharing: Possibly the most important piece from a growth perspective are the mechanics that drives the social and sharing aspects of the game. Games like Restaurant City allow you to work with and hire your friends while Mafia Wars require you to connect with other people in your network before advancing in the game. In addition to the social based game play, almost all social games allow players to "gift" or share content with their friends as a disguised invitation to play. This reciprocity effect associated with giving and receiving a gift, even if it is a virtual gift, can be a powerful driver of community growth. Consider a "friend of friend" referral discount to help communicate upcoming promotions or go a bit deeper with integration with Facebook's Graph API and Twitter's @Anywhere framework to make it easier for your customers to share your content across the social web.

Social games are a serious business, and while not all of the tactics implemented by social game makers are new or unique, the success of these game makers remind us that sometimes adding a bit of fun to your marketing campaign, product, or corporate website is the best way to connect to your customers and grow your business.

Vincent Ma is The Product Guy at Red Bricks Media. He is an experienced product manager with a proven track record of developing processes and applications that drive value for companies of all sizes. He can be reached at vma@redbricksmedia.com

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