The Power of Social Gaming

Social Gaming is becoming an increasingly important way for people to engage with brands, according to panelists at the OMMA Social conference last Thursday. (MediaPostNEWS) Among the panelists was Jay Samit, CEO of SocialVibe, which provides brand marketing services through engagement ads. Calling it “a great medium for storytelling,” Samit considers social gaming valuable because it offers consumers the chance to engage with a game while accessing virtual goods at the same time. "We call it value exchange," he said. "It used to be that 100% of all advertising was interruptive. Here, it's the opposite. A person has reached a point in the game where they can't progress, so they say, 'Yes, I'll engage with brand.'" Samit added that average engagement time is 63 seconds, and that as many as 40% of consumers then share the experience via social media. Richard Muncaster, president of corporate strategy for KlickNation, which focuses on role-playing games targeting men 25 to 45 years old, said that players engage with games three times per day, for 17 minutes each. Social gaming is particularly effective with entertainment properties, such as movie theaters; SocialVibe found that 40% of users who engaged with a movie via social gaming bought movie tickets online.
Social gaming has become an extremely effective way for online marketers to engage audiences in brands. The response rate of social gaming is particularly high due to the addictive nature of online games and also the uninterrupted flow of information to users.