Minting success through social media gaming

Dubai: Go for the gamers! Brand marketers and advertisers seeking out specific audiences within the vast social media user universe need look no further than the gamers.

And knowing who they are, the subsequent campaigns can be fitted out properly to win them over. Placing videos is one such option. But wouldn't video messages be a distraction, and somewhat similar to a TV commercial break during an episode of 24 or Homeland?

"That would be a fair point if what we did wasn't user-initiated and was seen as an annoyance," said James Salins, vice-president for Business Development — Brand Advertising, Supersonic Ads.

"Gamers choose to engage with a branded icon in their game — which typically may say ‘watch and earn'. Once they've hit the button, a branded video unit opens and they consume maybe a 30-second ad.

"On Facebook games we can offer gamers a Facebook credit for choosing to interact with a brand."

For local agencies still coming to terms with the many possibilities — and even downsides — that social media campaigns entail, in-social games create their own sets of pros and cons.

"The answer that every-one is looking out for is how social media users — categorised by gender, demographic, geography, professional and personal standing — respond to ad messages," said the head of a media buying unit in Dubai. "One would like to think that irrespective of whether they are in the United States or the UAE they would respond evenly. But are they?"

This is only one of the many issues that brand owners and their agencies are grappling with.

The only agreement as of now relates to everyone saying they need a digital or social media presence. That immediately sets off other concerns.

"I'm not sure that the standard ad units within most social media platforms are as engaging as they could be," said Salins.

"I've seen a lot of typical leaders and MPUs [multi-purpose units] around apps and games and also standard fare on Facebook such as ASUs [ad space units]. There has been a lot of bad press with some mobile advertisers littering social games with banners that are easily clicked by mistake, which are obviously annoying and disruptive. I'd like to think that the industry has moved on from that, and it seems to be the case with a lot of better publishers now."

Bespoke ‘offer wall'

As of now, only a fraction of the social gamer community pays to play and engage in transactions using their own cash. For game publishers, the solution then is to go after the cost per acquisition (CPA) revenue.

"There is a hardcore fan base that is happy to interact with brands of their own accord on a bespoke ‘offer wall' that exists in many games," said Salins.

"Gamers can fill in surveys, buy or trial products, etc. Again, it is all user-initiated — it is also not difficult to imagine that within the range of offers a gamer will find a few that appeal directly to them."

According to industry estimates, social gaming is expected to develop into a $1.3 billion (Dh4.77 billion) business in the United States at the end of this year, with 20 per cent coming from advertising and 19.6 per cent from lead generation offers. The rest would be from the sale of virtual goods.

"In addition to the basic benefit of getting to know your customers better, games can be an important tool to engage people that can lead to not only increasing brand loyalty but also increasing profits," said Azhar Seddiqi, the newly-appointed managing partner at Mojo Media.

"Beyond the basic advertising, brands are developing games that reward their users for their loyalty and for generating awareness of their brands," Seddiqi said.

"For example, Samsung Nation is an on-line loyalty programme that rewards users points for engaging with the brand and its products and also for talking up the brand in their own social media circles. Gaming within social media is a serious strategy that brands are employing to engage with customers."

If that is the case, bring on the games!