作者：CHRIS HEGGEM

9月份在美国意味着众多节日将接踵而至，如万圣节、感恩节、光明节、Festivus（游戏邦注：美国情景喜剧《欢乐单身派对》中的节日，许多人效仿剧情庆祝）、圣诞节、节礼日、宽扎节和新年等。

我们在母亲节白皮书《2010母亲节调查报告》中指出，节日期间社交游戏盈利增加了5倍，推广也使得用户转化率翻倍。母亲节是美国第二大赠礼节日，可以想象接下来充满节日的季节会给你带来多么丰厚的回报。为上述节日做准备时可能要先回想下去年所取得的成功，还需要采用以下方法来最大化节日促销带来的销售额。

pet-society-holiday-fish-biscuit(from blog.games.com)

1、独特的节日主题虚拟商品

雪花、圣诞帽和拐杖糖之类已为众多商家所用，仅仅满足用户期望并非令人惊叹之举。玩家期待的确实是传统圣诞和新年道具，但你可以在所有节日中提供异乎寻常的独特创意性道具。我指的是在游戏中添加某些虚拟Festivus柱子和数字长衫等有趣的物品。以水族箱游戏为例，可以设计水下圣诞老人，用贝壳替代雪橇，用长着鹿角的海马替代驯鹿。如果节日主题虚拟商品独特而且看起来充满吸引力，玩家就会购买。充满创意性的游戏会让玩家发觉你将节日庆祝提升至全新高度。

2、网络星期一的道具销售

感恩节之后，每个人都做好在接下来的星期一中利用“网络星期一”的促销。在游戏中提供商品或货币特卖，充分利用这个每年最大的网络购物日。毕竟，社交游戏也是网络产品。

3、每日活动公告

圣诞节持续12天，光明节持续8天，许多节日的传统和庆祝活动远不止1天。在游戏中公告你会在每个庆祝日发布新款节日主题道具，收集整套的人或许还能获得特别奖励。去年，Playfish的游戏《Pet Society》便采取这种做法，保持玩家在节日期间登录游戏购买虚拟道具。

4、节日主题任务和神秘礼物

设置特别主题任务，奖励物品是某种神秘礼物。节日期间每天都有独特的神秘礼物，鼓励玩家多玩游戏！

5、根据目标用户开展礼物促销和广告活动

eMarketer报告曾指出，“社交游戏虚拟作物会带来真实的收益。”多数社交游戏玩家是三十岁以上的妇女。审视游戏的核心用户，睿智的礼物促销和广告会使收益达到最大化。利用TrialPay的独特方法从用户处获得盈利。

6、病毒性扩散

游戏玩家数增加意味着可盈利用户基础得以增长。提供神秘圣诞礼物刺激用户参与游戏，或给予邀请好友的用户礼物作为奖励。

游戏邦注：原文发稿于2010年9月9日，所涉时间、事件和数据均以此为准。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

6 Ways To Prepare Your Social Games for the Holidays

CHRIS HEGGEM

It’s already that time of year. It’s September *takes deep breath* – which means Halloween is around the corner – which means Thanksgiving is around the corner – which means Hanukkah is around the corner – which means Festivus (personal favorite) is around the corner – which means Christmas is around the corner – which means Boxing Day is around the corner – which means Kwanzaa is around the corner – which means New Years is around the corner. Did I forget any? This is going to be a busy season!

As we discussed in our whitepaper, 2010 Mother’s Day Research Report, during Mother’s Day, social games had a fivefold increase in revenues and promotions helped double conversions. As Mother’s Day is the second largest gift-giving holiday in the United States, imagine what the holiday season could mean for your bottom line. To prepare yourself for this holiday season, you may wish to reflect on last year’s holiday success. Also, take into consideration these additional ways to maximize sales with holiday promotions.

1. Unique Holiday-Themed Virtual Goods

Snow? Santa hats? Candy canes? It’s been done. You’re not going to “wow” anybody by meeting expectations. Your gamers are expecting traditional Christmas and New Years items, but you can exceed expectations by delivering unique, creative items for all the holidays. Yes, I’m talking virtual Festivus poles, digital kaftans or fun twists inherent to your game (e.g. for aquarium games, have an underwater Santa who has a shell instead of a sled and seahorses with antlers instead of reindeer). If your holiday themed virtual goods are unique and visually appealing, your gamers will buy them. Get creative and show your gamers that you are taking the holidays to the next level!

2. Cyber Monday Sale on Items

Everyone is already online the Monday after Thanksgiving to take advantage of all the amazing online sales for Cyber Monday. Capitalize on the biggest online shopping day of the year by offing special sales on goods or currency in your game. After all, social games are “cyber” too.

3. The [Insert #] Days of [Insert Holiday]

You know what I’m talking about. The 12 days of Christmas, the 8 days of Hanukkah, etc. Many of the holidays have traditions or celebrations that last much longer than a single day. Announce that you will release new holiday-themed items on each day of the celebration, perhaps with a special bonus for people who collect the entire set. Playfish did a version of this last year in Pet Society. This will keep gamers logging back in to your games buying your virtual items.

4. Holiday-Themed Quests & Mystery Gifts

Create a special themed quest, where the result is a mystery gift. Make each day leading up to the holiday a unique mystery gift, encouraging more play!

5. Targeted Gifting Promotions and Advertising

As mentioned in the eMarketer Report, “Social Gaming Virtual Crops Yield Real Profits,” the majority of social games players are women and are over the age of thirty. Think about the core audience for your game and be smart about marketing gift promotions and implementing advertising that will yield optimal profits. Monetize your audience by using TrialPay’s exclusive offers.

6. Viral Initiatives

By increasing the amount of users playing your game, you increase your profitability base. Offer Secret Santa gifts as an incentive for adding users, or give users gifts to invite friends with and then provide that user with a reward.

What creative holiday promotions do you think could move the needle this holiday season? (Source: TrialPay)