作者：Pauline Malcolm-John

社交游戏用户已占全美人口的20%（游戏邦注：此项数据来源于NPD Group在2010年的调查结果），因而营销人员需要适当考虑社交游戏战略。不幸的是，多数营销人员不懂得如何将品牌信息整合到这个动态个人领域中。尽管存在通过社交游戏吸引用户并将其转化成品牌支持者的可能性，但这需要遵从某些规则。

本篇文章将讨论这些规则，遵从规则会使营销人员逃脱标准媒体规范，开展更有效、更易考量的社交营销活动。

规则1：关联性

在社交游戏背景下提供相关内容，以颇有意义的方式将广告同受众连接起来。社交游戏内的品牌相关内容会为营销网站带来更多流量，其对忠诚度的构建作用超过普通的条幅广告。

bing-farmville(from pulse2.com)

比如，Bing在《FarmVille》中的广告采取两种方式引导游戏玩家采取行动。首先，它在游戏中放置赞助性广告，引导用户成为Bing的Facebook页面的粉丝。广告中写道：“无论你想购买的是一匹马还是一棵树，Bing都可以帮你做出决定！”其次，Bing向那些成为Facebook页面粉丝的玩家提供《FarmVille》中的虚拟货币奖励。结果如何呢？1天之内，微软在Facebook上的粉丝增加了40万。

Bing随后还可以利用Facebook的状态更新来推动网站的搜索。“有《FarmVille》的粉丝吗？尝试使用Bing来从作物和动物中收获更多。”网站将上述话语链接到“farmville动物”的搜索结果中，玩家就被鼓励使用Bing而不是Google。而且由于当日多数Facebook页面粉丝来自于《FarmVille》，因而这个更新会被推荐和“赞”，增加了病毒性推广的范围。

规则2：增加价值

提供社交、竞争或游戏货币奖励。相比努力将传统方法运用于社交环境中，社交游戏中价值的增加能够提供更大的品牌曝光度以及更深层次、更有意义的忠诚度。

社交游戏要求玩家需要努力工作才能获得奖励。玩家喜欢用某些个性化道具来装备自己的角色，获得那种“胜利”的感觉。只有玩家长期玩游戏赚取货币或用金钱购买道具，他们才能获得中意的虚拟商品或成就。

在此等背景下，广告商开始在社交游戏中免费提供虚拟商品或竞争性产品。这些提供道具的品牌或商家变得为玩家所关注且充满吸引力，能够使玩家对其产生兴趣，而他们也应吸引玩家成为品牌忠诚者而获得“胜利”。

比如，有机品牌Cascadian Farm与Zynga合作推出《FarmVille》首个品牌作物，他们为玩家提供一系列的额外奖励。除了能够快速提升农场外，玩家还获得了优惠券以及有机农场和绿色生活小贴士。在为期1周的活动中，无论对新手还是老玩家而言，授权的Cascadian Farm有机蓝莓作物都是游戏中回报最高的《FarmVille》作物。

规则3：提供选择，但不可打断游戏进程

用户一开始并没有打算看你的广告。让广告成为他们选择参与的游戏体验的部分内容，让玩家选择性进行参与到广告中。在这种充满吸引力的选择下，营销人员所取得的广告参与率是其他标准媒体中所没有的。

比如，近期由Truth（游戏邦注：即美国传统基金会）发起的反吸烟运动让《WeeWorld》的用户选择是否完成一项探索或调查。如果用户这么做，可以赚取商品、货币和奖杯（游戏邦注：这是社交游戏中玩家最想要的元素）。而且，这些行为自从一开始便没有妨碍玩家的游戏进程，玩家无需登录网站来进行测试，他们可以在表达自身观点和与好友的交谈中享受轻松和娱乐。遵从这项规则的行为在两个月内为Truth带来2.36亿的病毒性推广成果，吸引用户完成2.6万次调查并送出60.7万件虚拟商品。

规则4：制造话题

随着时间推移，不断为体验添加新元素来维持推广势头，创造消费者间对话的话题。两三个月的体验能够产生更深层次的话题，这比单个事件要有效得多，因为可能才刚刚形成话题事件便结束了。

社交游戏并没有起点和终点，它们是不断变化发展的，话题和行为不断循环。要使推广真正有效，广告商应当在此流程中变得活跃。比如，Skintimate首先发布新香水，然后改变《WeeMee》主页的背景，这项用户就会一直注意到这项推广。再则，Truth发起的运动通过两部分的探索和用户的《Shards of Glass》工厂来延长话题的持续时间。

规则5：永存玩家心中的善意

既然要给予玩家东西，那就贡献得更多点，随后方能体验到玩家的感激之情。

社交游戏中贡献的东西很多。恰当的方法不是将广告强加在消费者之上，而是让他们将广告作为受欢迎的礼物来体验。品牌在游戏中的付出也能够不断得到回报，不仅增加了用户参与度，还能获得确实的用户感激之情。

比如，Drug Free America近期与《WeeWorld》合作开展的运动采用青少年JT现身说法的形式。为披露青少年毒瘾，JT利用问答、咨询和视频等形式述说自己的故事，而不是说教受众。每周还会出现一次测试，让青少年们在毒品或酒中做出选择。用户发邮件给他，述说他们对此项运动的感想。PDFA在三个月的时间内使品牌关注度提高了两倍，更为有趣的是，JT收到了大量的用户回应，他们感谢前者的提醒对他们的帮助。

《WeeWorld》也因与某些品牌的合作得到用户的赞赏。这些用户并不希望游戏中广告堆积，而是希望每周都能看到新的惊喜和机遇。

遵从规则，获得奖励

了解规则和实践是两码事。在社交游戏中放置传统的条幅广告要简单得多，但能让用户产生多大兴趣还值得考量。但是，如果你花时间与有见识的同伴合作，将多阶段且与品牌相关的运动整合到游戏的真实体验和个性化过程中，你不仅能够吸引消费者还可以产生某些品牌忠诚者。要如何利用社交游戏，完全取决于营销人员。

游戏邦注：本文发稿于2010年10月14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）

5 rules for integrating ads into social games

Pauline Malcolm-John

With 56.8 million consumers, or 20 percent of the U.S. population, playing social games (NPD Group), marketers need to have a social game strategy. Unfortunately, most marketers don’t know how to successfully integrate their brand message into this incredibly dynamic and personal space. While engaging consumers through social games and turning them into passionate brand advocates is possible, there are certain rules to live by.

In this article, we’ll take a look at those rules: Adhering to them will allow marketers to leapfrog the norms of standard media and deliver far more effective, and measureable, social campaigns.

Rule #1: Make it relevant

Connect your ad to the audience in meaningful ways by offering content delivered within the context of the social game. Relevant integration within social gaming drives more traffic to the marketer’s website and builds more loyalty than standard banner campaigns.

For example, when Bing advertised in FarmVille, it made the call-to-action relevant to the game’s players in two ways: First, it placed sponsored ads in the game directing users to become fans of Bing’s Facebook page, mentioning that, “Whether you want to buy a horse or a tree, Bing can help you decide!”; secondly, Bing awarded FarmVille virtual currency to players who became fans of Bing on Facebook. The result? Microsoft gained 400,000 Facebook fans in one day.

Bing was then able to use its Facebook status updates to drive search on Bing. “Any FarmVille fans out there? Try using Bing to get the most out of your crops and animals.” By linking that post to Bing search results for “farmville animals,” players were encouraged to use Bing instead of Google. And because most Bing Facebook fans that day came in through FarmVille, the update was heavily commented and “liked,” increasing viral reach.

Rule #2: Add value

Provide social, competitive and/or game currency benefits. Adding value within social gaming provides far more brand exposure — as well as deeper and more meaningful loyalty — than trying to force traditional means into a social environment.

Social games require players to work to achieve benefits. Players “win” by outfitting their avatar or space with items that express their personalities. Before players can acquire their desired virtual goods or achievements, they either have to play the game at length to earn currency, or use real cash to purchase items.

In this context, advertisers get to be the hero, offering virtual goods for free or providing a competitive edge within the social game. The brand or property that provides items that are creative, popular, or attractive enough to spur user interest also “wins” by engaging consumers to opt-in as brand ambassadors.

For example, when organic brand Cascadian Farm teamed up with Zynga to become the first-ever branded crop on FarmVille, they provided a range of bonus benefits to players. In addition to providing the opportunity to quickly enhance their farms, players received coupon offers, as well as organic farming and green living tips. During the week-long partnership, branded Cascadian Farm organic blueberry crops was the most profitable FarmVille crop offered in the game, to beginner and expert FarmVille players.

Rule #3: Give choices, but never interrupt

The user did not show up to see your ad. Make ads a part of the experiences that they have already chosen to participate in, and let them choose to engage. By providing compelling choices, marketers can achieve rates of engagement that are never possible with standard media.

For instance, a recent anti-smoking campaign by Truth (American Legacy Foundation) let WeeWorld users choose to engage by completing a quest or taking a quiz. By doing so, the users earned goods, currency and trophies (the elements they most desire within social game.). In addition, these activities provided entertainment without getting in the way of what users had logged into the site to do in the first place — express themselves and chat with friends. By following the rules, Truth generated 236 million viral impressions in two months, engaged users to complete 26,000 quests and download 607,000 virtual goods.

Rule #4: Create a dialog

Layer new elements into the experience over time to generate continued campaign momentum and build the conversation with consumers. Engaging in a two- to three-month experience that creates a deep conversation is far more effective than a single event that ends the conversation before it really starts.

Social games don’t have a defined start and end — they are ongoing, looping conversations and activities. To be effective, advertisers need an active presence in that flow. For instance, Skintimate first launched with five auras representing Skintimate scents, then added background changes on the WeeMee home page so users noticed the campaign all over again. By the time the custom virtual film studio with avatar bots delivering automatic messages like “I’m strawberry tangerine!” launched in phase three, the users knew what it meant and new conversations could start. In addition, the Truth campaign prolonged their dialog through a two-part quest and a custom Shards of Glass factory in World — an effective dialog-starter about the dangers of smoking.

Rule #5: Perpetuate goodwill

Give. Then give some more. Then enjoy the thanks.

There is a lot of giving in social games. Instead of advertising being foisted on consumers, they experience “ads” as welcome gifts and experiences. As the brand gives, they are thanked again and again not only with increased engagement, but also through actual thanks.

For example, Partnership for a Drug Free America grounded its recent campaign on WeeWorld in the form of a real teen spokesperson, JT. As a recovering teen drug addict, JT used Q&A, commentary, quests and video to deliver his story without preaching to the audience. He also posed a scenario each week where a teen would have to make a choice about drugs or alcohol. Users e-mailed him their responses. PDFA tripled brand awareness in just three months, but even more interesting is the fact that JT received loads of direct input from users and got impassioned thank you notes for helping them.

WeeWorld receives personal thank you notes from users for many of the brands that we bring them. These are not consumers being bombarded with ads, these are thankful and engaged members of a community looking for new surprises and opportunities each week.

Follow the rules, reap the rewards

Knowing the rules and putting them into action are two different things. It is much easier to slap a traditional banner ad on a social gaming site and cross your fingers that it drives interest. However, if you take the time to work with a knowledgeable partner and implement a multi-phase, relevant campaign integrated into the true experience and personality of the game itself, you can not only engage consumers but also create powerful and passionate brand ambassadors. How you play the social game is up to you. (Source: iMedia Connection)