How To Make Money From Social Gaming
Posted on: March 2, 2011
If you are considering venturing out and starting your own business, you may be looking for some great ideas; one up and coming trend that is booming in the online commerce industry is social gaming. While Farmville on Facebook set the trend, many new social games are close behind.
Why social gaming can make you money
Social gaming is a huge trend. It is especially profitable because the target market that is now participating in social games is the younger Gen-Y group. This group has grown up with e-commerce and is much more comfortable with online transactions and are more often than not Internet consumers.
It is important to note that even though the middle aged generation may have more purchasing power and may be an easier market to target, the middle aged generation expresses much more hesitance when it comes to making monetary transactions online – which is why it is so important to hone in on those already making purchases via the Internet.
Social gaming is successful because the market enjoys playing virtual games, period. When a game gives an incentive to advance further and reap more rewards through a game (by way of paying a small fee of real money), it gives the gamer that much more of an incentive to spend money online.
How to make it work
If you choose to develop a social game, always make sure that your incentives for gamers to make purchases are valuable. Buying virtual goods can be a huge revenue source for you, so you should design your game around these virtual goods while also providing an exceptional customer experience.
For example, I mentioned in an earlier post about a company that allows users to build villages by buying virtual goods. The company uses the revenue made from users buying these goods to actually supply and build villages in need in Uganda. Once these goods have been purchased and delivered, the company will post and tag photos of these deliveries to keep the users involved. The users feel as if their purchases have value and rewards – a great way to give users an incentive to continue purchasing.
You will never make money online if you don’t give people a reason to buy. By involving your consumers in the bigger picture and making them feel like they are a part of something much more important than a simple online transaction, your business model will excel.
Vesta Digital Blog 
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