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EA Mobile Gaming

EA Games is an excellent example of a company that understands mobile gaming. Although EA games started out as a traditional packaged console gaming company they have really begun to embrace the digital world and make it their own. EA has developed a vast number of free games for download on mobile devices, and players are able to go through many levels of the game before being required to pay a small price to unlock the remainder of the game. This method allows players to really get a feel for the game before deciding whether or not they like it well enough to pay for the remaining levels. This may seem like a risky plan because there is no upfront revenue, but the significant amount of money that EA has earned from those in-app purchases says otherwise. With the number of mobile gaming options available, EA really wanted to find a way to stand out from the crowd, so they decided to revamp their customer support system so that customers could get help anytime and anywhere. EA teamed up with salesforce.com and created interactive websites that would provide customers with access to EA game advisors, community discussion boards, and up-to-the-minute updates. This new emphasis on customer service has really allowed EA to connect with mobile gamers and give them a great user experience.

Mobile Gaming Marketing: The Pros and Cons

When it comes to mobile marketing there are a lot of factors for marketers to consider about mobile gaming. Here is a list of Pros and Cons when it comes to mobile marketing.

Pros

Large target market- There are more people in this world who own a cell phone than there are that own a toothbrush. With over 200 million cell phone users, this potential market provides and incredible opportunity for mobile gaming marketers to reach a huge audience.

Low costs- Mobile gaming marketers really have a one up on traditional console marketers when it comes to the costs of creating new games. Console games like Halo or Call of Duty are time consuming, costly, and require a huge number of team members to create. Mobile games are created on a significantly smaller scale and can often be created and maintained by a small handful of people.

Less Risk- Mobile games cost significantly less to create and develop than standard console games, so mobile gaming companies don’t have nearly as much to lose. They can make new games that don’t rely on purchased licenses because the financial risk is significantly less.

Cons

Mobile users .vs. mobile gamers- Just because there is a huge market of mobile phone users it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are all mobile gamers, and those that are mobile gamers are faced with a massive number of mobile gaming options. There is a lot of competition out there in the mobile gaming market, so if you can’t market your game in a way that makes it stand out above the rest it is going to get lost in a sea of mobile apps.

Service Provider Control- Mobile gaming often requires marketers to work with cell phone providers if they really want to get their name out there and reach their target market. The operators/cellular providers have a lot of control over which games to sell to their consumers because most mobile gamers tend to purchase services directly through their wireless operator. So if a mobile game doesn’t fit their desired requirements they might not want to include it with their service which potentially eliminates a large section of the target market.

Mobile device variety- Although mobile games are significantly less expensive to create there is still the matter of assuring that the game that is compatible with as many types of mobile devices as possible. In order for a game to reach as much of the mobile market as possible it needs to have the right software platform and it needs to be able to perform on any mobile device despite the varying screen sizes or computing abilities. If the game doesn’t function properly on a particular device then your target market is once again downsized to exclude a large number of otherwise promising prospects. U

Mobile Gaming and Marketing

What is Mobile Gaming and why is it important for marketers?Mobile gaming is the term used for online games that are played on a tablet or smartphone rather than on a console or a PC. These are games that players can access at any time as long as they have their phone and internet access. The use of mobile gaming apps continues to grow exponentially and that growth is expected to continue throughout the next several years. The research firm eMarketer expects that revenue from U.S. mobile gaming will grow 16.5% in 2015 while it’s next big competitor, mobile music downloads, is only expected to grow 13.8%. With this continuous growth and popularity it’s really important for marketers to get their companies involved if they want to reach this wide market of consumers. Mobile gaming is a fun and totally free way for consumers to play online games at any time, but many games offer in-app upgrades for coins, lives, or other in-game items that players can use to advance more quickly. These upgrades are a really great way that companies are able to make money even when the game itself is free. Another reason why mobile gaming appears to be more popular than music apps is the fact that many of the popular music apps require a subscription if the user wants to avoid annoying ads from cutting into their music time. To read more about the mobile markets growth expectations visit: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/02/18/mobile-games-revenue-growth-is-outpacing-other-content-for-now/

What is Periscope?

Periscope is a new platform owned by Twitter where users can share live broadcasts online. Similar to the way Skype allows you to chat with someone in real time online, Periscope allows live video feed but it’s shown to the masses rather than just your mother or grandma. One of the exciting things about the up and coming platform is the wide variety of ways companies will be able to use Periscope to reach their fans. Spotify has already begun to use Periscope to show real-time behind the scenes footage with Conor O’Brien from the Villagers. Mountain Dew used Periscope as a way to reward Twitter followers. They showcased their new Mt.Dew swag and then they surprised a few fans who viewed and commented on the stream by sending them some of that awesome gear. Periscope is still new to the scene, but it’s clear that some companies have already seen the potential that it has for marketing their products. I think it’s safe to say that if Periscope keeps growing the way that it has been, it’s only a matter of time before we see more creative marketing ventures on this platform.

Vines and Oreos

Vine is a website where users or companies can share very short videos, only lasting a few seconds, to market a product or share an idea, or just to give people a good laugh. When using vine there are a variety of ways to create videos in order to make them interesting or gain attention. Some ways that companies can boost their videos and draw in viewers and customers are: Use time lapse in the videos, show off your companies personality with videos that match it’s personality and attitude, show off new content, and use hashtags to get people involved and talking about your company or topic. One company who really seems to have a great grasp on how to use vine is Oreo. Oreo created their #OreoSnackHacks campaign which consists of a number of vines featuring quick and easy ways to incorporate Oreos into a variety of tasty snacks. It’s a really great way to promote Oreo sales and get people thinking and talking about the very best way to enjoy those delicious cookies.

https://vine.co/tags/OreoSnackHacks

#oreosnackhacks

How Threadless Succeeds on Twitter

Some people may not think so, but Twitter is a great social media marketplace for companies to reach their customers and meet their goals. With image sharing and hashtags galore a company can really set up a great Twitter account page and see an awesome return. One such company with that great Twitter presence is Threadless. So what is it about Threadless that makes them so successful on Twitter? First of all, Threadless has a really strong presence on Twitter, they make regular posts, every couple of hours or so, that feature their products but also share other fun online stories and images that are relevant to their fan base. They do an excellent job of using strong, bold, visuals to draw attention to their page. The idea that users can submit their own artwork for a chance to have it printed on t-shirts, already promotes the idea of a lot of user interaction. I think the fact that Twitter is such an interactive website as well, really makes it an ideal match for the Threadless culture. They really seem to enjoy responding to their customers and having a good time and I think that creates a really relaxed and enjoyable experience for their followers. Overall they seem to have a really great grasp on what it takes to be successful on Twitter and I don’t personally have any advice for them on how to improve. Just keep being you Threadless, because you rock! Threadless Twitter: https://twitter.com/threadless Threadless Website: https://www.threadless.com/

#threadless

Business Marketing On Twitter

Have you ever wondered how Twitter can be used for a successful marketing campaign? Let’s take a look at some of the things twitter can do for your company.

1. Twitter can help drive app installations and user engagements. The Girl Scouts really wanted to drive installations of their mobile app and increase in-app searches. In Order to achieve their goal the company used Twitter to share their App Cards which lead consumers directly from Twitter to the Girl Scout Cookie Finder, where people can search for local sales booths to find their favorite cookies. By coupling their App Card with iconic images of their most popular cookie options and promoting to both new and current customers, they were able to succeed in gaining over 19,500 installs of the Cookie Finder App. 2. Twitter can help capture leads and take them through a software demonstration. Check I’m Here is a software that helps universities and colleges measure and understand student participation outside of the classroom, and the company’s marketing team starting using Twitter to interact directly with current and potential customers. With the help of Twitter Ads Check I’m Here was able to capture contact information for these potential customers and allowed them to follow up with details and product demonstrations. With this Leads campaign targeted at school administration and student affairs professionals they were able to use keywords and hashtags and keywords to find their target audience. These were the people most likely to be interested in learning about these new professional services and tools. All of their efforts and marketing paid off, as 80% of the leads gathered from Twitter completed a demo of the products.

3. Twitter can drive website traffic and conversions. Bombfell, an online personal styling service for men, wanted to drive traffic to their website and covert those visitors into shoppers. Bombfell was already connecting with customers through Twitter to answer their questions and handling customer service issues, so they decided to use Twitter to create a website conversion campaign in order to drive traffic to their website and generate sales from a wider audience. Rather than focusing their marketing specifically on men interested in clothing in fashion they decided to focus on username targeting to reach followers of accounts like @TheDailyShow and @StephenAtHome. By targeting members following these accounts and including beautiful visuals of their products they were able to see an increase of 25% in the customer acquisitions during this campaign.

Aside from these specific campaign goals that these companies managed to achieve, it’s important to note some of the other factors that contributed to their success on Twitter. All three of these companies have professional looking twitter accounts. They use bold visuals, post interesting content, and really interact with their customers through their tweets. All of these pieces really have to work together harmoniously to create a great customer experience, and these three companies really know how to communicate with their markets.

Imgur: The Untapped Social Media Market

Imgur is an incredibly popular online image sharing website and community where users share funny and interesting photos, gifs, cartoons, etc. in the hopes of having their image make it to the coveted “front page” of website. I think that one of the reasons Imgur is often overlooked by marketers is the fact that many of them don’t realize how social the Imgur community truly is. On the surface the only time users appear to interact is to share personal thoughts, comments, or opinions on a post, but Imgur is a much stronger social community than that. Throughout the past two years or so Imgur has increased the number of ways which users are able to communicate with one another, including the addition of the chat system which allows users to send and receive messages in real time much like Facebook messengers. These changes in the communication methods between users are just one step that Imgur is taking to move this website toward becoming more of a social network so now, more than ever, is the time for marketers to pay attention to Imgur. So how do marketers actually reach the Imgur users known as Imgurians? The best way for any company to reach out and market to this community is to join up and start sharing. Imgur is a bit more complicated than other social media sites in the sense that the users decide what posts gain attention and which ones are buried in “user submitted” through a system of upvotes and downvotes, but if a company can create some really interesting, unique, or eye-catching content then there is a huge untapped market out there waiting for them. My previous blog post about Rebel Circus and their strong Facebook presence is actually a great example of how a company that creates the right content can reach the Imgur community. The daily posts that Rebel Circus creates that feature humorous thoughts or comments are not only widely shared on Facebook, but they have also received enough upvotes to make it to the front page of Imgur and gain the attention and views of hundreds of thousands of daily Imgur users. When it comes to marketing to Imgur all marketers really need to know is: If you post awesome content, they will upvote it.

#imgur

Rebel Circus: The Best of Facebook

I believe that Rebel Circus is one of the best business pages because they have such a strong unique presence on Facebook. Rebel Circus is an online clothing retailer that caters to sassy, alternative, fashion-forward, young adults and one of the most interesting ways in which they bring attention to their brand is through the numerous daily Facebook posts that they have absolutely nothing to do with their products. Every day they create posts with white text on a solid black background that say things like “Telling a girl to calm down is like trying to baptize a cat,” and then they include their logo underneath the text. These posts are liked and shared each day by the million because they are so funny, witty, and relatable. These posts are consistently drawing new people to their page every day which is reflected in their 3,880,580 page likes. They also gain attention without any mention of their products by sharing links to their blog which features a variety of interesting stories, polls, and news articles aimed at the young care-free adults that they market to. Articles like “Bra Hacks You Can’t Live Without” (http://www.rebelcircus.com/blog/hacks-bras/) or “Signs Growing Up Isn’t For You”( http://www.rebelcircus.com/blog/signs-growing-up-isnt-for-you/ ) are really great attention-getters for their fans and customers and then once you click on these links to read an article you will almost always receive a pop-up offer for a 10% of coupon that with a simple click, will have you on their store webpage. By creating such a large number of interesting posts, Rebel Circus has really done an incredible job of making sure their name pops up on your Facebook feed almost every day. I consistently see my friends share articles and posts from their site and I can honestly say that not a day goes by where I don’t come across something from the Rebel Circus page. Since Rebel Circus manages to have such an incredibly strong Facebook presence without advertising their products, it would only make sense that they would continue to gain additional attention from the numerous posts they make daily that are related to products and promotions. I think Rebel Circus has done an incredible job of infiltrating Facebook on a more fun and personal level than any other retailer on Facebook that I have come across. It is because of this unique presence that they have that I consider them to be one of the best Facebook businesses pages out there.

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/therebelcircus

Blog: http://www.rebelcircus.com/blog/

Website: http://www.rebelcircus.com/

#rebelcircus

The ethics of social media and work

Companies should have social media policies in order for employees to realize that what they say and share about the company is public and because what they say online can either be taken out of context or as an employee’s opinion about the company overall. Sometimes a “harmless” post from an employee can be misunderstood as a direct attack or insult on the company or one of its employees and can cause problems. I think that companies should be able to ask employees not to share confidential information, or information regarding the company or its employees that may be construed as harassment. I also think that is acceptable to fire employees who share illegal activities on their social media pages as well. Despite the fact that I think companies should have a right to make employee-status decisions based on social media I also think employees do have the right to post generalized frustrations about the company without fear or repercussion. Comments like “Our companies health insurance is awful” or “Work sucked today” should be allowed because they don’t negatively affect the company. Employees really do need to be mindful of what they say about their company online. Some employees take it too far and say negative things that reflect poorly on their company and don’t provide any helpful feedback. They are simply venting for the sake of sharing their frustrations, but sometimes employees share or say too much regarding their opinion of their job. In the link below I have included an example of a woman who posted something on Facebook that appeared to admit to an addiction to drugs. Although the woman claimed the post was a joke the implication that this woman was involved in illegal drugs was, I believe, an acceptable reason to fire her from her position. This post clearly gave off the impression that the woman was behaving in illegal activities, and was also actively involved in a number of drugs. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/95125549.html

The Best of Social Media Award- The Dark Knight Campaign

The Dark Knight Campaign was designed to bring together fans of the upcoming movie in an interactive alternate reality game. The game managed to bring together over 1 Million users from 75 countries in this one-of-a-kind social media event. The purpose of this campaign was to increase the excitement and anticipation for the newest installment of the Batman movie series.

The marketers and designers utilized a huge variety of advertising and social media tools to bring the players together in the interactive world of Gotham City. The target audience for this particular campaign focused on young adults who were already fans of the Batman series and involved in online gaming. The first step of the campaign started at Comic Con where a plane wrote a phone number in the sky for the players to call. This game featured hundreds of web pages, interactive games, print advertisement, emails, and videos and even went so far as to send the players to local bakeries where they could obtain joker cakes that hid a cell phone where they could be contacted by the joker. From there the campaign took asked the players to take action in real life in support of Gotham City. Some of them joined up as henchmen of the Joker, taking photos at famous locations adorned in the Jokers famous make-up. Others hit the streets in major cities across the globe as members of Harvey Dents mayoral campaign. They wore shirts and pins and waved banners through the cities on behalf of their beloved candidate. I believe this campaign deserves the Best of Social Media award because of how incredibly successful it was, and how well it utilized so many levels of social media. This campaign kept over 1 million people in over 75 countries glued to their phones and computers trying to follow the clues and track the Joker across Gotham City, and it was able to prove its own success throughout the entire process. The number of people who continued to upload videos and photos or partake in Harvey Dent’s real-life campaign proved that they were actively following the game and partaking in the experience. The other proof of the success of this campaign can be seen in the ticket sales for this movie. The Dark Night sold the most advanced pre-sale tickets ever with the biggest opening day of all time. It was also the highest grossing film of the year. All of the efforts put into the campaign really helped to promote this movie and make it a success.

Effective Corporate Blogging: Why I love ModCloth

In case you weren’t aware, there is an incredible online retailer out there called ModCloth and they have an excellent, fun, and effective corporate blog. ModCloth is a truly awesome clothing company that specializing in indie and vintage inspired clothing for young women. Their items are known for being trendy and fashionable with a hint of whimsy and a splash of bold patterns.

So, what is so great about ModCloth’s corporate blog?

The ModCloth blog has a plethora of interesting posts that are sure to fit right into the lifestyles of the young women who visit their online stores. They share great decorating tips, DIY fashion tips, and a number of delicious cocktail recipes. They also include beautiful photographs with their posts for those of us who like visuals rather than reading. In my opinion, this company has a really great understanding of their target market, because as a young woman who loves indie/vintage fashion, DIY projects, and tasty mixed drinks they’ve certainly managed to get my attention!

#modcloth #corporateblogs

3 Tips for Successfully Developing and Maintaining a Corporate Blog

1. Set aside time for your blog. If you really want your blog to work for your company you really need to take the time to create well-written and interesting posts. Blogging may seem as simple as just quickly throwing your thoughts into a post, but it requires a lot more than that. An interesting and money-making blog needs to engage the audience and pique their interest. If the blog isn’t well written or thought provoking the viewers aren’t going to return to read your posts in the future. 2. Set a blog posting routine and stick to it. In a world of electronic devices and instant internet access at all times it’s easy to get distracted and put things off. If you really want your company’s blog to be successful you need to decide how frequently you want to post and stick to that schedule. Being consistent will assure that you always take the time to update the blog and will give your readers an idea of how frequently they should be visiting your blog for updates too. 3. Encourage and Facilitate Sharing It’s incredibly easy to share links from one social media platform to another, so let all of your social media resources work together. By creating easily accessible links between your sites and pages you are making it much easier for consumers and clients to check out your organizations entire social media presence in a fluid and straightforward fashion.

The Pros and Cons of Blogging from an Organizational Marketing Perspective

Some businesses and organizations are hesitant to create a blog because they feel that they have nothing to say or they fear that the blog won’t harbor and interest, but the fact of the matter is that an interesting and well-managed blog can be an asset to your company. Here are two good reasons why a blog can be an asset to your company. 1. According to a HubSpot survey 60% of businesses who use blogs acquire more customers. This means that blogging alone can increase your organizations visibility and profits. 2. It’s also a simple and easy way for your company to stay connected with clients and customers. You can share updates and answer customer questions in a direct fashion. Although there are some great reasons to create a corporate blog, there can also be downsides as well. Here are a couple of reasons why a blog may not work well for your organization. 1. Updating and maintaining a blog is time consuming. If you don’t have someone who can commit enough time to creating and updating your blog, then it won’t be able to hold the interest of your audience. 2. If you don’t have the right person with the right attitude writing your posts then it might not hold the interest of the intended audience. Blog posts need to be interesting, attention catching, and well written and if you don’t have someone who can really draw readers in then it won’t be worth the time and effort to maintain.

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