It’s All a Big Game — Search and Social Hawaii

Evan Fishkin (@eFishkin) is from SlingshotSEO says he’s going to open up today’s last session at Search and Social with a joke: “That’s my father” [points to his father, Scott. They both smirk]. He is talking game mechanics today — why people want to participate in games and how marketers can get in on the opportunities of game advertising.

He says get people excited about playing your game by creating a task list. Gamers love that 100% completeness.

Social media does this well. You have to add certain things on your profile in order to be complete. Time is money but in video games, you give them money and time. And, there are more tractors bought on Farmville every day than real tractors every year.

The game mechanics within social media is social status. The ultimate game in life is school. There are levels that you have to go through, you have tasks and rewards.

Tidbits on game, marketing and conversions:

• Alternate reality games: The New York Public Library drove 500,000 people into their doors by putting together an anternate reality game online.
• Facebook users: 350M per month are accessing games, ads and profiles on mobile.
• Obama did in-game advertising and it helped him win the campaign.

Jessica Lee is the founder and chief creative for bizbuzzcontent Inc., a marketing boutique that focuses on digital content strategy and professional writing services for businesses.

See Jessica's author page for links to connect on social media.