By Gilles Storme

This year has truly testified the importance of social gaming. Already demonstrating remarkable growth in 2009, the rapidly evolving industry is this year enticing the big names to make their move. With EA Games snapping up London-based Playfish, and Google’s rumored $150m investment in Zynga, companies are jumping to secure a share in the lucrative market now estimated at $1billion in the US alone.

Social gaming is huge. Over 200 million people play social games each month and, thanks to rise of social network giants like Facebook, this kind of play has breathed new life into the concept of ‘casual’ gaming. The games are driven by social interaction rather than complex strategy or skill levels.

Most people have heard of some of the most popular titles which include Zynga’s Farmville, Mafiawars and Frontierville, RockYou’s Zooworld, and EA’s Pet Society. RockYou’s media network alone gets more than 280 million unique visits, and these statistics illustrate the extensive, and largely untapped, user-base.

And as billions are logging onto social networks, this kind of gaming has attracted ‘non-gamers’ therefore reaching a broad demographic of consumers. Inside Network’s ‘Inside Facebook Gold, June 2010’ report shows that, in the UK, Facebook App users are mostly women (57.9%). With the average social gamer being a 30-50 year-old ‘mum’, women are largely the driving force behind the popularity of social games. The accessibility, simplicity, and viral nature of this kind of gaming are accumulating a population that advertisers should not ignore.

It’s also offering exciting opportunities for advertisers. For those wary of the unpredictability of social media, social gaming is an ideal means of reaching users in a secure and controlled environment since ads cannot appear next to potentially damaging, user-generated content. The games also provide an easier way of putting the right content in front of the right people, critical for effective advertising. This can be done, for example, through addressing the appropriate game; for example, a casino ad is best placed in a poker-based game.

But social gamers are also frequently opting to share their demographic information in order to allow for a more tailored and compelling game. Additionally, targeting capabilities are stronger than in traditional forms of online advertising since they are based on real, declared data rather than on samples and panels. What this means is measurable and more precise ROI, a highly compelling solution for advertisers using the traditional metrics of impressions and clicks and CPM, CPC, CPA and CPL.

Advertisers are only just beginning to explore ways to take advantage of the high-level engagement users have within social games. Successful developers have established a dialogue with their players by using regular updates and through taking advantage of the social network communication channels already in place.

But gamers have surprised advertisers with their willingness to interact with branded content. RockYou has responded by developing a Deal of The Day advertising solution to allow brands to interact with users in exchange for digital currency or goods. These interactions can take the form of watching a video in its entirety, answering a poll or a quiz, or using a mini branded application. But there are many ways to advertise within these games. As part of a wider campaign, Coca Cola recently offered Zoo World users branded vending machines to add to their zoo.

Innovative as they are, these offers are probably only the start of a wave of even more creative solutions. Advertisers and agencies will push developers to fuel their expertise into designing increasingly advanced forms of in-game ad solutions. Perhaps these more effective approaches to engaging consumers may even render the traditional impression and click-based online models obsolete.

About the author:

Gilles Storme has been Head of Sales EMEA at RockYou since April 2010. Gilles has extensive experience in marketing and sales having worked as Pan European Sales Director at AOL Time Warner, where he was responsible for driving pan-european advertising and e-commerce revenue from international agencies and direct clients. Other positions he has held within the industry include Director of International Sales at Discovery Networks, and Account Director at National Geographic Channel, having formerly been head of sales research at BBC Worldwide.

About the company:

Founded in 2005, RockYou is a leading developer of social games and advertising solutions for social media. With over 280 million uniques and 15 billion monthly global impressions, RockYou reaches and monetizes social gamers across the most popular social media destinations online. Through RockYou Media, brands are empowered to reach social gamers through advertising products, including Deal of the Day, in-game brand sponsorships, video and rich media offerings, and performance marketing. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, RockYou is funded by Sequoia Capital, Partech International, Lightspeed Venture Partners, DCM, SK Telecom Ventures and Softbank.