6. Marketing
6.7. Social media utilization
Facebook page shall serve as a form of a base, where the product aware people will be able to
find information about the game and in the prerelease stage follow the development news.
The concept of the page shall serve the purpose of “capturing” and retaining the users upon
the page inspection, raising their engagement in the game, initiating positive word of mouth
spread of game awareness, motivating the current users to be actively engaging new users in
the game or sharing the posts of the game page and receiving high number of likes and
comments to the individual posts, in order for these posts to be displayed on the wall of
friends of the already following users.
The text or message of the post should have a form which maximizes the engagement by the
followers. Based on TrackMaven analysis of 5,804 Facebook pages with at least 1,000 page
likes (altogether 1,578,006 posts was analyzed) a set of criteria for Facebook posts can be
devised.
A post should be posted between 5 pm and 1 am and weekend days should be included in the
posting schedule.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 12 – Post frequency and effectiveness of day of week
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 14 - Post frequency and effectiveness by time of day on average
Post should be either image, or include between 80 and 89 words (this is disputed by Jeff
Bullas study which suggests that short, 40 character posts receive 86 percent more
engagement than differently written posts). Research of Track Maven tells us, that posts
which include a picture receive 37 percent more interactions. Dan Ariely, psychology and
behavioral economics professor explains the popularity of longer posts by a tendency of
people to connect their preference with things they have put their energy in. Thus the
popularity of longer posts can be connected with the emergence of the button “continue
reading” if the text is long enough. Also, according to the data from study, hash tags should be
used in the post text along with exclamation marks, if the context allows it (one or two
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
hashtags have proven to be more effective than three or four).
Figure 15 – Average interactions with / without picture
Figure 16 - Post frequency per word count
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 17 - Post frequency and effectiveness per hashtag use
‧
6.7.2. Types of Facebook posts
The types of posts will differ in the prerelease phase and after the game release.
In the prerelease phase the posts will be mapping the progress in the game development in
order to keep expectations of the interested users alive, but in the first place, the prerelease
posts will be introducing the special features of the game, especially those features with the
potential to create a buzz. Third type of posts in the prerelease phase will be supporting the
crowdfunding activities, i.e. publish the bonus features which can be gained in exchange for
the financial support and publish words of thanks and so calls to arms for undecided
supporters.
The psychological position of pleads for support will be in the sphere of exchange, not
begging. We are offering long desired style of gameplay (at least for part of the community)
and we are asking for their help to make our common dream come true. Other psychological
momentum shall be the picture of our company, as a Taiwanese representative on the world
battlefield of mobile apps and ITC in general, which is a vessel for young entrepreneurs.
After the release of the game, the objective of the posts will be to keep page followers
watching the pages posts instead of hiding it, keep players engaged in the game and motivate
‧
Asking questions is the key to the engagement of the users.
Posts of following kinds shall be used:
Game events and new content publishing.
Storyline related posts (in order to support the engagement of players in the game
world as well as presenting them with a post content which has connection to their
interest. If post is interesting for the page followers, it will increase attention for the
following posts.
Sharing-encouraging posts (in exchange for the in-game currency).
Game issues discussion / bug discussion / improvement suggestions (this kind of post
generates engagement, collects free creative ideas, works as a customer survey and
displays care for the customers and game community.
Contests and quizzes with in-game prizes (for example name a NPC character based
on picture).
Helpful gameplay tips and hints
General gaming, topic related news
Funny and interesting screenshot from the game
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Results of game events and inter-town competition
6.7.3. Frequency of Facebook posts
The frequency of Facebook posts needs to be set in a way which will be a compromise in our
target of maintaining a managed relationship with our customers, while at the same time not
bothering them and spamming posts on their Facebook wall. Therefore the chosen strategy for
post frequency shall be 5 or 7 posts a week, while boosting up each posts. This way the
effectivity of the message transfer will be increased and at the same time the risk of bothering
the followers will be decreased.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 19 – Relative response score by Facebook post frequency
6.7.4. Facebook advertising management
The Facebook itself shall be promoted in other marketing activities that is in the streamed
videos, on expos, on promo materials and in the app itself. The engaged users will also tend to
find the Facebook page on their own.
Therefore, the advertising campaign on Facebook shall be oriented on app install, the
‧
specifications shall be selected in a way corresponding with the defined target customer and
product and the funds used shall be spent monthly beginning at the time of app release and
starting at 40.000 NTD a month. After the initial month, the effectivity of the Facebook
campaign shall be evaluated and adjusted accordingly. Lacking revenue in the first months
though would not be a reason for a cut marketing expenses as it would only be a shot into our
own lines.
6.7.5. Streamers
Streamers are social media creative users, who film themselves while playing a game and
simultaneously making a commentary on the game. Some of these streamers have very large
followers base and therefore are perfect for game marketing. For illustration number of
viewers of Twitch, a website focused on streaming game videos, has exceeds 600 million /
month.
It is a common practice that the positive commentary is secured thanks to payment from the
side of developer. It is also necessary to wisely choose the streamer to cooperate with, based on
the type of game he is usually playing and therefore his audience expects him to stream and is
interested in. Otherwise the effect of this marketing action would possibly be noticeably
‧
國立 政 治 大 學