FREE in-game tokens, tools, and additional lives for gamers! How can online games be beneficial to your business goals?

Friday: Collaborate and Innovate FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Are you the type of person who loves to play mobile games on your smartphone during your free time? Well, here’s good news for you. Not only can you use these games for entertainment and fun, but you can also use them for promoting and increasing your brand’s visibility online! Curious? Read more to know how you can use mobile games to set up ads that appeal to your target market. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

FREE in-game tokens, tools, and additional lives for gamers! How can online games be beneficial to your business goals? The trend of online advertising has been growing rapidly in recent years… … and there’s no stopping any business or brand from thinking outside the box to reach its target market. — Out of the box, like games. Ever wonder how online or mobile games can help you get more visibility online? IN-GAME ADVERTISING This type of advertising offers a huge opportunity for brands to connect with their consumers and target market. According to Tom Simpson, Vice President for Brand and Exchange at AdColony APAC: “Not only is the classic teenage-boy-gamer stereotype untrue today, but it’s even less accurate when it comes to mobile games. More than one billion Asian consumers of all ages and genders play games every day on their smartphones. In fact, across many markets in Asia Pacific we see a larger number of female gamers than male.” Those statistics are only for Asia. Imagine how much bigger the number is for the whole world. Clearly, mobile and online games are one of the best venues for people to find you online! How does in-game advertising work? The use of Rewarded Video Ads! A rewarded video ad is a video shown in the middle of a gamer’s gameplay. Gamers can choose to watch the ad in exchange for incentives—an extra life in the game, an extended free trial, a puzzle hint, additional tokens or virtual currency, and more. The point is for the gamer to not skip the ad. He or she will need to finish watching the whole video. Only then will the gamer receive the incentive. As simple as that! Anyone who’s played mobile or online games has encountered these types of ads… … and received rewards in exchange for watching. The brand that placed the ads gets the exposure it needs and the people who viewed those get something in return—a reward these gamers can use in the game they’re playing. Advertisers can also choose which games they want their brands to be associated with. That’s added value for both parties! Advantages of using rewarded video ads: For users or gamers Ability to choose when to watch a video ad – There is never a moment when the full video ad autoplays forcing the user to watch from beginning to end. Rewards for watching ads – Ads are always accompanied by an incentive. Access to lower prices for apps and in-app purchases – Discounts and promos can also be available. For brands, businesses, or advertisers Higher online visibility for your product, service, or brand – Placing ads in a lot of different channels gives more exposure for your brand. As long as it’s applicable and appropriate to your strategy, you can utilize as many channels as you’d like. Adding in-game advertising through rewarded video ads to your list provides added online visibility for people to encounter your brand. Reach a wider audience beyond just your target market – A very large number of people are playing online games, young and old. Using rewarded video ads will not only reach a bigger range of your target audience but also other people not part of your target market that could be potential clients or consumers. Higher points of engagement with your target market – It’s not just about giving away rewards. Advertisements require creativity that captures the attention of the target audience. In-game ads provide another avenue for people to interact with your brand. The simple act of agreeing to view your ad for a reward is a direct encounter and engagement has been established. Rewarded video ads make it easier for advertisers and businesses to track key metrics like engagement, targeting, and completion rates. This can lead to very focused, targeted promotional campaigns with lower upfront expenses and higher ROI. According to a study by MediaBrix (a company that provides marketing services by creating cross-platform ad campaigns with a focus on emotional connections between brands and consumers), social and mobile gaming ads garnered a 15.8% engagement rate while paid social ads reached just 5.8%. In-game value exchange ads (rewarded video ads), however, reached a whopping 91.4% engagement rate! The numbers reveal that rewarded video ads do well compared to other types of mobile ads. Unity Ads, a comprehensive monetization platform for Unity, iOS, and Android developers, conducted a study and showed that: 54% of players worldwide specify that rewarded video ads are their in-game video ad of choice 62% of players worldwide regularly chose to voluntarily engage with rewarded video ads These stats show that in-game advertising is effective in reaching a lot of people and preferred by those targeted by it. In less than a decade, rewarded video ads are on its way to be one of the most popular forms of mobile advertising. More and more brands are finding their way into the arena of creatively advertising their offerings. This is just one of many tools available for digital marketers to reach and engage with a lot more people. Try this out of the box advertising method for your brand to have even more visibility online! Hope you’ve found this week’s insights interesting and helpful. Follow us on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for next Friday’s Collaborate and Innovate! Learn more about Pinterest Ads on next week’s Collaborate and Innovate!