Internet gaming and internet marketing
Some time ago I came across this article on internet gaming.
Gamasutra - Features - Behavioral Game Design
Basically, it's a how-to on how internet gaming companies get people playing and keep them playing, and therefore subscribed. If you've played Evony or Farmville you'll recognize some of the techniques described.
It's very interesting reading, and I think applicable to internet marketing. Here are a few ideas I got from the article, particularly if you're running a membership site:
Give members a sense of accomplishment
Basically the equivalent of levels in WoW. For membership sites this could be having different membership levels based on how long they've been a member, how active they are etc.
Give members a daily reward when the log in
When you log into Evony they give you an "amulet" which you can use to get a random gift. In terms of psychology, this is the equivalent of giving the rat in the Skinner box a pellet of pressing the lever.
Use variable ratio rewards
Variable ratio rewards provide rewards after a random number of actions have been completed. An example would be giving a member reward after they've maded a random number of posts, made a random number of sign ups etc.
Unsubscribe members if they don't log after a certain time
This is the equivalent of Farmville withering your crops. Ok, it's borderline unethical and I would think very carefully before implementing it. For one thing, it's probably best for free membership sites. If I had a non-free membership site I'd think about how much the member pays in subscription and how much on a member spends on products and services through the site. Also I'd make it very clear to the member that their membership is going to expire.
Gamasutra - Features - Behavioral Game Design
Basically, it's a how-to on how internet gaming companies get people playing and keep them playing, and therefore subscribed. If you've played Evony or Farmville you'll recognize some of the techniques described.
It's very interesting reading, and I think applicable to internet marketing. Here are a few ideas I got from the article, particularly if you're running a membership site:
Give members a sense of accomplishment
Basically the equivalent of levels in WoW. For membership sites this could be having different membership levels based on how long they've been a member, how active they are etc.
Give members a daily reward when the log in
When you log into Evony they give you an "amulet" which you can use to get a random gift. In terms of psychology, this is the equivalent of giving the rat in the Skinner box a pellet of pressing the lever.
Use variable ratio rewards
Variable ratio rewards provide rewards after a random number of actions have been completed. An example would be giving a member reward after they've maded a random number of posts, made a random number of sign ups etc.
Unsubscribe members if they don't log after a certain time
This is the equivalent of Farmville withering your crops. Ok, it's borderline unethical and I would think very carefully before implementing it. For one thing, it's probably best for free membership sites. If I had a non-free membership site I'd think about how much the member pays in subscription and how much on a member spends on products and services through the site. Also I'd make it very clear to the member that their membership is going to expire.
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