Due to the rise of social networking, many other companies rode the tide and now found their way up to the top of their trade. One of these companies is Zynga, the company behind popular Facebook games like Mafia Warms, Farmville and Zynga Poker. Zynga realized long before other gambling companies did that partnering with social networking is the best way forward they could get and so they did exactly that. The company signed a deal with the most popular website in the world – Facebook, with over 800 million users worldwide.
Zynga Poker, the one relevant in the casino world industry, attracts millions of Facebook users every month. The company reported in 2011 that they have loyal active users summing up to 200 million every month that has a market value around $1 billion. Zynga doesn’t shed as much money as “real time” casino does as the only thing they think about is site upgrades and maintenance and lots of bright ideas. Casino affiliates have been bothered by the fast growth of Zynga. Not only that, none of the revenue stated above goes to the iGaming industry and the play money format created by Zynga is safe from the legislative measures in the United States. Casino companies find it hard to compete with Zynga but they know that they can’t just sit back and watch.
However, whining and crying isn’t the right route forward. Instead, gaming companies should look at the positive opportunities Zynga has opened and take advantage of it. The negative effects however, can be solved by creating strategies that will either make them invincible or have it used to their advantage. First off, gambling companies shouldn’t hate Zynga because they are not responsible for all the social networking madness. All they did was foresee that social networking will be the hype and decided to nail down a deal. Little did they know that this deal attracted them a worldwide audience.
Furthermore, casino affiliates should take a look at how Zynga does it. Since casino affiliates are working under the same poker category with Zynga Poker, they could purchase advertisement space on Facebook for the Zynga Poker application. That way, players of the game will be tempted to go into real money gaming. Zynga hasn’t ventured out on that opportunity yet and casino affiliates who are in the business has an edge over them.
Zynga also made their game unique by making it a social game. It draws the masses because it is not only engaging but players also get to be “real” friends with other players and find out new people located anywhere in the world. Some casinos have already done this by enabling friendly chat windows and creating a more interesting player profiles. This way, sites will recruit more players knowing that its very social. Casino affiliates can also strike a deal with Zynga to promote their sites. To do that, you must be open to recommending Zynga to your players as a practicing application and if you’re lucky, Zynga might do the same.
[Source: Casino Affiliate Programs]
