What is "Social Value", and why does it matter? In gaming, Social Value is the measurement of player behavior and impact through several metrics such as play sessions, page views and in-app purchases.
Here's a simple example of the impact of Social Value: As you're playing Candy Crush, you share your achievements and game requests via Facebook. In response, chances are that a few of your friends will start playing the game and investing through in-app purchases. The Social Value is how much money you helped contribute to the game's bottom line through these social and sharing efforts.
To find the "True Total Value", the Social Value is combined with the "LTV" or Lifetime Value (which is how much behavior you can expect from a person, usually in dollars, before they quit investing).
For example, imagine a person has an LTV of $43 (how much they're expected to spend), and that same person has a social value of $53 thorough interaction with their friends that causes them to spend $53. $43 LTV + $53 Social Value = $96 True Total Value.
The True Total Value is important because it can give you a better estimate on how much players will affect your bottom line, all thanks to the increasing popularity of analytics and Big Data. You can then take this data as a whole (or break it down) to target your players in specific ways or change the way your game works for the better.
Once you can find the Social Value, LTV and True Total Value of users through a variety of metrics, you can start finding out who your "Social Whales" are - which are some of your most important customers. Social Whales are the players who spend the most money and time on your game, and who hold the most influence.
When Social Whales play, others play more - and when they buy, others buy. By understanding your user's social networks and spending habits, you can start targeting these Social Whales and determining what drives your game to success. Usually, Social Whales will comprise of 10% of your total users, but 10-40% of your total spending.
Ninja Metrics, a Social Analytics engine that helps game and app developers, created a great looking Infographic below which provides some more information on how to measure Social Value. What are some of the best metrics that have helped you determine the Social Value, LTV and True Total Value?
Here's a simple example of the impact of Social Value: As you're playing Candy Crush, you share your achievements and game requests via Facebook. In response, chances are that a few of your friends will start playing the game and investing through in-app purchases. The Social Value is how much money you helped contribute to the game's bottom line through these social and sharing efforts.
Measuring True Total Value
To find the "True Total Value", the Social Value is combined with the "LTV" or Lifetime Value (which is how much behavior you can expect from a person, usually in dollars, before they quit investing).
For example, imagine a person has an LTV of $43 (how much they're expected to spend), and that same person has a social value of $53 thorough interaction with their friends that causes them to spend $53. $43 LTV + $53 Social Value = $96 True Total Value.
The True Total Value is important because it can give you a better estimate on how much players will affect your bottom line, all thanks to the increasing popularity of analytics and Big Data. You can then take this data as a whole (or break it down) to target your players in specific ways or change the way your game works for the better.
Finding Social Whales
Once you can find the Social Value, LTV and True Total Value of users through a variety of metrics, you can start finding out who your "Social Whales" are - which are some of your most important customers. Social Whales are the players who spend the most money and time on your game, and who hold the most influence.
When Social Whales play, others play more - and when they buy, others buy. By understanding your user's social networks and spending habits, you can start targeting these Social Whales and determining what drives your game to success. Usually, Social Whales will comprise of 10% of your total users, but 10-40% of your total spending.
Ninja Metrics, a Social Analytics engine that helps game and app developers, created a great looking Infographic below which provides some more information on how to measure Social Value. What are some of the best metrics that have helped you determine the Social Value, LTV and True Total Value?
