As a recovering Farmville addict, I am keenly aware of my friends’ social gaming activities. It seems like half of my Facebook news feed posts are about friends needing respect for Mafia Wars or a wheelbarrow to build a yard in Petville.

eMarketer recently reported that over half of social media users play social games, making it the fifth most popular social media activity.  Not only is this a large group, but one that advertisers frequently target. Here are some quick stats on this audience from a study done by PopCap:

• 55% of players are women
• The average age is 48
• 26% of all players are above 50
• 68% play at least once a day
• 29% have purchased virtual currency with real-world dollars
• Over 95% play multiple times a day.

How do successful advertisers utilize social gaming? The best way is to enhance the game experience for the users. A few ways to do this:

• Create an award/badge around your product that gives users more points or experience within the game
• Offer virtual currency to players in exchange for interaction with your brand (watch a video, view an ad, review a product, etc.)
• Brand a virtual product/gift and allow consumers to use/send the virtual product within the game in exchange for interaction with your brand

Tags: Social gaming, Social media