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Selling video games with a single click at the exact moment a user is interested is the is the future of games retail, Twitter believes.
Speaking at Games Retail 2020 this afternoon, Twitter UK’s Samir Bhana explained that Twitter is a platform that exists in the moment and is shaped by the real-life events at the exact moment they happen.
80% of Twitter traffic comes from a mobile device, Bhana said, with the average user unlocking their phone 110 times a day. All of which, he claims, results in 1bn moments for companies to engage with a users every two days.
In addition, 61 per cent of Twitter users are playing games – by far the most popular mobile hobby of its demographic. This is followed by social networks (59%) and entertainment (40%).
A video shown to the audience showed the World Cup penalty shootout between Brazil and Chile this summer and matched the action against the volume of tweets, spiking with every shot and miss. The reflection is immediate.
Bhana also showed the pattern of Tweets related to the subject of ‘running’ across the world each week. Earlier in the week there’s more activity, with the subject tailing away as the weekend nears and reaching its lowest throughout the weekend – an example of real-world behaviour reflected in the social media activity of its users.
EA is already on board as a Twitter partner, with the publisher using the social network to align its FIFA 15 brand with developments throughout the football season.
One of Twitter’s big sells is the data it holds on its users – their follows, followers, interests, keywords, search terms – all of which allows for very specifically targeted marketing.
Twitter is offering partners several forms of what it describes as ‘non-obtrusive ads’, primarily in three forms – promoted tweets, promoted trends and promoted users. This allows for three ads at any one time on a user’s Twitter screen.
Promoted tweets themselves offer the broadest selection which Twitter is currently selling in the form of ‘cards’ – the image card, the (news) summary card, the Vine card, the website link card, the video card and the product card which can work for retailers and apps, to name but a few.
Twitter, much to the interest of the event’s audience, is also testing a ‘buy’ card that allows users to click on tweets and be taken through to a purchase screen. That’s currently in alpha in the US.
