The lead-up to any holiday season marks a pivotal and exhilarating period for the game industry. Companies are tasked with crafting unique activities, offers, and content to captivate even the most discerning users. Mariya Temnykh, Lead Community Manager at ZiMAD, offers her perspective on engaging with players during the festive season and shares successful cases of creative activities.
When Christmas Is on the Way
In the run-up to the holidays, there’s typically a surge in player engagement as people seek to unwind, soak in the Christmas spirit, and spend extra time in mobile apps. For publishers, this presents an optimal opportunity to attract new users and retain existing ones.
The publisher’s work resembles a beehive as users immerse themselves in the holiday ambiance. The development team actively implements seasonal events and promotions related to Christmas and New Year’s: special game events, unique gifts, and offers to buy in-game goods at attractive prices. The mobile game market is much more based on the service type of applications, which gives more opportunities and room for maneuvering in terms of community development tools and allows for long-term planning and regular activities. This flexibility puts mobile projects into a special category. As if by magic, the app updates its design, music, and interface to create a festive atmosphere. All this certainly creates a positive experience and strengthens the relationship with the audience.
Community Trends and Expectations During This Period
While preparing the activities mentioned above, it’s crucial to remember that they are primarily tailored to the community. And who better understands what users desire and envision for the game than the team of community managers? These orchestrators of in-game events commence preparations months in advance, meticulously planning content and activities based on community feedback and insights.
Players anticipate being pleasantly surprised with offerings seamlessly blending with the holiday ambiance, ranging from personalized recommendations and themed notifications to promotions and content. Extending beyond the app, the latter often manifests in the game’s official community channels. So, what does the team have in store to delight them this year?
Engaging with the Community: Strategies for Success
A savvy community manager knows that working in a community is a two-way street. Generating interest requires being on the same page with the players: knowing and understanding their preferences, opportunities, and trigger points. The main task is to make sure that as many people as possible take part in the activity and are not limited by specific conditions. For example, not everyone can draw or sing.
Communicating Through Interactivity
Engage players and communicate with them through specially designed activities, contests, and quizzes. This not only increases audience engagement but also creates a positive experience related to the holidays. For example, you can create a Christmas quiz by making a list of themed questions that users must answer with “True” or “False.” Let’s say, “In Italy, everyone wears green shirts at Christmas, as it brings happiness. Is this true or false?”. All those who answer correctly can be rewarded with in-game bonuses.
Additionally, consider organizing activities within the game that prompt players to achieve specific milestones, such as completing levels or climbing the leaderboard. This not only incentivizes gameplay but also strengthens the community’s bond with the game.
You can involve players in the process of content creation both within the community and the game itself. So you will not only fill the project with unique material but also increase the level of engagement and loyalty of the audience because they will have the opportunity to contribute to their favorite game. They will feel that they influence the development of the application and are an important part of it.
Success Stories and Key Takeaways
At ZiMAD, I’ve learned that experimentation is key to keeping the community engaged and enthralled. In 2022, one of our standout holiday initiatives involved curating a unique puzzle pack comprising photos of our players’ Christmas trees. The best submissions were immortalized in a special pack, creating a cherished keepsake for Magic Jigsaw Puzzles users.
Saint Valentine’s Day
We think of Valentine’s Day 2023 with so much warmth! We decided to awaken the fondest memories in the hearts of our subscribers and encouraged them to share their love stories. As a gift to them, we wanted to choose something very precious and memorable. The reward for the most touching story was a digital comic book adaptation of that story drawn by one of our artists. The love story was published in the Magic Jigsaw Puzzles community feed, and the winner had the artwork printed on a large canvas and hung it in their home. Other participants were not left out—we gave them nice in-game bonuses.
Christmas
That same year, 2023, my team and I decided to take it a step further. Christmas is a holiday that brings people together. Christmas is about gifts, and we love to give them. To emphasize the unity with our users, we decided to ship the winners real winter scarves.
As part of this activity, we organized a full-scale contest in which users had to find five pictures in Magic Jigsaw Puzzles with one of the game’s mascots, who wears that same scarf—an adorable black cat. The pictures were hidden in new puzzle packs. Users were eager to get involved in this new and unusual contest. We had tremendous fun preparing this whole event, which involved colleagues from different departments, from the development team to the artists. Seeing your idea come to life in front of you, with users actively discussing it and participating in the process, is one of the best rewards for a community manager.
In Conclusion
Such initiatives not only foster engagement but also convey the message that users’ opinions are valued, thereby enhancing loyalty—a priceless asset in the game industry. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate the strong bond between the community and the publisher, showcasing a shared commitment to delivering memorable experiences. Love your community, embrace experimentation, and foster alignment with their expectations to reap the rewards of a vibrant and engaged player base.
Mariya Temnykh
Lead Community Manager, ZiMAD
