It's no surprise that mobile app stores have become oversaturated with games, rending the offerings to users virtually endless. Because of this, achieving user base stability in the mobile gaming space has grown increasingly difficult. Despite having access to their fanbase at their fingertips, mobile game companies often fail to leverage them as a resource, and Seriously saw a promising opportunity to excite and expand their Best Fiends community by not overlooking the power of social media.
Seriously's goal was to make users a part of the journey and stand out above the rest by creating a world that goes far beyond the mobile screen and has an engaging, day-to-day impact on its 1.8 million daily active users. Seriously did not want Best Fiends to exist in users' lives solely in the form of a mobile game, but rather as a robust, well-developed universe and entertainment brand that touches all aspects of a user's digital life. The main objective Seriously identified as an avenue to reach their goal was to prioritize establishing and maintaining a healthy two-way dialogue between the company and its users across all social platforms. Seriously believes that the future of entertainment brands is mobile first as brands are able to have a direct connection to audiences. If Seriously provided premium content rooted in the Best Fiends IP to fans, and the fans were encouraged to voice real-time feedback to Seriously in return, the Best Fiends community would be able to strengthen and grow exponentially on a mutually beneficial basis.
Seriously introduced a three-pronged strategy to grow an exceptional Best Fiends community that proves an invaluable resource to the Best Fiends brand. Initially, efforts were focused fostering a bona fide Best Fiends community online. Thanks to the game's engaging and addictive creative, converting game users into loyal fans is a fairly simple process for Seriously, but the team knew that having a truly receptive, faithful audience required more than an enticing product.
The Seriously team established an open line of communication between them and the Best Fiends community at large. Seriously found that promoting active, two-way dialogue to be key in community-building success, and that strong communities expect reactions to their point of view. Because of this, the Seriously team made an effort to respond to every incoming message on every social platform, since these types of communication are the front line of any marketing strategy. Seriously utilized private Facebook groups as a way to organically create conversation about the Best Fiends brand. Having a group with like-minded superfans not only provided a platform for discussion, but it encouraged fans to meet each other and feel like they are members of an exclusive club. Ultimately, engaging with fans on social media enabled Seriously to leverage low-cost access to users' ideas while still showing fans that their voices create an impact.
The second major step of Seriously's community building strategy was varying content across different platforms. The Seriously social team treats each channel uniquely rather than copy-and-pasting identical content across platforms. The team devoted adequate time to understand its audience on each platform. And although content varied from platform to platform, Seriously's content strategy always tied back to Best Fiends, the principal IP.
As an example, because Best Fiends is a mobile puzzle game, Seriously found success inserting fun mini-puzzles into social news feeds for fans to complete and share. On Pinterest, sharing Best Fiends screensavers that people can conveniently save and upload reaches those users well. YouTube is a concrete home for longform content, so that is where Seriously tended to post original videos featuring powerful stories about community members or animated shorts. On each channel, Seriously embraced its most engaged fans by re-posting their creative projects and celebrated how the brand impacted their lives. Seriously has also created a blog, where they post creative content for the community to read and engage with.
Finally, the Seriously team made sure to never neglect the power of positive customer service interactions and long-term brand loyalty. Seriously customer service prioritized quick response time and thoughtful reactions to user suggestions and concerns, while always being sure to pass issues along to the appropriate management for a resolution. Seriously subscribed to the mindset that all channels must be treated as public customer support channels, and that successfully executing that idea bodes very well for the fans watching. Because responding to public commentary is a valuable opportunity to showcase brand voice, Seriously would always go the extra mile when crafting unique, entertaining, and helpful answers to users' questions and concerns.
The results of Seriously's community-building strategy have exceeded the company's expectations, and the vocal, tight-knit following that Best Fiends created has proven valuable for Seriously's business. This community serves as a direct line to customers, allowing the Seriously team to use fans as a springboard for new concept testing, knowing that numerous users are highly likely to respond with feedback and critiques. Being able to frequently test new product ideas on this vocal community improved Seriously's already strong development efforts and enabled the company to better serve user wants and needs.
And not only does having built this community improve the Best Fiends mobile game, it also has molded how users view the Seriously brand as a whole. Being engaged and concerned with user's experiences, and open-minded to user input on big business decisions bodes well for deepening user trust in the brand. Positively interacting with this fanbase creates a reputation of Seriously being a receptive brand that is involved with its customers, increasing the potential for positive word-of-mouth buzz and user base growth. Having a unique community also has differentiated Best Fiends from its mobile gaming competitors and has given fans yet another reason to continue to return to the Best Fiends world.
Seriously strategy has fostered an unparalleled online community with over 3 million followers across social channels that have a deep connection to the brand. Excellent customer service and social presence have become hallmark symbols of Seriously.
