This morning Sara and I went to the Java Meet Up 612 (@jmu612) in Minneapolis for a discussion about social gaming's impact on marketing, with guest speakers Christopher Lower and Mark Hurlburt.
It was a great discussion, with a few eye opening statistics and points made. And since I enjoyed it so much, I thought I'd share some of them here.
53% of adults, 81% of people ages 18-29, and 97% of teens are self-described gamers.
The numbers here don't lie. If you've wondered whether or not gaming is a viable marketing tool, the sheer number of people who utilize it shows its potential.
The average gamer is a 29 year old woman.
That's who you would get if you were to combine the average demographics for gamers. This stat surprised me the most, because I assumed the average gamer would be younger and likely a male.
This just goes to show that gamers who grew up with gaming have continued playing into adulthood. Also, the fact that the demographic has shifted to women illustrates the impact of social gaming.
90% of Foursquare tips, comments and reviews are positive.
This one was obviously more specific than the other stats, but Foursquare is the hottest trend in social gaming right now and needed to be addressed. There's all sorts of reasons why that number may be as high as it is, but it definitely sheds light on the possible applications of Foursquare in marketing.
There was a lot of other great insight and stats offered at the Java Meet Up 612 today, way more than I can cover in one post. I'd highly suggest going to the next one, as well as checking out their @jmu612 Twitter Feed.
