Zynga continues to hit new highs in terms of usage and expansion. Their iPhone Mafia Wars application continues to hang in the top 25 free apps on iTunes, but I think what is most interesting about Zynga is the little things they do within their applications.
Linking their online applications to the iPhone
Not only has Zynga started porting some of their great online properties to the iPhone like Poker and Mafia Wars, but they have integrated Facebook connect into the Poker product allowing people to get rewards for their usage on either platform.
Making Their Applications Feel Social
Constantly visible in their poker application is a leaderboard, but not just any leaderboard. It shows all of your friends on Facebook and what position you are compared to them currently. This not only encourages you to compete with your friends, but also allows you to quickly see who is moving up the ranks and who is currently online that you can play with. See the screenshot below.
Marketing their other properties
Zynga has many great applications, but what impresses me the most is that they never fail to advertise their best ones at the top of every one of their applications. They are constantly there to remind you that hey if you are getting board of Mafia Wars, there is always Texas Holdem Poker. This kind of merchandising can really keep someone who might be falling out of love with one of your products and turn them back into an addict in another.
Getting Users to Make Them Money
Zynga has been printing money for months with their micro transactions and their ads within the applications, but I think people forget that they also reward players for trying other services. Unwilling to wait for the next day to get additional poker chips? Don’t worry Zynga is here to offer you 47,000 poker chips (equivalent to playing the game once a day for 23 days) for simply signing up for a free trial of Netflix. Zynga wins both ways in that scenario. Netflix gives them a kick back and they get to keep their user engrained in more advertising.
