Mastering the Art of Community Management and Networking in OK’s Video Games
Odnoklassniki, the third most popular social media service in Russia, holds a significant position alongside VKontakte and Instagram. For game developers, it serves as an additional platform within Russia where they can create and maintain their own gaming communities.
Audience Every day, Odnoklassniki attracts nearly 15 million visitors, who spend an average of 17 minutes on the platform. Its monthly user base in Russia exceeds 40 million individuals. The majority of users access this social networking service through mobile devices, with 68% exclusively using mobile and 28% preferring a combination of devices.
The primary audience of Odnoklassniki consists of women aged 25 and above, with middle to upper middle income levels.
Based on OK’s estimates in 2020, the male audience on Odnoklassniki demonstrates interest in games and actively engages with OK game groups as well.
Groups and Communities
An Odnoklassniki community serves as a platform for users to share their pictures, video clips, and engage in various conversations based on their interests.
By the end of 2020, there was a notable increase in the number of small businesses utilizing Odnoklassniki, with over 1 million commercial communities recorded. This trend can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, Odnoklassniki boasts a mature and financially capable user base. Secondly, the social networking service consistently improves its algorithms and encourages brands to establish business accounts on OK.
In November 2021, the leadership of Odnoklassniki announced a key objective of increasing the visibility of community-generated content on followers’ feeds by up to 60%. Currently, users primarily see 80% of content created by their friends and only 20% from communities.
Users have become accustomed to relying on social media as their primary source of information and spend a considerable amount of time engaging with these platforms. However, it is challenging for their “friends” to consistently provide the desired level of information on a daily basis. To address this, OK has introduced an algorithm update that aims to increase the amount of recommended content sourced specifically from communities.
The new hybrid OK feed combines personally followed content with recommended content. This not only increases the quantity of content available but also enhances its variety, leading to longer user engagement online.
What does this mean for communities? Primarily, the new feed ensures that even in the initial stages, when a community has few or no followers, users will still come across organic content in their search results, even without launching any advertisements.
OK Gaming Communities
As mentioned multiple times in our blog, VKontakte remains the dominant platform for gaming communities in the Russian market. However, Odnoklassniki also offers numerous opportunities for the development of gaming communities, which game developers are starting to take advantage of. Notably, games like World of Tanks and World of Warships actively manage their Odnoklassniki communities alongside VK. It’s important to note that the competition among gaming communities on OK is considerably lower than on VK. This presents a greater chance for your game to capture the desired audience among Russian users by establishing an OK community. Considering Odnoklassniki’s current focus on promoting community and commercial accounts’ content, now is an opportune time to create and cultivate a gaming community on OK.
Content
As previously mentioned, the majority of the OK audience primarily uses mobile devices. Therefore, it is advisable to focus on creating vertical videos, GIFs, and animations when developing content. This particular format enables algorithms to better identify users’ interests and display the most relevant and appropriate posts.
If your content proves to be engaging, the algorithms will not only showcase it to your followers but also to other users who express interest in similar topics. This expands your organic reach and allows you to gain more followers.
What to Post and How?
When it comes to posting on OK, it is important to consider the actions that the OK news feed algorithm takes into account when evaluating the interest in a post:
- Scroll delay
- Engagement indicators such as likes, shares, and comments (referred to as ‘classes’)
- Post open rate (visit depth)
- Community page visits
- Video views and watch time
- Clicks on pictures (including adding more than three pictures to a single post)
When to Post?
According to Odnoklassniki, the optimal days for posting on OK are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Furthermore, the ‘Class!’ button is clicked most frequently on Tuesday and Friday.
How to Achieve Top Ranking on OK Communities?
To reach the top on Odnoklassniki, communities should focus on the following strategies:
- Adapted Content and Regular Posting: Creating content that resonates with the target audience and posting consistently is essential for community growth.
- Regular Feedback and User Engagement: Actively engaging with community members, responding to comments, and seeking feedback helps foster a sense of community and loyalty among users.
- Crossing the 100+ Follower Threshold: Once a community surpasses 100 followers, the algorithms begin recommending the OK page more frequently, increasing its visibility.
- Utilizing OK Ads: Promoting the community through ads is an effective way to gain exposure. Ads can be launched using the OK ads manager or MyTarget, ensuring targeted reach.
QB Agency Games experts are available to assist in developing a tailored approach for creating, maintaining, and promoting your gaming community on Odnoklassniki, ensuring optimal results.