What is Gamification?

Gamification is a technique that is continually gaining popularity in marketing…and for good reason. Gamification has proven to increase the engagement of potential and existing customers.  In fact, approximately 70% of marketers believe interactive content such as gamification is successful at converting visitors.  

Gamification, by definition, is a way of engaging people in fun activities that provide some of the compelling elements of games into other activities to provide information on products or services.  In order to understand it fully, let’s take a look at some of the elements of gamification.

Elements of successful gamification:

• Badges – Badges are a common element of gamification because they work.  Your customers will earn badges for more time or effort they put into your game.

• Points – A point system will keep your customers engaged in the game hoping for more points that could lead to…whatever you choose. 

• Rewards – Offering real, tangible rewards for playing the game is an excellent attention-grabber. 

• Levels – Show your players/customers their standings with different levels that increase with more time or effort. 

• Leaderboards – Showing game leaders will satisfy the competitive spirit nicely.  

• Spin-to-win – A proven success among potential customers, spinning a wheel with discounts and rewards offered is easy and effective.  

• Loyalty programs – Let them know they are appreciated for their loyalty by giving rewards simply based on spending more time or money on your products or services.  

• Challenges – No game is complete without challenges to overcome. 

• Onboarding – Make sure your players understand the game.  Make it brief and understandable. 

• Continuous engagement – Encourage your players to share their game progress or rewards in order to get more reach. 

Now that the specific elements that make it work are understood, let’s take a look at what people need to experience in order to enjoy your game. 

 Requirements of successful gamification:

• Your activity should be challenging and require some sort of skill
• Your goals should be easily identifiable
• It should require concentration
• Your player should feel as if they have control
• The game should bring together action and awareness
• If successful, your players will experience an altered sense of time

These requirements are based on existing theories about how people react to enjoyable activities.   

7 tips to take gamification to the next level in 2020

Now that the definition is clear, let’s look at ways to implement gamification successfully, or if you have already done so, take it to the next level in 2020.

Tip #1 Have a plan

You won’t want to create games without a plan.  Determine what your marketing goals are with gamification.  McDonald’s has provided games on their drink cups in the past getting people to come back again and again with their “monopoly” pieces for free menu items.  They clearly wanted repeat customers and did so effectively.  

Tip #2 Understand your customers

If you are targeting an over 40 crowd, make sure your activity is appropriate for them.  On the other hand, Millennials may expect more out of your game, so if they’re your target, don’t disappoint them with a poor quality game.  Gender may also make a difference along with the product you are offering. If you’re targeting football fans, that’ll differ from athletes or exercise fanatics.  Fitbit encourages users to exercise more by offering badges for more activity. These can take weeks or even months to achieve. Fitbit users are already motivated by their own accomplishments.  The badges are a perfect addition.

Tip #3 Be unique

No need to spend a small fortune on gamification.  Using the elements and requirements of successful gamification, you can come up with fun and new ideas without breaking the bank.  Waze users can pick up “candy” on their GPS route and earn points for reporting information on the app.  

Tip #4 Create fun out of boring

If your particular product or services can be deemed necessary, but dull, there are ways to make it fun.  Creating savings plans through financial institutions can be made much more enjoyable with badges and progress status.  

Tip #5 Keep it simple

If you create a game that is too complicated, people will not want to play it.  Simple “Where’s Waldo” type of image searches are simple, yet very effective. Match games or finding what’s different in separate images tend to be very enjoyable for many people. 

Tip #6 Offer rewards

Determine what it is you would like to give to your customers for playing the game or using the app.  Giving one item away for free for every five items purchased or days in a row used can bring customers back again and again.  

Tip #7 Immerse your customer in the experience

Augmented Reality (AR) is part of our everyday lives now.  It can be a very fun and enjoyable way to get customers to see themselves in your product or including it in the room with them.  

Making gamification work for you

Following these 7 tips, your gamification plan will prosper in 2020.  Making sure you collect all of the information you can and using it for successful marketing strategies such as gamification is just as important as implementing it.  A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software solution will help you collect your customer information and interactions and share them with your entire team. Agile CRM is one such solution that also has a feature that can gamify your sales process, resulting in friendly competition and increased sales.

Gamification can be a fun and effective way to increase your sales in 2020.  Following these tips will help you create an engaging game to help reach your goals.  If you would like to see if Agile CRM is a good fit for your sales team, try it for free for 30 days.