Think about the last time you went shopping, went to the doctor or took a plane…

Although these activities are $ different, they have one thing in common : waiting. You’ve probably had to wait at the checkout to pay for your shopping, wait outside a concert hall to see your favourite artist or queue to scan your hand luggage before boarding a plane.

For users, this waiting time is often a test of patience and a waste of time. And yet.., the wait can be transformed into a qualitative experience thanks to wait marketing. It can even turn an unpleasant moment into a playful experience thanks to gamification.

In this article, we give you tips on how to improve your customer journey and engage users interactively using wait marketing.

SUMMARY

• What is wait marketing?
• The benefits of wait marketing
• Boost your wait marketing strategy with gamification
• Typical wait marketing scenario and inspiring examples

Wait marketing involves companies capitalising on consumers’ attention at this moment to engage them. It can be defined as a non-intrusive communication strategy, and even a timely one, since it takes shape at a time when any form of distraction is welcome.

According to a survey by Pew Research, 77% of people use their smartphone when they are waiting for a call. 53% use their smartphone when queuing, mainly to avoid boredom.

Broadcast a marketing animation in a queue does not disturb the user by interrupting their activity (as when an advert is broadcast between two stories on social networks). On the contrary, it allows them to distract themselves during a time that is perceived as boring or unproductive.

The benefits of expectation marketing

Waiting time, in itself, is the ideal time to capture consumers’ attention and remember a commercial message. This is the case with posters in the metro or at bus stops. But by adding a touch of creativity to these formats, brands can turn waiting into an engaging brand experience, and convert new prospects.

It’s also a way of making the most of areas where consumers spend a lot of time, but which are not used as communication channels. The queuing space in a physical shop, can be used to highlight products and boost the cross-selling rate. But it does not convey an interactive experience with the brand, which would be more engaging for the customer.

The non-intrusive aspect of this form of advertising also enables companies to create a closer relationship with consumers. Brands can offers them a real experience and enables them to pass a time that was considered unpleasant or pointless quickly. They become a source of entertainment as well as a commercial organisation promoting its products.

This waiting period is no longer a constraint, but an opportunity. To achieve this, companies can create an interactive experience based on insights customers. The challenge is to understand your audience and how the brand can ensure that they have a good time.

Companies can take advantage of wait marketing to :

• Motivating customers to come to the point of sale;
• Keep customers entertained while they wait and prevent them from abandoning their purchase;
• Reward waiting time with instant wins;
• Collect data on purchasing intentions to personalise the customer journey
• Develop your sales.

Boost your wait marketing strategy with gamification

If the traditional waiting experience is considered to be unpleasant by individuals, it is because it is often considered to be boring or a waste of time. The challenge for companies wishing to take advantage of this moment to engage consumers is mainly about entertaining them.

This is where gamification comes in. This marketing strategy involves offering users playful experiences, incorporating mechanisms traditionally used in the world of games.

Rather than taking advantage of consumers’ attention to broadcast an advertisement, companies can engage them via an interactive and entertaining animation such as :

• An instant win: this format allows the company to liven up a queue while rewarding its customers for their patience. In practical terms, it allows them to instantly win discount vouchers (or other prizes) by playing a game such as the wheel of fortune or the one-armed bandit.
• Action games (like a quiz, a survey, a vote or a swiper). This format allows the company to entertain its customers while they wait. Once again, it can reward their patience by offering prizes or other benefits. But it is also an effective way of collecting data on the preferences of its audience and, for example, analysing their purchasing intentions.

With a Playable Marketing solution, companies can capitalise effectively on their customers’ expectations. For example, the geolocation function makes it possible to restrict access to the game to customers in the queue.

The CRM connection tool, for its part, makes it possible to exploit the data collected at a point of sale (particularly on purchase intentions) to offer personalised in-store or online support. The brand can then turn this data into a sales opportunity.

In practice, the typical scenario for a wait marketing event will take this form:

1. Drive to store. The customer goes to the shop and finds himself in a queue;
2. Access to the game. They can find out about the game using the posters in the queue and access it using the QR code or URL. The game can also be presented on an interactive terminal.
   
3. Registration. They register using a simplified form and can decide to become opt-in for the brand and its partners.
4. Participation. They can play a game and discover their prize more easily. What’s more, the brand can customise the game to suit a wide range of scenarios.
5. Revelation and gain. In the case of an instant win, the customer wins a discount voucher that can be used at the point of sale. If the brand chooses a prize draw mechanism, customers can receive their prize by email or SMS. Again, this could be a voucher to encourage them to repurchase from the brand.

An example of a marketing campaign to keep people waiting

Auchan supermarkets have set up a wait marketing campaign. To coincide with its sales peak, the chain gave away the following for every purchase over €10 in shop a scratch card with a unique code as well as an additional card for loyalty card holders. The campaign attracted almost 183k registrations in 2 weeks and 325K codes were used.

Eurotunnel, the company that operates the Channel Tunnel, has capitalised on the expectations of its users to raise its profile and generate new leads. To do this, the company used a one-armed bandit with a registration form, accessible only to holders of a ticket number. This format and the use of attractive prizes (smartphones and earpods) boosted the participation rate, with a total of 29K games played.

Conclusion

Wait marketing is therefore a profitable strategy for capitalising on customer expectations and taking advantage of the opportunity to engage them through interactive activities. Take advantage of this opportunity to improve your customer experience and strengthen your brand image with more than 60 gamified formats offered by Adictiz.