Commitment has become a very important aspect of online marketing in recent years. With the rise of social networks, brands can no longer simply broadcast advertisements or post a publication and wait for it to generate sales. They now need to interact with their audience and find new ways to increase audience engagement.

In this article, we share with you 10 formidable techniques for creating engaging marketing campaigns.

Engagement has become the key metric for marketers. For many, it replaces so-called vanity KPIs (such as the number of subscribers, for example) and provides a much better assessment of a brand’s reputation and appeal on social networks.

However, engagement also translates into very concrete KPIs, such as the number of comments, likes and shares of a publication. Some formulas also include the number of impressions or views, etc.

These community interactions with the content shared by a brand are good indicators of its relevance. But they don’t say much about the intention behind these actions… and even less about how they enable the company to achieve more concrete objectives, such as increasing sales, building customer loyalty, etc.

So before we look at the best levers for creating engaging marketing campaigns, it’s important to think about the objectives that the brand wants to achieve. In other words, what the engagement of its audience can bring to the brand in terms of commercial results.

The different objectives

The objectives of an engaging marketing campaign can be multiple. Interactive content can enable companies to :

• Capture the attention of your prospects and expand your target audience to generate new leads.
• Collect data (feedback, opinions, survey responses) to adapt your offer or marketing to the needs of your community.
• Reactivate existing customers to stay ‘top of mind’ when they need to buy a product/service (particularly before a major marketing event such as Christmas or the launch of a new collection).
• Convert your audience from their social network accounts or newsletters to your online shop (or in-store).

Build audience loyalty by creating a more solid relationship that is not just transactional.

Companies wishing to launch marketing campaigns to increase audience engagement can use a number of levers, depending on the objectives they wish to achieve. Here are the most effective.

1. Listen and respond to your subscribers

The first simple thing to do to increase audience engagement and strengthen the user experience is simply to interact with them. Brands that make a point of replying to their subscribers’ comments, reposting their publications (of the UGC type) or simply asking for opinions (in the form of surveys) are those that forge the strongest links with their community.

Beyond the consideration they show their customers and prospects these brands also take advantage of these interactions to better understand their needs and expectations. Comments or responses to a survey are all first-party data that shed light on consumer trends within their audience. The information collected can then be used to better segment customers or adapt communications, offers, etc.

2. Create exciting competitions

Create an engaging marketing competition is also an excellent way of achieving your sales objectives. Interactive animations such as quizzes, photo contests or instant wins are highly effective to :

• Expand your audience (thanks to the buzz around the prizes to be won, for example).
• Raise community awareness of the launch of a new product or service.
• Reactivate customers by offering them rewards.

3. Launch a viral campaign with a content creator

Partnerships with influencers are also an excellent way of generating more engagement with your community. Content creators have a closeness with their community that can benefit brands, whose communication will appear more authentic.

But account takeovers, for example, can bring a bit of freshness and novelty to the content shared by companies, and so engage their audiences.

4. Capitalise on interactive advertising content

Interactive marketing is, in essence, a powerful generator of engagement. In fact, its purpose is to Invite a community to interact with the content, for example by integrating gamification mechanisms (in the case of competitions or Playable Ads).

5. Encourage the creation of UGCs

UGC campaigns (whether in the form of a competition or a simple branded hashtag) are particularly effective in increasing audience engagement. They enable brands to encourage their customers to share content about their products or services.

UGC will be an excellent way of boosting their visibility, reinforcing their sense of belonging to the brand’s community and converting new customers more effectively than photos from a professional shoot.

6. Organising events

Events (whether virtual or physical) are an integral part of brand community strategies. They allow brands to create much stronger links with its customers and therefore build loyalty. But they are also good conversion drivers (when they are organised to launch a new collection, for example) and engagement drivers (by inviting participants to share content around the event).

7. Doing live shopping

Live shopping is a highly effective form of interactive content for generating engagement and boosting conversion rates. Brands will present their products in a more immersive wayand answer their customers’ questions live. Customers benefit from a personalised shopping experience without having to visit the shop.

It is also possible to integrate interactive experiences such as surveys or games into live shopping. These gamified formats will boost community engagement even further.

8. Use co-creation to engage your audiences

Co-creation is another ultra-powerful form of interactive marketing. It allows customers to participate in the development of a new product or service, usually by taking part in a survey and then voting (to select the best idea).

Not only does this strategy generate engagement. But it’s also an excellent way of activating the data collected from its community to create products for which companies are sure to have demand.

9. Share relevant content

By sharing content with high added value (such as free guides, webinars, tutorials, etc.), companies can respond effectively to the expectations and needs of their audience. It also generates engagement by encouraging their prospects to delve deeper into the subject, ask questions, etc.

10. Share behind the scenes of your brand

Consumers are generally curious to discover what goes on behind the scenes at their favourite brands. Social networks are excellent platforms to share his backstage, give a voice to its employees, etc. Many brands, particularly in the fashion industry, take advantage of these channels to reveal the secrets of their workshops or catwalk shows. An ideal technique for increasing audience engagement while highlighting the company’s expertise.

Create a more engaging marketing campaign using gamification. Adictiz offers you a a wide choice of formats for interacting with your audience, depending on the objectives you want to achieve!

Is your brand looking for new marketing levers to engage and retain its audience? Gamified and interactive campaigns are effective levers for achieving these objectives, particularly when they rely on the interactive mechanics of the winning moment.

This game lets participants know immediately if they’ve won a prize or a gift is just as addictive as it is beneficial for the brands that organise it. They stand out from fake games where participants never win anything (spam, scams).

In this article, we reveal the main advantages that a brand can gain from creating an instant win game online and how to run a successful campaign in 4 steps.

The principle behind instant win games is simple: it’s a game mechanic in which participants know immediately after playing that they have won a prize whether they have won a gift or not. This distinguishes it from another type of marketing game, such as a prize draw, where you have to wait a certain amount of time (usually several days/weeks) before finding out who the big winners are.

The first advantage of this instantaneous aspect is that it makes you want to participatebecause you’ll know immediately whether you’ve won a prize or not. It’s also very simple for the company. The instant win game works by time slots designated as ‘winning’. So all you have to do is enter at the right time to win a gift. And outside these time slots, all participants will lose.

Companies can also opt for a 100% winning mechanism. All they have to do is distribute a promotional code at the end of the operation (even in the losing slots) and offer larger prizes in certain time slots.

Instant win competitions have become increasingly popular because of their immediacy and simplicity. Companies set them up on their social networks or websites to engage their audience, build customer loyalty or promote a new product/service.

The different types of instant win games

The popularity of instant win marketing games is also due to their versatility. It is possible to choose from different game mechanics depending on your target audience and the objectives you want to achieve.

For example :

• Create a wheel of luck (or fortune). This is a must-have instant win game. Participants simply spin the wheel of chance to try and win a gift or promotional code.
• The scratch card game : games of chance such as scratch cards, lotteries, etc. are also excellent instant wins. Participants will immediately know whether or not they have won after scratching an image using the cursor (or their finger for mobile users). Quick and fun, scratch cards can also be used to reveal a new product.
• The slot machine (or one-armed bandit). Inspired by casino games, this instant win allows you to distribute gifts to your audience at random. Once again, you can personalise the signs so that they represent the prize to be won (a promotion, a product, etc.).
• The dice game; very popular in many cultures (where it is known as Yams or 421), the dice game is also a very popular format in gamified marketing.

Instant win competitions offer a number of advantages to the companies that organise them. The first is that their ultra-simple game mechanics allow you to maximise participation and commitment.

The ability to find out immediately whether you’ve won or not encourages members of your community to take part or even share this interactive animation with their friends and family. This makes the marketing game an excellent way of boosting visibility. What’s more, there are plenty of customisation options available, so you can boost brand awareness while enhancing your image.

Creating an instant win competition is also a very effective way of generating leads. Participants can be asked to fill in a form before rolling the dice or the wheel of chance. In this way, the company collects first-party data more easily and can learn more about its audience and consumer habits.

Finally, instant wins are particularly well suited to companies that want to increase their conversion rate or build customer loyalty. By distributing promotional codes to the winners, they can encourage participants to visit their site and place an order.

Shared in a reactivation email, this marketing game can also encourage a customer who hasn’t bought from the brand for a while to discover a new collection, etc. Or simply reward a loyal customer with gifts/promotions.

Creating an instant win game is very simple. However, to ensure the success of an interactive marketing campaign, it’s important to think it through and plan it well. Here are the steps to follow to organise a successful interactive game.

Choose the right game mechanics for your objectives and target audience

For an instant win game to be effective, it is important to clearly define your marketing objectives and target audience. If the aim is to build audience loyalty over the Christmas period, an Advent Calendar-style game will be the most appropriate format.

The target audience you wish to engage is also a very important factor to take into account when choosing the right game mechanics. Some worlds may be more effective with one audience than another. The one-armed bandit, for example, will appeal to a more male audience (even if it is possible to customise his design to appeal to a wider audience).

Choosing the best prizes

The whole attraction of the instant win game is the chance to win an attractive gift. That’s why it’s particularly important to choose the right endowment. Promotional codes are a good idea, especially during frenzied shopping periods like the festive season or Black Friday.

Companies can also boost engagement and maximise conversions from their interactive events by offering exclusive prizes. The prizes in the tech world, for example, are the ones that work best. Ahead of the launch of a new collection, participants can also win items that are not yet available in their online shop.

Define clear conditions for participation

To create a successful instant win, it is also essential to clearly indicate the conditions of participation to avoid any unpleasant surprises for participants. The conditions are generally set out in the entry form. This is another key element in a successful instant win, as it will enable the company to collect relevant data about its audience.

Promote an instant win game

Once the company has created and personalised its instant win game, all that’s left to do is promote it to the public. Social networks, QR codes in shops and banners on the website are all good ideas for raising the profile of the game. Influencers can also be good relays for boosting the participation rate.