What is the purpose of gamification in marketing? First and foremost, gamification is a mean of engaging an audience over the long term. Offering entertaining, interactive content instead of traditional, static content definitely boosts the performance of brand’s marketing campaigns. In fact, 93% of marketers say they use and achieve excellent results with this marketing strategy.

In this guide, we take a closer look at what gamification is and how this marketing tool can help you meet your marketing challenges.

SUMMARY

• What is marketing gamification?
• The 3 main benefits of gamification in marketing
• How to use gamification in your marketing strategy?
• The challenges of gamification

Gamification is a marketing technique that borrows design elements from games to attract and retain customers. In gamified marketing, consumers are encouraged to perform an action (fill a form, make a purchase, sign up for a loyalty program). This allows them to earn a reward or compete with other users, for example.

Gamification marketing campaigns can take the form of a gamified loyalty program, an interactive quiz to discover offers, or a wheel of chance to win coupons. Among playable elements that brands can integrate into their content or advertising:

• The points system (to be collected after each action, such as a purchase);
• Levels and progress bars. LinkedIn, for example, has integrated a progress bar to encourage its users to complete their profiles. Starbucks’ loyalty program also has several levels, each unlocking new benefits.
• A countdown timer to encourage users to complete an action within a given timeframe

Game mechanics can also include scoring to maximize time spent with the brand. or knowledge games and chance-based animations like the Bonto.

History of gamification

The concept of gamification has been widely developed over the course of the 2010s, but is in fact much older. As early as the end of the 19th century, retailers were distributing stamps to reward their most loyal customers. 100 years later, games have also entered the corporate world to boost employee satisfaction and commitment.

But it was American Airlines that gave us the first use case for gamified marketing in 1981. Its AAdvantage loyalty program offered rewards based on the frequency of customer purchases.

The term gamification was coined by Nick peeling in 2002, encouraging research into its effects on the humain brain. In 2005, the first modern gamification platform is created. Bunchball enables brands to add a layer of interactivity and play to their website to boost visitor engagement.

In 2016, gamification’s contribution to marketing is widely recognized by companies, and the sector is worth over $2.8 billion. This market share has only increased, and specialists predict that it will reach 27.7 billion in 2026.

By inviting its audience to interact with it via a game or play mechanic, a company can considerably boost the impact and performance of its marketing campaigns.

To better understand how gamification has established itself as an effective marketing tool, whatever the industry, here are its 3 main benefits:

1. Increase user engagement

We’re naturally attracted by the prospect of a reward, but also that of competing against others. By introducing an element of competition, gamification increases user engagement by up to 48%. Because of their interactive nature, engagement rates for gamified campaigns are much higher. Introducing games into the online shopping experience, for example, increases the browsing rate by around 30 %.

2. Collecting data

But gamification makes it possible to share lead generation or preference gathering forms in a more organic way. The playful element and the possibility of winning a reward/benefit also boosts participation rates and encourages users to answer honestly.

3. Increase your conversion rate and boost sales.

Gamification also offers powerful purchase incentives. The simple act of sharing discount coupons with participants in a marketing naturally encourages them to buy from the brand. The VIP points system is another gamification mechanism that increases repeat purchases by rewarding consumers for their loyalty. As is the post-purchases game (via a QR code received after the order), which encourages customers to buy from the brand.

Gamification is a marketing tool that can be perfectly integrated into all stages of the customer journey and across all communication and sales channels. Whether at the moment of discovery, to encourage conversion or build loyalty, on social networks, in your online store or in-store… Interactive marketing can be used in many different ways.

• Make yourself known with a competition on social networks.

Many brands have opted for gamification to boost their visibility on social networks. Celio, for example, has partnered with a popular influencer to attract consumer’s attention for Father’s Day.

• Attract visitors to your website with an instant win.

Mechanisms of Instant-win such as the Wheel of Fortune are used to distribute discount vouchers to participants. This type of event, which offers the chance to win prizes instantly, is a great way to drive traffic to your online store and boost sales.

• Increase online purchases with a marketing game.

Brands can also integrate gamified formats, such as a pinata for example, directly on their website or app. This helps to keep visitors engaged for longer, effectively promote certain products or encourage purchase via targeted incentives.

• Know your audience and personalize your offer with an interactive quiz.

Whether in-store or e-commerce, an interactive quiz will enable the brand to better understand its customers’ needs. It can then offer them more relevant products or informative content with greater added value. Interactive quizzes are also widely used to raise awareness of a brand’s offering.

There’s no doubt that gamification marketing can help brands achieve their marketing objectives. However, there are a few points to bear in mind before you start designing an interactive campaign.

First, develop a marketing game requires creativity. Even a simple quiz requires the development of relevant questions that will keep the user’s attention right to the end. Gamified formats also require a certain amount of technical expertise, and may force the company to call on specialized tools.

Conclusion

SaaS solutions such as SaaS gamification platforms enable you to design, personalize, distribute and publicize your gamification marketing campaigns. Adictiz, for example, lets you choose from an exhaustive catalog the mechanics of your choice, according to your objectives. You can then adapt it to your brand universe and easily track the performance of your campaigns. The platform also enables you to activate the data collected directly from the tool, thanks to emailing and segmentation modules.