By D. Priya Dhatri | Club Executive Member | Marketing club - Crowdcore
Gamification marketing refers to using the design elements from games to attract and retain customers. Gamification drives consumers to perform an ‘action’ as it offers healthy competition and rewards. Common gamification practices range from points, spin-to-win, and even actual games.
Game elements like progress bars, leader boards and countdowns are often used in skill learning apps to prompt customers to use the services and in turn build brand loyalty. While many SaaS companies use badges and levels, e-commerce platforms usually use points and virtual currency to encourage customers to buy.
So why gamify your marketing efforts? Well, it’s because people love games! Video games have mass appeal irrespective of geographical and cultural boundaries. Gamified content is fun, exciting, interactive, and challenging. A report by Digital Marketing World Forum states that
"60% of consumers said they would be more likely to buy from a brand if they enjoyed playing a game with it.”
Gamification marketing is effective for not only capturing the customer’s attention but also for collecting valuable data. You can ask for customers’ names and contact information to put them on the leader board and to send exciting prizes when they win the games. You can now include your customers in marketing emails.
Gamification is also popular because it brings in user-generated content (UGC). People tend to share their best scores on social media. You can also use branded hashtags to give additional points or virtual currency to the players when they post. This created organic and word of the mouth (WOM) marketing.
So, why is gamified marketing not the norm? Despite its numerous benefits, designing the game elements is difficult. It involves a deep understanding of motivational and consumer psychology to affect consumer behavior. In other words, you must not only design a fun game but also make sure that it helps in achieving your business goals.