What is Gamification? (And Its Benefits for Marketing)
Traditional marketing tactics are still effective. But as time goes on, they become less appealing to the eyes of consumers. Sure, you can run an ad that explains the values of your business, how safe your products are for consumption, and a detailed explanation about your new service. But people can just search for that through Google if they’re interested.
Most of the time, consumers will ignore your advert, especially if the premise follows the same old “At this company…” in the beginning and “Get yours now!” in the end. People need something interesting to have their attention diverted — something that actively calls for them to participate.
One of these attention-grabbing marketing strategies is gamification. It’s not a new concept. In fact, it has been around for years. Sadly, only a small number of businesses take advantage of this marketing strategy to its full potential and it’s probably because they don’t understand its benefits well.
In this article, we explain what gamification for marketing is, some examples to inspire you, and reasons to do it to drive your business forward. Keep on reading.
What is Gamification Marketing?
Gamification for marketing is a type of strategy brands use to reward customers, promote their products, and drive sales with game-like elements. Common examples are “spin-the-wheel” or virtual “scratch-a-ticket” schemes.
Companies like Philip Morris International (PMI), Coca-Cola, and Starbucks are known to be avid users of gamification marketing. PMI prints unique codes in their cigarette packs in which you can enter through their website and redeem for points. You can then use the points to participate in a virtual spinning wheel game where you can win prizes such as a red Camaro.
Coca-Cola does the same to their bottle caps. But instead of redeeming codes to spin a virtual wheel of prizes, you earn a raffle ticket for a future event. You might even win a trip to the Caribbean. Starbucks gives you a “rewards” card in which you can win their products after several purchases on specific dates.
Benefits of Using Game Elements for Your Brand
1. Increases and improves customer engagement
Your customers already engage with you as they make purchases. But by introducing a game in which everyone can participate with a chance of winning prizes, more patrons will ask questions like “How to join?” and “How to increase my chances of winning?” These are clear indications that they are willing to take action for rewards.
2. Helps you gather more accurate customer data
Before any event starts, all game masters must know the participants well. This ensures a fair game and that prizes will be claimed by the true winners. You should leverage data collection during the game registration process. By doing so, you’ll know which customer demographic makes more purchases so you can create specific and personalized advertising strategies in the future.
3. Grows brand awareness
Using the word “free” is a big no-no in advertising, especially in email marketing. It’s the easiest way to get your address or domain blacklisted as spam. However, gamification will let you bypass this rule without saying you’re giving stuff for free directly.
The phrase “win prizes” alone is enough to attract people to your business. Just make sure you pick the right contest, state the rules clearly, and deliver your promise. A good game for increasing brand awareness is through a referral contest. The customer with the most referrals wins.
4. Makes your brand more interesting
Let’s face it: Traditional marketing strategies are getting more boring each day. Even old people press the skip ad button on YouTube and Facebook just as much as Gen Z’s do. But if you use games as your advertising strategy, you’ll have more chances of receiving engagement from leads. After all, who would ignore a brand that offers free rewards?
Remember that games and prizes come in many forms. You can copy gamification marketing strategies that have been proven to be effective by others or make your own that’s unique and reflects your brand’s ideals perfectly.
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