Gamification – A Unique Spin On Promoting Your Brand

Gamification - A Unique Spin On Promoting Your Brand

We all have played games at some point in our lives. Some of us loved them as kids, and others are still geeks about them. From little snake games on flip phones to World of Warcraft on gaming laptops, games give us an immersive, unforgettable experience.

But can games be used for marketing? Of course, yes. You might have played a game on your phone or computer that was tied to a brand you love. There’s a chance you don’t remember it, but this type of marketing is becoming popular these days. Many brands are using it to boost audience engagement and brand awareness.

These games, along with apps and interactive content, are a great way to keep people attached to your brand. This way, they’ll keep coming back for more.

Read on to find out how to use gamification in your digital marketing strategy​

What is Gamification?

First, let's talk about what gamification is. Then, we'll learn how to use it for your brand.

Gamification is simple: It's about bringing a branded game into your marketing strategy. The game should have fun tasks, clear goals, a simple UI, and rewards to make it work. The rewards should compel people to create groups and share the results.

Different types of games can be brought into a brand’s gamification, including mobile apps, AR games, quizzes, polls, surveys, etc.

Besides boosting brand awareness, you increase engagement for your brand using games. As per Gallup, the engaged customer is likely to spend 23% more with their favorite brand than the average customers. Not only that, but 6 out of 10 customers are more likely to purchase from a brand if they’re engaged with a game.

When you bring games into marketing, it acts as a source of customer loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing. The chances of getting social shares increase if people enjoy playing your branded games. These social shares will act as a source of promotion for you.

Gamification is a good way to increase engagement and boost customer satisfaction

Games offer a framework for continual engagement and sharing. Eventually, they’ll create brand awareness using word-of-mouth.

Engagement is related to your growth. When people are continually attached to a brand, they see promotions and new products. This way, they will be spending more money on that brand.

All of this stuff is not theoretical. It has been implemented practically. Brands like Domino’s and Teleflora are living examples of using games for their marketing.

Domino’s saw a 30% revenue boost after introducing a create-your-own pizza game app. Teleflora users are given points for engaging with them on social media. They got a 92% conversion rate and a 105% increase in traffic from Facebook.

Now we know what gamification is and how it can bring engagement, customer satisfaction, and word-of-mouth marketing for you. Let’s look at a few other advantages and techniques.

Use this marketing tool to give users a sense of accomplishment

You want to help them stand out from the crowd. When you incorporate games into digital marketing, it compels people to compete. And when humans compete, they want to win. That’s human nature.

When people win your competition or game, they feel good. They want to share this achievement with their loved ones. This achievement creates more interest in them for your brand.

If your games feature an invitation, it's good too. Apps such as Pokemon Go are built on competition. They encourage their users to compete with their peers and see who wins. Apps like Zombies, Run help their users track their daily exercise in a fun way.

You can use features such as a leader board (a ranking system) for people who score high. It will make people want to continue playing. You can also offer certificates to winners. Alternately, you can let users exchange points that they earned for prizes.

Keep an eye on the demographics

In general, gamification works well for all ages. But it tends to outperform other ages when it comes to Millennials and Gen Z users, i.e., 18-34 age range. This age group spends billions of dollars in the U.S.

The reason why they are good for gamification is that they are accustomed to the digital world. The generations before them grew up with technology, but  Millennials and Gen Z saw high-speed technology while growing up.

Many young Millennials and Gen Z-ers consider tech a part of their identity. Two-Thirds of Gen Z Males consider gaming a core part of who they are. And when someone takes games that seriously, it heavily affects the brand they buy.

You might be excited about making a game for your brand. But keep in mind that it should be according to your users. Researching popular games among young people and emulating them can be a good move in the beginning.

Final Words

The attention spans of people are getting shorter with time. One study shows that it’s 8 seconds. This should be somewhat an alarming situation for you.

What I’m trying to say is that you should look for ways to hold people’s attention. One surefire way to do this is using gamification.

It’s about using different games for non-gaming contexts. The goal is to improve engagement levels and encourage users to take specific actions.

The tips and tricks I discussed in today’s article will help you promote your brand using this technique.

If you have any questions about today's article, let me know in the comment section below.