10 Gamification Implementations to Enhance Your Marketing Strategy Dramatically
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Joel Syder is marketing specialist and writer on gamification at PhDKingdom. He enjoys helping people to enhance their online marketing strategies that win, as well as creating articles about things that excite him. |
Marketing has come a long way over the last few decades, and there are plenty of marketing techniques, methods, and advice out there that’s designed to help you take your business’s marketing strategy to the next level. However, it’s important to note that the marketing industry is ever-evolving and progressing.
Nevertheless, only of the continuously praised and most effective marketing techniques is gamification or boosting engagement in a fun way that makes more people want to get involved. What increased engagement and higher returns in your business?
So, how to enhance online marketing strategies? Here are ten ways to use gamification to do just that!
#1 — Add Badges
If you’ve ever used an app or website that gives you badges for completing certain tasks, such as the language learning app Duolingo, you’ll have seen this in action. People love to earn rewards based on what they do, and applying badges is one of the best and easiest ways to do so.
#2 — Create Challenges
Everybody likes a challenge because it’s something to aim for. This is why so many businesses and organizations offer challenges for people to try and complete. Of course, this makes the process of reaching whatever end goal you’re setting all the more enjoyable and engaging.
#3 — Implement a Leaderboard
Whatever product or service you have to offer, having a point system where people can aim to be number one in their area, city, country, or even the world, can be a great way to inspire them to keep grinding and reach that prestigious position.
#4 — Create Interactive Stories
Creating an interactive story can be as simple as setting up web pages on your website where the user can go through and make a choice to follow a storyline. Of course, you can scale this to whatever level you want. Make the user feel like they’re in control of a journey that you’re providing for them.
#5 — Gifting
“Have you ever played the hit app Candy Crush? When you complete a level, the player is giving a gift to use in future games. Not only is this gift inspiration to keep going because they want to use it, but they also have the incentive to earn more, once again tapping into the human reward system,” shares Bill Benson, a UX designer at Brit Student and Next Coursework.
#6 — Make It Social
There’s no denying the impact that social media has had on the world, so bring this into your gamification practices. Allow users to connect with their friends and followers to join in the fun. Everything is always better when you’re doing it with friends.
#7 — Add a Tiered System
Even forums of the internet have implemented this feature to get people hooked on their service. The more a user completes certain actions, the more experience they get and the higher level they’ll become; making them want to use it more.
#8 — Start with Onboarding
“Whenever someone is entering your sales funnel, you want to make sure you’re highlighting your gamification practices quite early on to try and engage the user and hook their interest. Don’t go overboard and push it too hard, but make sure you’re giving them a friendly introduction” explains Jerry Turner, a marketing analyst for Australia2Write.
#9 — Run a Contest
Having a contest can be a great way to build engagement, typically because the user won’t have to do much for the reward. However, you can scale this as you please. For example, if you run a photography website, get users to send in their snaps, and then pick the best to be displayed on your homepage!
#10 — Voting and Poll Systems
The final, and relatively simple, form of gamification is to implement a poll or voting system into your content and services. This makes people want to see the answer and become part of the community that’s getting involved with something.
Once you form your marketing plan and include these techniques to your go-to market strategy, you will see the boost in sales and lead generation.
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Yan Anderson is the Head of Content Marketing at CS-Cart with over 10 years of experience in the eCommerce industry. He's passionate about explaining complicated things in simple terms. Yan has expertise in building, running and growing eCommerce marketplaces. He loves to educate people about best practices, new technologies, and trends in the global eCommerce industry.