What is gamification? The answer lies in the intersection of brand experience and game design. Simply put, gamification is the adoption and application of game elements and principles in a non-game context.
At CataBoom, we can empower anyone to build brand loyalty, reward behavior and create lasting engagement via the most effective and efficient gamification and rewards platform available. To take a deeper dive, here is all you need to know about how gamification can enrich your customer’s experience:
How Gamification Engages Your Audience
Gamification can effectively engage your customers, employees, and leads by giving them a feeling of accomplishment. By completing your game, they get a better idea of your brand’s personality and may feel more compelled to become a loyal advocate for your brand. In short, gamification taps into their emotions rather than just a desire for a product, prompting the user to interact with and build a lasting relationship. But what is gamification in action, and how does it work?
Understanding What Gamification Is and How It Works
The functionality of gamification depends on the kind of game or experience you wish to create. No matter whatever game you choose—spin to win, slot machine, puzzle, or scratch off—it should give the user an enjoyable experience in exchange for a conversion, be it contact information, downloading a resource, or any other tidbit of data.
But, for gamification to be successful, you need a few elements to get things started. Begin with an understanding of the audience’s motivations. If your gamification strategy isn’t aligned with your audience’s goals, no one will use it. So, always identify your goals before developing your strategy.
Secondly, make sure your interaction is compelling. It could be a matching game, a point system, a winning streak. Whatever you are prompting your audience to do, it should entice them to use your service frequently—and exclusively.
Finally, make sure you have a desirable end goal. This could be rewards points, or something that your interaction inspires within your audience. For example, for many health-related gamification strategies, the end goal is better health for the user.
Examples of Successful Gamification Strategies
These are just a few companies that have successfully implemented gamification into their engagement strategy to great success::
Nike+ Run Club - Health Promotion
Nike+Run Club is an app anyone can use to track their exercise and set activity goals. You can follow workout routines led by trained athletes, share your progress, and compete with friends. This, in turn, creates a community that promotes wellness and growth.
While it does not directly promote Nike’s products, it complements them perfectly. The more you exercise, the more exercise clothes you’ll want to buy. You can even insert what Nike gear you use during your exercises.
Google Doodle Champion Island - General Awareness
One of the more clear examples of gamification is Google’s game they created to support the 2021 Tokyo Olympics: Doodle Champion Island. During the Olympics, Google’s visitors could play a variety of mini-games in a larger game format, all within Google’s homepage. While you may not have the manpower to create a game as robust as this one, it can give you an idea of what’s possible with gamification.
My Starbucks Rewards - Customer Loyalty
An example of unifying gamification and customer loyalty, My Starbucks Rewards lets its customers accrue points for every purchase they make. Then, these points can be used towards in-store purchases or reward items exclusive to the program.
This gamified reward system can essentially train new habits into its users by literally rewarding them for purchases, making them feel more valued in the process.
Duolingo - All-Around Brand Experience
Duolingo is a company that gamified its entire experience by turning learning a language into a fun game, full of daily challenges, streaks, and difficulty levels.
Benefits of Gamification
Adopting gamification into your company’s strategy has so many benefits. Customers will automatically develop brand awareness if they find your game entertaining. And, if they tell friends and family about the experience, it’s an automatic word-of-mouth marketing win.
Gamification can also quickly—and easily—improv your engagement, prompting leads to stay on your site for just a moment longer while playing. You gamification strategy will also help promote your products such as Nike+ Run Club, which offers merchandise suggestions for different exercises.
Lastly, leads are likely to follow your call-to-action if a game leads them there, incentivizing conversions. It’s a much more enticing methodology than clicking on a banner ad or being interrupted by a pop-up plea.
Create Your Own Engaging Gamification
We hope we’ve answered the question of, “What is Gamification?” This easy-to-use tool is an alluring way to generate leads and engage your audience. And CataBoom’s gamification software can help you get started immediately. With CataBoom, you can create captivating games to engage your leads and effortlessly boost your conversions. Contact us today to start your free trial!
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