Gamification is the use of game mechanics within a non-gaming context to help influence or change behaviour.
Gamification in marketing is the use of traditional gameplay mechanics to drive sales and marketing interactions, and branded games offer all the behaviour influencing mechanics in one neat package. By utilising leaderboards and rewarding players with points, badges, promotional codes/discounts, marketers can appeal to human competitive instincts.
Gamified user experiences are successful because they drive motivation. Applying gamification techniques to content marketing not only provides fun and meaningful opportunities for consumer engagement, game mechanics are able to drive specific interactions and motivate players to carry out tasks that are often much more difficult to achieve through non-gamified strategies.
You can read a little more about the psychology behind games and human behaviour in this detailed blog .
The history of marketing gamification
Gamification in marketing isn’t anything new – it’s a tactic that’s been used by marketers for years – think McDonald’s monopoly, the Nike+Fuel app and loyalty cards used by brands worldwide.
Gamified strategies are becoming increasingly popular amongst brands who are leading the way in driving brand engagement and fostering consumer loyalty. For example, Ford Motors increased sales by more than $8 million and boosted Facebook likes by 600% with gamified content.
It’s clear that gamification in marketing has its place. Whilst it may not be realistic for all businesses to splash out on huge gamification campaigns, there are other ways for brands to get involved. What better way than a branded game itself?
The benefits of games in marketing
Here’s a few examples of how games can engage and motivate your audience:
Push sales by offering discounts and in-game promotional offers
Stand out from competitors and drive footfall at events
Increase sign-ups for email and physical newsletters/promotions
Drive traffic to your website – whether this is to enter a prize draw or claim a prize
Whilst there are many benefits to using games in marketing, a poorly executed campaign will always fail to deliver. The user must always come first – if experience isn’t fun and the player feels bombarded by marketing messages then you’re going to struggle to see results.
To ensure that your campaign brings tangible results to your marketing, you should carefully consider what you want to achieve and design your campaign around your goals.
