If you’ve young children, you’ll know this trick well: turning a mundane activity into a fun game is often the perfect way to get them to actively take part in it. A common example of this in use is when parents promise their kids a “reward” in exchange for homework completed on time.
Gamification works.
It comes as no surprise that advertisers have also picked up on the potential of gamification and interactive campaigns in their marketing and advertising mix.
This concept leverages game-inspired design and mechanics in non-gaming environments. Nowadays, many typical game-like elements like badges and rewards are finding their way into unlikely sectors like education, retail, banking and many others.
It’s an extremely powerful tool with a huge potential to give brands a strong competitive edge in this overcrowded market.
Encouraging Statistics
In 2021, there’s been an increasing demand for gamified systems.
After all, the COVID-19 outbreak has forced many industries to deal with their audiences from a distance, leading to the urgent need for new and creative tools to reach both their employees and customers.
A study by Gigya revealed that not only does gamification boost engagement by 1/3rd, it increases social media sharing by 22% and content discovery by a whopping 68%.
The overall global gamification market is predicted to grow in value from $9.1 billion in 2020 to $30.7 billion by 2025, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.4%.
These are interesting reasons for you to join the 93% of marketers who say they love gamification. Let’s look at some of the biggest benefits in store for companies who jump on the bandwagon:
3 Popular Ways Businesses Can Use Gamification
1) Meeting Customer Acquisition Goals
Nowadays, companies are increasingly turning to gamification to drive their marketing activities and boost their customer acquisition and retention. It’s being used to engage users tactfully across every touch point in the customer journey.
Take for example, Myntra, the popular fashion e-commerce site. Back in 2019, they gamified to boost brand awareness and promote their “End of Reason Sale” campaign. The app invited users to play games like quizzes and Spin the Wheel in exchange for points and to join their loyalty program to win rewards.
2) Gaining Better Customer Insights
It’s commonly known that customers dislike filling in the same boring surveys or feedback forms used by brands. Valuable real-time customer insights and actionable data can easily be gleaned through fun gamified approaches. This goes a long way in analyzing consumer behaviour.
Gamified surveys offering users financial incentives or loyalty points in exchange for their honest opinion is a promising tactic in marketing.
For example, when Nike launched their Nike+ and Fuelband accessories, it allowed them to connect with their customers better while simultaneously gathering data about them. They then used this personal data in their targeted content marketing campaigns. The incentives included competing against other users in their workouts and earning trophies and badges when they reached certain milestones.
3) Leveraging Immersive Technologies
Technology has helped gamification reach new levels of customer accessibility and interactivity. By using immersive technologies like artificial intelligence (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR), brands have effectively influenced consumer behaviour.
For example, the global retail chain Walmart implemented AR to transform their shopping experience. They teamed up with the popular Marvel franchise to launch Super Hero AR, a mobile app designed to boost in-store foot traffic and generate more sales. The game allowed fans of the Avengers to visit Walmart stores, collect victory points and unlock 5 “superhero powers” through AR technology.
Watch this video to find out what it looked like in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd46I0QTa0I&ab_channel=VuforiabyPTC
Time to Level Up Your Marketing Strategy
As gamified solutions by brands become more sophisticated, they’ll also see their impact increase. Smart brands that continue to experiment and innovate with existing gamified practices will reap the benefits. Even smaller brands should get into the game as well, especially with the availability of social media and other digital tools.
It’s time to differentiate your brand from your competitors.
One way we’d recommend doing that is by launching interactive and promotional “gamified” campaigns that give your audiences more than just information.
HT Media can help you with coordinated and strategic approaches to gamification. Our websites like hindustantimes.com, livehindustan.com and livemint.com delight and educate Indian audiences across demographics. Click here to step up your brand’s marketing game by leveraging our humongous reach of over 139 million audiences.
Ready to take your brand to the next level? Connect with us today to explore how HT Media can amplify your presence across our diverse portfolio of 25+ brands and properties. Let's turn your brand vision into reality!
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