Gamification in digital marketing has emerged as an effective way to drive audience engagement and improve brand loyalty amongst consumers.
Although games and gamification conceptually look alike, the goals are different.
The thing is, games are standalone activities designed purely for fun. In contrast, gamification puts game-like dynamics into other contexts to motivate and engage the user.
This differentiation is important for us to understand the change that gamification is bringing about in the marketing landscape.
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| How Gamification is Being Used in Digital Marketing? |
Approaches to Gamification That Are Most Widely Used:
Businesses use different gamification techniques to meet their marketing objectives.
Below are some of the most common strategies:
- Reward Programs: This usually comes in a point-based system, in which customers will receive points and rewards from brands based on purchases or certain actions. In Starbucks, the rewards app allows you to earn stars that you can redeem for free products.
- Interactive Games: Using simple interactive games (spin the wheel or virtual scratch cards) on a website to win discounts or prizes. These games can be played in a relatively short time and offer instant satisfaction.
- Progress Meters: These are used to motivate users to reach a milestone, such as filling out a profile or building out a purchase.
- Virtual Badges: Awarding badges to your users for a respective achievement is a great option to improve perceptions about your brand.
Why Gamification Works?
The reason why gamification works is simply that it taps into human psychology. Humans are attracted to challenges and rewards.
Marketers use mechanics borrowed from slot games like spinning wheels, unlocking levels, or bonus rounds, to make the experiences exciting, fun, and rewarding.
These mechanics simulate the excitement of a slot machine, in which the whole experience is designed to keep players glued to screens by offering little but consistent wins.
Gamified features like countdown timers or limited-time-only strategies, which are based on scarcity, are common for online retailers.
Not only do these tactics encourage immediate engagement, but they also foster long-term loyalty, allowing for fun interactions with the brand.
Real-Life Examples of Gamification in Marketing:
Here are some examples of successful implementations of gamification by various companies:
- Duolingo gamifies daily learning with streak counters and leader-boards.
- Nike embeds fitness challenges in its apps to generate competition between users.
- M&M devised a digital puzzle game to promote a new product line.
Gamification has even penetrated industries like online gambling.
Slot games nowadays are everything but passive, offering missions, levels, and leaderboards to keep players engaged.
Marketers have adopted these mechanics to create engaging campaigns with which audiences connect.
Conclusion:
Whether it is task-based points or game mechanics, gamification has changed the face of digital marketing from a boring interaction to a fun-filled experience.
Unlike games, gamification use of game-like elements to encourage certain behaviors, such as retention or awareness. So, marketers can leverage mechanics from slot games—such as rewards and progression systems—to engage audiences and develop strong relationships.
With the overall development of technology, gamification can be expected to remain a central part of the brand's interaction with its customers.
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