How does gamification in marketing work?
✍️ Word Count — 1,000+
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- Meta Image
- Why play? Why stay? Why spend? Framework (1)
Alternate Titles
- What makes marketing gamification successful
- 3 Questions that determine the success of your gamification marketing campaign
What is gamification marketing?
When games come to mind, the stereotypical image of a teenage boy hunched in his room playing video games pops up for most of us. But with the rise of gamification marketing campaigns in the recent years, we now see it as an “enhanced marketing technique that borrows design elements from games to attract and retain customers” (Bazaar Voice) from all walks of life. From gamified loyalty programs like Starbucks’ Rewards app, to KFC’s shimp-themed mobile game, it’s clear that gamification marketing is not just a trend and is here to stay.
Problem
At the same time, effective gamified marketing campaigns need much more than points, badges, and leaderboards (Yu Kai Chou). Chucking these elements into your traditional marketing campaign without considering key player psychology isn’t going to give you much success.
At worst, you might end up with a heavily-invested campaign that not many people joined, of which many dropped off afterwards, and that didn’t come close to advancing brand-related actions like sales, downloads, and exposure. Here are 3 essential components to be considered before launching your viral gamification marketing campaign:
1. Why Play?: The Rewards
The first step is to figure out how to attract people to your campaign.
Typically, a strong pull is required for people to perform an out-of-the-ordinary action because they are normally biased towards the status quo. People are motivated to start playing a game because of the attractive rewards offered.
These benefits can be tangible or intangible. For example, enticing players with cash and physical prizes, or with the entertainment or educational value that a game provides.
This core aspect will determine the virality and acquisition rates of your campaign. If the rewards are not sufficiently attractive, people will not even perform the first step of joining from Day One.
2. Why Stay?: The Game
You’ve managed to attract people to join your campaign. Now what?
Next, people will only continue to stay on if the game mechanics are engaging. Throughout the steps of playing the game, people should feel continuously rewarded and entertained.
This core aspect will determine the retention and engagement rates of your campaign. If the game mechanics are not engaging enough, players will drop off after joining as spending more time and effort is not justified.
3. Why Spend?: The Shortcut
Now that you have ensured that people are attracted and hooked into your marketing campaign, you can think about incorporating your own brand actions.
At this point in the gameplay, people would be willing to perform higher effort brand actions for powerful in-game advantages. For example, power-ups that help people overcome inconveniences. These would help to shorten the amount of time and effort required for players and allow them to progress beyond their peers.
This last core aspect will determine the conversion rates of your marketing campaign, and any sales objectives.
Putting the “Why play? Why stay? Why spend?” framework in action
Having gone through the “Why play? Why stay? Why spend?” framework, let’s see how it works in practice. Here are some of our past online-to-offline marketing campaigns that have creatively hooked people to participate, return, and spend through a game:
- #GrabRewardsville
Why play?
The majority of people are enticed by the prize of 100 million GrabRewards points, and offered an easy way to start playing with free seeds.
Why stay?
The game loop comprising of planting seeds, evolving trees, and earning points eases players into the habit of returning to the game frequently, and venturing out to plant. Moreover, missions help to guide players along the journey as well.
Why spend?
Once players are sufficiently familiar with the gameplay, taking Grab rides as a way to receive more seeds becomes an attractive option for them to gain even more rewards.
- #HuntYourZodiac
Why play?
People have the opportunity to win up to S$888 in cash from catching zodiac animals. To join, they can start playing right away from their house and are able to win a small reward easily.
Why stay?
With each zodiac animal caught, players receive Oranges that can be exchanged for Angbaos with cash inside. Moreover, missions to collect a range of different zodiac animals encourage players to return and progress in the game.
Why spend?
Players can obtain unique power-ups by performing DBS Paylah! business transactions. To make this even more attractive, players receive double the power-ups during a limited time each day.
- #HuntTheMouse
Why play?
Many were attracted by the possibility of winning S$50,000 and hence driven to participate in #HuntTheMouse. The accessibility of the hints also encouraged them to start playing immediately.
Why stay?
The free and frequent daily hints served to re-engage players consistently, where the constant availability of new information motivated them to continue searching for the S$50,000 coin.
Why spend?
In a race to find the coin ahead of others, players were invested in obtaining extra hints on top of the free daily hints. Using OCBC Pay Anyone and purchasing PastaMania food provided a relatively easy and attractive option to gain these extra hints and advance their quest.
Conclusion
All in all, designing a successful gamified marketing campaign depends on how well you can get people to play, stay, and spend. If guiding people through your gameplay can be as seamless as possible, then your gamification solution will have succeeded at acquiring, retaining, and converting players!
🕹️ Here’s a final checklist to go through when designing your own marketing game, with a few details to take note of:
🕹️ Is the reward attractive to entice people to start playing?
- Can attractive rewards be achieved with low perceived efforts?
- Is the onboarding process as effortless as possible?
🕹️ Is the game engaging enough for people to continue playing?
- Are players frequently rewarded with feelings of gratification?
- Are players cultivating the habit of returning to the game?
🕹️ Are the brand actions attractive enough for players to spend?
- Are brand actions regularly showcasing the unique product or service to the player?
- Are there special events that make the advantages of spending irresistible to players?
🕹️ Showcase featured case studies
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