Hey guys! Dc here; Looking for a winning marketing strategy? Get into gamification; fun goal-based promotions that lead your customers to reap rewards! I recently did a bit for Atlantic Business Magazine about gamification. It’s comin’ on strong, y’all – and I’m feelin’ it, because engagement (aka feeling like your customers dig what you’re doing) is what matters.
Here’s Alisha to tell you how to bring your game and take home the prize.
It’s child’s play
Why do we like games such as 카지노 커뮤니티? Is it the artificial risk, the sweet taste of victory, or the hint of fun in a boring grownup world? Who cares! It’s a blast and a great way to connect with your customers!
McDonald’s figured out the game plan years ago with its Monopoly partnership. You buy a fries and peel off a sticker for a chance to win instantly or collect pieces of the board game to win bigger prizes.
It made you go back and order, again and again. And we can’t forget the annual insanity of the drive thru for Rrrrrroll up the Rim.
Play on, playa’
Online games like easyslots are about a momentary escape, but they can lead to your brand sinking into their subconscious minds. Candy Crush Saga players have spent more than a billion dollars on in-app purchases via the ads booked by businesses just like yours in the last year. The mobile games market is worth $25 billion. Woah.
Playing by the rules
Gamification sounds like a big complicated project, probably re-coding your website, or getting into complicated legal rules, but it doesn’t have to be. Follow this formula for big wins in your marketing game (and check out examples of our work and others; some of the biggest and best out there).
Make it brand-relevant
This seems small, but it’s so important. If your brand is cheeky, be cheeky with your game. If there’s a giveaway, use your products or something that compliments you. If you own a shoe store and can’t giveaway $300 pumps – don’t! Give away a pedicure, a smaller, but relevant service or discount.
NikeFuel
NikeFuel lets you compete against others in how much exercise you get. The smartphone app matches up with Nike’s brand values of staying active and healthy, while users get to collect points, trophies and rewards. Getting a gold star always feels good, and since trophies and rewards can be shared on social media, the success grows exponentially.
Go back to the basics
Don’t reinvent the wheel, think about simple, childhood games like snakes and ladders, spot the differences, or word searches or jumbles. Clear games people already understand are easier to pull off and can make a big impact.
M&Ms Word Jumble
This wasn’t our work, but we got to give props to M&Ms for this search puzzle. Such a simple concept, but it had a huge impact.
Keep it simple, silly
Don’t complicate your game with tons of rules or steps. In person, a scratch card, or online a simple puzzle, or trivia question can drive interest or engagement.
Old Town Pizza What’s For Dinner
Every week we posted a question, “Why can’t you cook dinner tonight?”
There are plenty of great excuses, we heard how people had to work late, how ballet, swimming, and hockey took over the evening, and the best, a creative story about how the kitchen magically disappeared!
With 30 to 40 reasons and stories each week, not bad.
Provide value
You’ve got to give something to get results, but you don’t have to spend a lot on that giveaway. A small prize is always nice, but even easier is giving away valuable information.
Janes & Noseworthy No Debt
For Janes and Noseworthy we created a quiz. Consolidating your debt isn’t exactly an exciting topic, but we added a quiz at http://nodebtnl.ca/ to assess users’ financial health and the results tell them what to do next.
Celebrate the winners
Want to keep the excitement going after you’ve given away the prize? Easy, congratulate them! A photo online of them picking up the prize, a press release on the excitement of a huge prize can go a long way to keeping people talking about the game. One can also check out mobileR in case their mobile has issues regarding normal functioning.
Smith’s Ugly Couch Contest
We created this contest – run over four weeks – asking people to share photos of their ugliest couches to win a brand new one from Smith’s.
This got people involved, got them to take action, and in the end hundreds of people shared photos and were entered to win, creating great interaction with the page, and keeping people laughing as the sofas got uglier and uglier.
Two can play that game
The best marketing is when both the company and the customer benefit.
Whether it’s a loyalty program with badges and rewards, a small giveaway, or a full on video game based on your company’s services, adding a bit of fun can increase engagement between 100 and 150 per cent.
Game, set, match
That’s it! Game on! Check out this gem from Atlantic Business Magazine, and read my comments on how Pokemon Go helped boost a bunch of businesses.
It’s time you thought about adding a little fun to your marketing, whether you’re Marks and Spencer or mom and pop, we’ve got the game for you.
Get in touch and we’ll help you make the winning play.
