Applying Gamification to Your Digital Marketing Strategy

Gamification has been recently defined as the incorporation of game-playing features into another activity to make it more interesting and enjoyable. It has been initially thought that the trend is a temporary craze, which will fade over the years. Later on, gaming has become one of the most profitable types of media worldwide and hence, gamification is currently used as a smart marketing tool in various industries. 

Throughout the years, we have seen businesses attempt to include gaming media into their digital marketing campaigns and gamification has turned into an integral part of digital marketing techniques, adding a level of engagement that has not been available before. Offering a sense of achievement, the new marketing tool triggers excitement and encourages people to revisit the website or the application, which they have enjoyed interacting with. It does not matter if the rewards of the game are tangible or intangible, and the biggest winner in this case is the brand, thanks to the gamification strategy, which has attracted a wider audience. Gaming applications dedicated to product marketing are one of the commonly used ways by brands to achieve that. Sometimes, a game can be successful enough to become the brand’s ambassador, increasing its reach to an even broader base of consumers.

To create a successful gamification strategy, you need to think about the following:

1. You should keep a balance between virtual rewards and tangible ones. User’s motivation comes from his/her own interest and pleasure in the game, which s/he plays. 
2. That depends on the user’s perception of the app’s engagement. On the one hand, if gaining points or levelling up is very easy, players may feel bored soon, but on the other, if the gaming process is very complicated, they may easily give in. Accordingly, your games should maintain good momentum to ensure users’ loyalty and interaction. 
3. You need to know your target audience very well as gamification should deliver meaningful benefits to users. Rewards are not only virtual points or online recognition and you have to offer something of a value to players.

Do you have any idea about the brands, which have used gamification first?

Don’t be surprised if you know that perfume, makeup and skincare brands have been at the forefront of industries using gamification in their digital marketing strategies. They have been smart enough to offer users rewards for taking the action they want. They may provide gifts, discounts, redeemable points and much more in return for subscribing to their blogs, sharing content on social media, buying their products or encouraging others to purchase them.  

If you belong to the above category of brands, you can join our clients, Maybelline New York and L’Oréal Paris, which are highly successful in gamification through digital marketing.

The success of gamification is achieved not only by the industry that creates it, but also by how well the games can be incorporated into the user's life and how much benefit s/he may get from playing them. Failure in doing so is the result of a company's enthusiasm for introducing games to its target audience with no consideration to human aspects, which make them something that they would like to use regularly.

In short, gaming has taken numerous forms year after year, and become one of the most common ways to spread the word about industries. Some brands have successfully integrated gamification into multiple aspects of their digital presence, ensuring that the purchasing experience is tailored to their customers’ motivation.