Gamification: What is it and how can I use it?

High tech meets my tech. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) can add a new dimension to your gamified marketing. It’s not all high tech though. For example, you can use a quick response (QR) code to access all sorts of exciting content. All people have to do is open up the camera on their smartphone to scan the code. 

 

You can showcase an interactive video or 3D model of your product. You can show potential customers how your product would look in their own home or workplace. You can even create your own virtual world and set challenges to demonstrate how your product solves people’s problems. 

 

People really enjoy engaging content and games will certainly attract their attention and make you memorable. 

 

As third-party cookies finally go into retirement, encouraging people to give permission to contact them is a top marketing challenge. Offering games that are both entertaining and rewarding is an option worth considering. When customers receive something in return they’ll happily give you information about their interests and preferences. 

 

Loyalty schemes. As long as your game relates to your product or service it doesn’t have to be complex or difficult. If you’re old enough, you might remember collecting Green Shield stamps, for example. When you collected enough you could ‘buy’ all sorts of items. You can learn a lot from the reward choices customers make. 

 

Personalisation. Depending on your business, you could offer your customers games related to their age or their favourite sport or team, for example. If you run a car dealership customers could win prizes by identifying makes and models from different decades. This can help you understand your customers so you can provide more focussed content and offers. 

 

Sustainability. We all know people are more concerned than ever about their environmental impact. Did you know that two thirds of consumers around the world will pay more for sustainable products? Games and quizzes are a great way to challenge myths and highlight your own environmental credentials. 

 

If you can reuse or recycle your products you can really engage younger customers by inviting them to return items to you for points or prizes. Why not offer to fix or refill rather than replace items where you can? You can award your customers extra levels within your game when they bring things back to you. 

 

Timekeeping. If your business relies on selling products quickly because they are seasonal or perishable, for example, games can help. A ticking clock is a good incentive to encourage people to buy before time runs out. You can run an easy competition to give people access to the countdown. Then you can give them an hour or a day to buy your time-limited items at a special discount. Or, your customers could take part in a time-limited game to win enough points to claim their discount. 

 

These are just a few gamification ideas for you to try. They can all work really well in your printed advertising and leaflets as well as on social media or online.