The power of gamification in marketing for businesses

Today, it’s pretty tough being a marketer

Our audience, their expectations, how, where and when they want to engage with content is changing and we are struggling to adapt. The average person is exposed to up to 10,000 advertising messages in a day. Firstly, how are they supposed to take this all in, and secondly how are we supposed to stand out? Let’s face it, it’s not only difficult, it is almost impossible.

As marketers we are always searching for the panacea, the magic pill that will solve all of our ills. We currently focus a huge amount of our time and resources around creating a data-driven marketing engine, and rightly so. We all know that data is the lifeblood of our businesses. However, in this rush to a marketing nirvana I can’t help feeling that we are leaving something behind. The fact that our audiences are humans. The way that they act and react comes from deep within their psyche. If we forget how the human brain captures, processes and acts on information then we will absolutely not be able to influence the audiences in the way that we, as marketers, want.

Gamification: a power tool for marketers

One powerful approach that builds on the way that our brain works is through the use of game mechanics. Gamification in marketing works so well because it taps into core motivational drivers of human nature; just think how you respond to game mechanics such as being involved in a challenge or competition, receiving rewards, understanding where you place amongst those around you, and of course, having fun. These are all powerful drivers for people to engage and participate in your communications.

The use of game mechanics enables us as marketers to take back control of marketing, allowing us to use the craft and creativity we have, alongside the data we have and collect, to engage audiences in a way that current practices simply can’t replicate. It’s the human to human connection that still makes marketing impactful.

Gamification is not new, but in marketing we have always had the challenge of scale, speed and cost of implementation. A technology like LeadFamly makes game mechanics accessible and easy to implement for all, and for the first time, allows marketers to inject gamification across all parts of the customer journey in a highly cost and time effective way. Enabling us to get, keep and grow customers — like Coop (39% average increase in spend amongst customers who collected their prize), Masai (50% cost-per-lead reduction), and VERO MODA (10,000 clicks driven to brand website) did — and drive business impact everyday.

Provide what your audience wants

The best thing that marketers can do is create value every day for their audience. Critically, the use of game mechanics helps customers feel that they are choosing to interact with a brand rather than being passively marketed to or being sold to. With gamification, the experience can feel authentic and personalised, which then strengthens the desire to be involved and increases engagement.

As Nicholas Babin, former CEO of Sony Europe and specialist in technology innovation says: “When games are used in a marketing context, the participant remembers the brand from a positive association and unique experience.”

That’s the essence of it, isn’t it: although marketing approaches change, our audiences don’t. As marketers we need to understand what makes them tick and how to engage with them in the most effective way.