Staggering numbers with gamification marketing - Here's how it works

“One of the most important things that has happened for our own customers is that the conversion rates have risen to staggering numbers,” says Riina Jäntti, product manager at Aste.

What does gamification marketing mean?

Gamification is the integration of elements familiar from games into non-game contexts. In marketing, this means that companies can use games, prizes and competitions to attract customers and encourage them to participate in desired activities.

Of course, competitions are nothing new as a marketing measure, but in recent years digital games have taken a big leap forward. With today’s tools, creating games is relatively easy, and there are numerous templates for different types of games.

Examples of different games:

Scratch cards, wheel of fortune, slot machine
Skill game: memory game, collecting game
Quiz: personality test, quiz, voting

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What are the marketing benefits of gamification?

Customer engagement
Games and prizes are always interesting. Customers are more likely to click on a gamified ad and spend more time with your brand compared to a regular ad.
Data collection
An engaging game makes it easier for customers to share information about themselves, for example to give marketing permission. In addition, games such as personality tests allow you to collect valuable data on customer preferences and behaviour.
Brand awareness
A well-designed gamified campaign can get a lot of attention, expand your brand awareness and reach new audiences.
Sales
Gamification can be useful at several stages of the purchase path. It can stimulate the desire to buy by presenting products or solutions to the customer’s current problem. It can also stimulate sales, for example by offering additional discounts as a reward.

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How to get the best marketing results from gamification

Set clear objectives

Before you start gamification, find out what you want to achieve. Is your goal to increase website traffic, gather more customer data or increase sales?
Understand the needs of your target audience

Know the needs and preferences of your target audience so you can design a game that appeals to them. A good game is entertaining or gives the customer something else of value, such as information about which products are best for them. If the customer has given you permission to use their data, use it to create different target groups and tailor the game to their needs.
Use the prizes

Attractive prizes such as discounts, free products or exclusive offers will encourage customers to participate. With prizes, you not only attract people to spend time playing the game, you also increase sales.
Keep the game simple

Too complex a game can scare customers away. Keep the rules and tasks of the game simple and easy to understand. Also make sure customers know how the game works and what is expected of them.
Analyse the results

Keep your gaming campaigns running for a long time and react quickly to the results. Use analytics to monitor the effectiveness of gamification and make changes on the fly if necessary.

Riina Jäntti is a designer and graphic product manager at Aste, whose work focuses on creating different kinds of games. Thanks to game design, customer conversion has reached staggering levels.

“In addition, games that have not had the immediate purpose of generating a purchase have, as a side effect, generated additional sales.”

Examples of successful gamified campaigns:

Newsletter subscription

Aste conducted a lottery with the client to increase the number of subscribers to the brand’s newsletter. After the first two game campaigns, the number of newsletter subscribers increased by a staggering 51%.

The price of one newsletter subscriber was €0.22, and the value of one subscriber is €15.40/month. This resulted in a significant increase in sales.

Additional e-commerce sales

The client wanted to increase sales of normal-priced products during a big promotion. This was achieved through a simple lottery game, where the prize was barcodes for regular-priced products and shipping costs.

Gamification marketing offers incredible opportunities for brand engagement and customer loyalty. By following best practices and understanding the needs of your target audience, you can create a game that captures their interest and keeps them coming back to your website again and again. Best of all, it can lead to a long-term customer relationship and increase your company’s success in the marketplace.

Text: Maija Vaara and Mika Niiniranta, Aste Helsinki

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