8 Tips for Successful Gaming Marketing

If the past couple of years have taught us one thing is that gamifying pretty much anything turns it into instant gold. From Fortnite blockbuster concerts to Squid Game, Netflix’s biggest success to date, when it comes to playing a game, people are instantly hooked. The psychology of gamification is unique: giving the player the power to control the narrative, reinforcing positive behaviour, noticing evolution and potential growth. Adventure and escapism are two strong human needs that make us more open to change, learn faster and retain information better. Playing games is a great way for marketers to offer rich and diverse experiences to consumers who are already saturated by so many marketing strategies and techniques.

More and more marketing campaigns use gamification to promote brands among consumers as useful information and relevant content.

Thus, marketing teams who use gamification can improve customer engagement and enhance interaction with the brand. In addition, as users play actively in games, they increase brand equity by adopting the company’s values, goals and are more likely to engage in word-of-mouth after having a positive experience. Nowadays, word-of-mouth referral is an indispensable way to build an effective and cheap marketing acquisition strategy. It also increases brand reliability and credibility.

But how do we apply gamification in a marketing strategy. Here are 8 tips we’ve come up with to retain customers through a marketing campaign based on gamification:

1. Set clear objectives

Players must know exactly what are the objectives and goals that they must achieve in the game, so it is essential that goals are listed clearly, allowing players to keep them in mind throughout the game. After all, it’s the only incentive pushing them to finish the game.

2. Keep it simple

Our brains are very used to games, rules, objectives, and prizes. We’ve been playing games since our early childhood and so our minds perfectly understand the dynamics behind gamification. We recommend the game stays simple with a clear set of rules, levels, and timeframes.

3. Offer rewards

Through a clear reward system, player engagement is increased, increasing brand loyalty and positive feelings towards the company. The rewards can be any element the company might find beneficial to drive interest (coupons, discounts, product samples, premieres, experiences, financial incentives…) Badges are also a great way to recognize achievements and positively reward customers.

4. Promote competition

Competing with others makes players feel that their activity matters, that they’re part of something bigger than them. They’re sharing an experience with a group of people all while demonstrating their best achievements and performance. Competition is a great way to keep them motivated to continue playing and maximizing results.

5. Also promote collaboration

Competition is a great way to build suspense and a sense of adventure, but collaboration is key to building a sense of community. Linking players with other players or with their friends allows companies to stay top-of-mind because we usually associate names, people, places to positive experiences.

6. Identify the target you want to reach

Gaming allows us to obtain a large amount of data that can be essential when making strategic decisions. Therefore, it is important to define what audience is to be reached. In today’s world, demographics are more diverse than ever, yet gaming remains a solid activity common to everyone.

7. Set dates and frequencies

Marketing campaigns work best with specific deadlines, timeframes, and key dates. Creating a sense of exclusivity around the game helps create a buzz, which drives more traffic and interest. Regularity is also key. Are there chapters launching every week? Is the game mimicking an advent calendar around the holidays season? Is it a one-time game for a specific event? All these different metrics have different uses, make sure you know what’s expected from a gamified marketing campaign.

8. Get feedback

A player completing a game is sitting on a goldmine, so companies must be able to get in contact with their players to get feedback about the overall experience, the difficulty level, timing, and other specific information. On top of valuable data that can be very useful for the company, asking for user feedback gives players an increased sense of value and a allows companies to become more consumer-centered.

Once these tips are understood, gamified marketing campaigns can become a powerful tool to acquire new customers and retain brand loyalty and attention. Naturally, more and more companies are betting on this tool to launch new products and services, allowing them to cut through the noise and deliver the information directly to an actively participating customer.