This Is How Gamified Loyalty Programs Help Businesses In The 21st Century
Gamification is a fancy word for the use of game mechanics. It’s been around for a while, but it’s only recently become popular in the business world.
With today’s technology and social media influence, games can now be used to motivate employees and customers alike, but it can also provide other benefits to businesses– like integrating it with loyalty programs.
Loyalty programs are a key part of any brand’s marketing strategy. They help you to create a sense of community among your customers and make them feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves.
However, customer loyalty programs have been known to have some serious weaknesses in the past—namely, that it’s hard for customers to spot their benefits or value from them.
Nowadays, brands are looking for new ways to bring their communities together by using gamification techniques as an effective way to engage with consumers.
With games and brand loyalty perks combined, you can surely create a better customer experience for your consumers.
In this article, we will discuss some of these benefits, including how they can help your brand grow by making customers more loyal & engaged.
Gamification In Loyalty Programs: A Rising Trend
Before we get to the itsy bitsy parts, let’s dive deeper into what gamification in loyalty programs is all about.
Gamification is the use of game elements in non-game contexts. It’s been around since the early 2000s and has seen an explosion of popularity recently, probably because of Millenials, Gen Zs, and Gen Xs taking over the market. In fact, the market is said to increase by up to $40 billion dollars on a global scale.
The strategy can be used to reward customers for their loyalty, increase customer engagement and increase customer loyalty by adding a sense of competition that encourages users to do more than they would otherwise.
It is often applied in loyalty programs, incentivising consumers to engage with their brand over time. Through this certain strategy, consumers are less likely to get bored with your loyalty program.
How Can The Use of Gamification Help A Business?
We’ve already hinted at it above, but allow us to elaborate on it. In a broad sense, gamification of loyalty programs or gamified loyalty programs increase customer engagement and loyalty, which are crucial factors for your brand.
Gamification also has the potential to help your company increase its customer lifetime value (CLV), making them more profitable over time.
This is because customers are likelier to stick around when they have a reason to do so.
Believe it or not, businesses worldwide have been using gamification to increase their brand awareness and sales.
Let’s just take a look at Autodesk, which leveraged gamification and lifted its trail usage by 40% and conversion rates by 15%. Another successful business was KFC Japan which created gaming content that stirred a 106% increase in store sales.
Gamification can be used in many different ways. It’s not just about creating a fun and engaging experience for your customers; it’s also about improving their overall experience with your product or service.
The Best Examples of Gamified Loyalty Programs
Gamification of loyalty programs is a growing trend, but there are some great examples of how it can be applied.
Spin To Win Games
You can add a spin-to-win game to your loyalty program to make it more exciting. The digital version of this can be extremely effective. You can offer prizes such as points, discounts, free items, or services. Customers may also be able to ‘buy’ a spin of the wheel using their points as a ‘burn’ opportunity.
Treasure Hunts
Adding a treasure hunt to your program will make it more interactive. The game can be launched online, in-store, or both! It’s a fantastic way to drive foot traffic to your locations, increase app downloads, and boost traffic to your website. A treasure hunt can transform loyalty gamification into a multichannel experience.
Scratch To Win Games
Having trouble keeping users active on your app? You might want to consider adding a daily scratch-to-win game. To make your customers happy, you need to offer them something special in each game. If you want to retain customers without cutting into your profits, we recommend that your default prize be points-based. You should still award larger prizes, like free products and services, but set a limit!
Quizzes & Polls
Are you thinking about creating gamified quizzes and polls? You can add a leaderboard to measure the highest scores, the most correct answers, etc. Make participation worthwhile by rewarding scores with points, discounts, or star prizes. It would even be possible to add a social sharing function to spread the word about your program online and to attract new members.
There are many more ways to gamify your loyalty rewards program, you can also ask our experts here at DX United for more ideas.
How To Introduce Your Gamified Loyalty Program?
You can introduce loyalty gamification in a number of ways. In fact, you are already creating a more gamified environment if you use a points-based reward system.
However, if you would like to go above and beyond with your program, here are some ideas.
- In-app currency. The first step towards gamification can be as simple as replacing points with a more brand-specific currency. The more ways you can use the currency than just collecting and spending, the better.
- Badges. Depending on the milestones reached or the activities performed, users can be awarded honorific badges. Badges make people feel accomplished and make them feel good about themselves. However, be mindful of your brand’s personality and target audience as you decide how to use this.
- Competitions. You can use competitions to test the waters before gamifying your entire loyalty program. Integrate your program with a gamified campaign and measure its success. In this way, you will have a good idea of what to do in the future.
Conclusion
Loyalty programs are a great way to engage your customers and build a base of loyal followers. This can be done by rewarding customers for their participation, as well as giving them a chance to earn points and prizes through regular actions on your website.
Gamification can help you make the program more exciting, fun and engaging for your users. With all these benefits in mind, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t start using gamification.
And if you’re looking for a way to integrate gamification into your current loyalty program or want to restart a whole new loyalty program, DX United is here to help you out.
Our agnostic, SaaS-based composable architecture gives you the ability to build the gamified loyalty program you so desire.
All you have to do is book a demo call with us so we can show you how it all works out.
Make your loyalty program fun and better than ever today!
28 November, 2022