The notion of play is as old as humanity. It plays an important part in how we are as a species and for each one of us as individuals.
But why is the concept of playing so important for us and more importantly to you as a business?
Playing is the easiest, safest way in which we learn, researchers quoted by Psychology Today said. And by letting our audience play with our communications, we teach them about our brand, our service, and how to interact with us. Learning leads to action, and action leads to ROI.
How can our advertising best play with our audience? This is where gamification comes in. Gamification is marketing that borrows what is best from the world of games: points, leaderboards, and endless engagement fueled by fun. If you want to level up your brand strategy, gamification is the way to go, and here are a few points why you should start gamifying today.
Let the creative mind games begin!
Using gamification in your next communications campaign has one big advantage: it lets your creativity defy the usual conventions of the advertising medium to greater effect.
It’s your game, your rules now. Let gamification inject game-specific mechanics into your campaigns. Just think about the possibilities. Imagine you are selling slot machines, and instead of a traditional campaign, you let your viewers take their first spin by scanning your with their phones. This approach offers your viewers unique freedom and can drive them to engage with your brand proactively.
Insert two sides of the same coin
At a glance, gaming and advertising might seem like two very different mediums. When in fact, they have a lot in common.
On one side, both games and ads love to tell a story. Storytelling lets the audience build a deeper connection by blending what is real with imagination. Games to this to justify the mechanics behind what you can do in the world they present. Advertisers do this by unexpectedly showing a product’s or service’s benefits.
On the other side, gaming and advertising rely heavily on neuroscientific triggers, more commonly known as hooks. Gaming hooks you with clever mechanics which feel satisfying to use in the context presented. Advertisements use strong visuals or memorable concepts or taglines to capture your attention.
As you can see, gamification and advertising go hand in hand. Start using it, today!
Pass control to your audience
Gamification allows your ads to become more compelling. Once you start to introduce game principles in your advertisements, you will see they become more personal and more engaging. Why? Interactivity is the key. In classical advertising, the principle is show don’t tell. Gamified ads take it to a whole other level by rather than simply showing, you are inviting your audience to interact with you. You give them control of the outcome by giving them the opportunity to win a prize, points, fame, and fun by playing a game powered by your brand. Your viewers will spend more time with your brand and product this way without even realizing it.
By letting your audience control the way they experience the ad, you can better control the outcome. It’s a win, win, a play to win.
Personalized but not invasive
Privacy is always a concern when it comes to effective advertising. Big data, and small data, should all be used without compromising the identity and well-being of consumers. Gamification allows advertisers to create more personal and more engaging content than ever before without impacting privacy. It helps shift the perspective that brands today are just stalkers who quietly lurk to gain our email addresses and feed us spammy messages. Brands create gamified experiences which become personal through how each and every consumer interacts with what you put forth. Because no one is the same, no interaction with your gamification campaign will be the same.
And every interaction with the audience becomes an opportunity to know them better. Today’s analytics let us learn more about how much time they spent with our ad, when they engage, where they engage, and what drives them to engage.
Press F for fun
Entertainment has become the biggest playground on Earth. Everyone is in the entertainment business: brands, sports, streaming services, and more. And while ads have always been entertaining, with gamification, we push the boundaries of what fun is for our customers. It’s the same principle of how attract the crowds with bright lights and stay for the fun and games. Identify your brand’s potential for entertainment and capitalize on it through gamification.
Gamification is a lot more present in today’s advertising. Introducing game-specific mechanisms transforms advertising into a more personal experience with which consumers interact for real. This creates an emotional bond that tends to form a longer relationship with the brand. Being personal, the gamified experience turns consumers into influencers because we share the good news with our friends. In short, gamification teaches us a new way to play the advertising game and that those who play win.