Why Gaming Plays a Part of Marketing

We are exposed to a lot of games and it is part of growing up. Today, there is a wide range of ways where people can play, like video games and games available on social media sites. The reality is that gaming attracts a huge audience. This makes gaming a good marketing opportunity. 

We are not just talking about creating a game where gamers can see your brand while playing it. Marketers and website product managers are using a marketing strategy called gamification. Gamification is a way to engage audiences into meeting a marketer’s goal by using game-design techniques. The purpose of using game-design techniques is to push audiences to progress until they reach a goal. Goals depend on what a company aims to achieve.

Advantages of Adding Gaming as a Marketing Strategy

A lot of businesses are using the gaming technique to keep customers engaged and interested to a certain product or service. It is always a good idea to hold consumer interest and with the right gaming plan, this will prove beneficial to any marketer. Gamification is not playing games; it is more of using the dynamics of gaming as a web marketing strategy. It is a way of getting the right behavior from your audience. To achieve this, you present them with challenges with rewards at the end of every challenge. This gives them the sense of progress and something that they will enjoy.

If you are worried about your audience, according to Forrester, just about everyone is playing games. Anyone who uses the Internet can easily be attracted to the right game. This is why gamification is used by a lot of companies as a web marketing strategy. And through gamification, people are encouraged to do tasks that are ordinarily considered boring.

Companies who use Gaming

Companies are including gaming as part of their efforts to attract and maintain customers. Here are some companies that are gamifying their web marketing strategy.

·         Nike – Nike is gamifying the exercise experience by using an iOS app. The app allows you to save runs, set goals, and challenge friends who are also using the app. Users will recognize the Nike brand and will continue to buy Nike+ supported shoes. The app stays too because it makes working out fun and you can compare workout results with friends. Once you reach your goal of outrunning your friends, you can either get bragging rights or you get a healthy and balanced body as a prize.

·         Starbucks – the company together with Foursquare, rewarded customers who checked in to multiple locations and gained a “Barista” badge. A customer must check in to 5 different Starbucks branch before they can unlock the badge. Loyal customers get $1 off as mayors special. This strategy engages a customer to keep choosing Starbucks every time they feel like having coffee and to keep using the Foursquare app to earn badges.

·         Groupon – this company is the fastest-growing company, ever. It uses game-design techniques in a way that a progress bar shows how many have brought a deal or how many are needed to unlock a deal, the amount of savings you get once a deal is unlocked, then the rewarding feeling of getting a good deal.

·         Twitter – social media sites are good examples of gaming. Twitter uses gaming in a way that users are engaged to attracting followers. Those who do not have a Twitter account hear about it and create their own account and starts following others. The quality of your profile determines how many followers you can attract.

Gaming offers a lot of advantages to any company, but it requires careful planning. It is important that you have an objective in adding gaming to your website. Stick to your business goals and figure out what you want to achieve and how you can achieve it with gaming. Once you have your objectives, create a path to your goals and think how you can make your audience behave in a way to meet your goals. Think of ways of how to reward your audience. It can be anything from monetary (discounted products), followers (sense of importance), or anything that will make a person feel good about themselves.

In the end, incorporating gaming into your web marketing strategy rewards you with customer loyalty and the possibility of gaining more customers through word of mouth.

Author:
Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog and CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucks.com – a word of mouth marketing firm.   She helps create connection, credibility, community and cha-ching through mobile marketing and social commerce around your brand. She is co-founder of#brandchat - a weekly Twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding.