Top 3 Customer Engagement Ideas with Gamification
What is gamification?
One of the best methods for increasing customer engagement is gamification – the addition of game elements to non-game activities. While gamification is a relatively new term, the concept behind its success is not. Making any task more fun is an excellent way to encourage participation. Likewise, when customers discover that interacting with a brand is delightful, they are more likely to do so and recommend others join them.
Integrating a gamification strategy into your marketing yields a profitable return on investment. It involves taking a product or service that already exists and using gaming techniques to motivate customers into long-term engagement.
EonX enables organisations to establish precise rules and triggers designed to inspire customer engagement through relevant content, communications, and next-best actions.
Better engage customers with gamification
Engaging customers in a meaningful way that drives sales and profitability is easier said than done. Yet, conversion is one of the top strategies in measuring market success. Decision-making and creative marketing strategies only get marketers so far without that third critical component: customer engagement.
What is the big deal with customer engagement? For starters, engaged customers are informed customers. They possess brand awareness and are more likely to recognise your products and services as solutions to meet their needs. The more aware customers are, the more likely they are to become brand ambassadors, touting their positive experiences with your products and services to their friends and families.
The many benefits of gamification…
When implemented correctly, gamification is an excellent tool for companies wishing to increase brand awareness through customer engagement. There are many ways to incorporate gamification into your marketing strategy. We have found the following three engagement ideas to be the most effective.
1. Relevant and consistent communications
Gamification is a successful way to up your game when it comes to customer engagement and satisfaction. Corporations have used gamification to improve and enhance internal communications for years. But, finally, they are coming around to the notion that it also can be deployed for external communications.
Each of EonX’s platforms uses gamification to contextualise customer experience. Customers are targeted by demographic, segment, or tenure. All communications, Awards, and Rewards are customised based on a customer’s profile, providing a personal interaction and experience with a company.
There are several benefits to using one of our platforms to make customer communications more relevant and consistent:
- Customers are provided with a fully-personalised brand experience.
- It adds value to customers as it is tailored to meet their specific needs.
- Communications, Awards, and Rewards are sent to customers immediately. This consistency encourages longer periods of engagement and frequent use of the platform, keeping your brand at the forefront of their minds.
2. Incentives to motivate
Motivation is an amazing tool when it comes to customer engagement. Countless companies have employed this strategy for one simple reason: it works. A good Loyalty Program that uses gamification to Reward customers for stopping by, purchasing products or services, and touting the effectiveness of your brand on their social pages works wonders for any size company. A large part of any game is that amazing feeling a person gets when they win. That drive and opportunity to win will keep customers coming back to your brand.
When customers are encouraged through incentives:
- It increases their desire to engage with your brand because they are being acknowledged and rewarded for their loyalty.
- It offers instant gratification for that hidden desire to ‘win’ at something, which, in turn, encourages repeat interactions.
3. Alignment with business values
Every company has a set of core beliefs and values that differentiate it from competitors. Companies that can drive their shared values have experienced impressive returns on their investment.
According to a four-year study by John Kotter and John Heskett of Harvard Business School, firms with strong values:
- Increased revenue four times faster
- Rated job creation seven times higher
- Experienced stock price growth 12 times faster
- Enjoyed a 750 per cent higher profit performance
Gamification is the best way to turn core values into living guidelines. Simply reading written statements about what a company believes is not enough to convince existing and potential new customers that your brand walks the walk.
The customised tools on the EonX platform uses gamification to allow businesses to set dynamic rules and triggers specific to the behaviours, actions, and transactions they wish to drive. For instance, if customer-centricity is an important value, rewarding customers for recommending your brand to others is a great way to gamify that core belief. Doing so instils a desired brand identity and influences how consumers interact with your business.
The bottom-line
Knowing how to best engage your customers is an ever evolving task. The good news is, with EonX’s help, you can evolve with them.
Companies that follow these top three engagement tips will reap the rewards of their efforts. The bottom-line is, gamified, interactive Loyalty Programs are only the start of what will be expected from organisations as we progress in this technological age.
Get ahead of the competition and create a truly unique and value adding customer experience today.
Get in touch with the EonX team of specialists to schedule a consultation.
