Why online games are a great way to engage your audience

Which of these questions do you find more appealing: ‘What is your job role?’ or ‘Describe your job role in exactly 11 words.’

If the latter grabs your attention more, that’s because it’s an example of gamification – the process of adding games or gaming elements to other activities.

Restricting the word count turns an open-ended question into a challenge, which can encourage more people to take part.

Adding online games or gamification to your marketing can be a powerful B2B tool. Whether it’s completing an arcade-style game to win a reward (e.g. a free download), adding a friendly competitive aspect (e.g. a ‘Top Score’ leader board), or gamifying survey questions as in the example above, utilising gaming techniques can motivate more of your target audience to get involved.

Not only can it make your content stand out, but it can also boost engagement, improve the customer experience, and help your lead generation level up. Let’s look at the benefits of gamification in more detail.

Better engagement

B2B decisions aren’t spur of the moment decisions. That’s why it’s important to nurture relationships with your prospective customers. Adding online games or elements of gamification such as rewards, competition, and levelling up at multiple touchpoints throughout the sales process can help increase engagement. Studies have shown that engagement can boost your brand lift by more than 300%.

Audience growth

73% of millennials hold decision-making roles when it comes to B2B purchases. So what better way to target them than by using a medium they know and love. After all, millennials are the generation raised on games consoles and video games and 37% of online gamers across the globe are millennials. To use gamification techniques in marketing targeted towards those born between 1981 and 1996 is to speak their language.

Improve customer experience

Games are fun. Designing a customer journey rich with gamification will result in a positive experience for your target audience. And when customers enjoy their interactions with a business they’re more likely to want to repeat the process. One study found that B2B companies who transformed their customer experience processes enjoyed a 10-15% growth in revenue and a 10-20% reduction in operational costs.

Lead generation

We know that having a sense of progress motivates people to work harder. This finding can be applied to the use of gamification in marketing where features such as rewards or leader boards offer people an incentive to keep going and complete an activity. For example, prospects may be more likely to provide further information, which you can use to generate leads, if they feel it will earn them a reward, such as moving on to the next level of the game.

Customers education

As well as entertaining your customers, gamification techniques can also educate. According to research, this is because games keep our brains – which are ‘wired for pleasure’ – engaged and happy. Let’s say you’ve got a new product launch that you want your audience to know about. A simple game where people have the incentive of levelling up by answering a question related to the product and its benefits is a fantastic way of getting people to absorb your content and learn about your new offering.

Bite-sized takeaway

So, as you can see, gamification can be an effective way to level up your B2B marketing by:

• Increasing engagement
• Educating customers
• Targeting new customers
• Improving the customer experience

In other words, choosing to power-up your digital strategy with gamification is a smart way to stay ahead of the game.