Zarrar Chishti - Gamification Marketing For Dummies

Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Finally, within this book, you’ll find many examples of gamification marketing campaigns from companies around the world. Some of these campaigns will have ended by the time you read this book; others will still be running. For the ones that are still running, I encourage you to sign up and start engaging with them. Experience what they have to offer and try to relate how each gamification element will work with your own campaign.

This book is for people who work in marketing or are responsible for their company’s marketing. Therefore, I do not assume that you are knowledgeable in game design or game development. However, I do assume the following:

You’ll be running a campaign for your company.

You know the basics of marketing.

You’re aware of and have experience in playing online games.

You have access to your company’s analytics program.

You have an in-house team or can hire a team of developers and designers.

Like other books in the For Dummies series, this book uses icons, or little pictures in the margin, to draw your attention to certain kinds of material. Here are the icons that I use:

Whenever you see the Tip icon, you can be sure to find something that’ll save you time or money or just make your life easier (at least when it comes to your campaign).

You don’t have to memorize this book, but when I tell you something so important that you really should remember it, I mark it with the Remember icon.

I’ve run loads of gamification marketing campaigns, and I’ve learned a thing or two along the way. If I can save you from the pitfalls I know are out there, I will! Whenever I warn you about something that could cause a real headache for you and your team, I use the Warning icon.

Occasionally, I dig into some information that’s a wee bit technical. If that sounds like your cup of tea, look for the Technical Stuff icon. If you’d rather stick to only the things you need to know, you can safely skip these tidbits.

In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes some free access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet for information on how games can change your marketing forever, tips on how gamification campaigns differ, and advice on data security for your gamification campaign. To access the Cheat Sheet, go to www.dummies.com and type Gamification Marketing For Dummies Cheat Sheetin the Search box.

If you aren’t familiar with gamification at all, start with Chapter 1— a very good place to start. If you already have a good understanding of gamification and you’re familiar with the basics, you can probably skip ahead to Chapter 3and start learning how to kickstart your first gamification marketing campaign. If you’re all about the data, head to Part 4. And if you just want some inspiration, check out Chapter 15.

Wherever you start, you’ll find information you can use on your next gamification marketing campaign!

Part 1

IN THIS PART …

Find out what gamification marketing can do for you and how campaigns can fit with your goals.

Explore the various types of gamification marketing models.

Chapter 1

IN THIS CHAPTER

Seeing how gamification works in marketing

Identifying what sets gamification apart

Determining which gamification elements will work for you

Thanks to the rise of gamification, marketing campaigns around the world have become increasingly more engaging. Gamification marketing campaigns offer your audience an experience, not just content.

Building gamification elements into your marketing will give your next campaign a serious advantage. Gamification enhances user experience and increases your audience’s engagement. Another advantage of gamification is that your audience will be more inclined to interact with and share your campaign.

The application of gamification elements in business is catching on fast. Gartner research projects that more than 70 percent of Forbes Global organizations will have at least one game-based application, and that half of all companies that manage innovation processes will have “gamified” them. This opens a wonderful opportunity for you and your team to drive specific behaviors and motivate audiences to perform tasks that would require a lot of effort and time in a non-gamified campaign.

In this chapter, I look at how gamification can help with your marketing and then explore how it gives your campaign an advantage over traditional forms of marketing.

Using gaming elements in your marketing campaign may sound strange at first. But in my 15 years of gamification and marketing experience, I’ve found that gamification is a highly effective marketing strategy, no matter which industry a brand is in.

When you gamify your campaign, your audience will have fun interacting with your brand, which means your company will increase its overall engagement. It’s a win-win situation!

The ultimate goal for gamification is to drive your marketing objective to collect big data. I explore this subject in great depth in Chapter 11. But for now, just now that you can analyze big data to glean insights that can lead to better decisions and strategic business moves for your company. So, it’s not just about giving your audience a fun experience — it’s about gathering data about your audience while they’re having fun.

In the following sections, I explain what exactly gamification is, tell you how you can gamify your marketing, and share some examples of successful gamification marketing campaigns.

Gamification is simply the process of applying techniques and concepts usually found in games to something outside of games — in this case, your marketing campaign. Chances are, even if you’ve never heard of gamification marketing before, you’ve experienced a gamification marketing campaign, whether you realized it or not.