While the term ‘gamification’ is relatively new, it has had a huge impact in the world of marketing. It refers to the concept of applying game-design techniques to external projects, and brands have quickly realised the value of capitalising on this to drive consumer engagement.

Intriguingly, this has changed the way in which online gaming has been historically viewed by marketers. While businesses were once wary of how so-called ‘gold farming’ websites were used to

install Trojans and access information through online games

, secure platforms such as Facebook have negated these fears and created a streamlined marketing channel.

3 Steps towards Creating a Successful Gamification Strategy

Even though, there remains some scepticism concerning gamification as a marketing technique.

Gartner recently reported that an estimated 80% of all such projects

would ultimately fail, thanks primarily to the way in which game mechanics are designed. For brands that strive to engage participants on a deeper level, however, gamification offers a unique opportunity to reach motivated customers organically and offer a strong value proposition.

With this in mind, here are three tips creating a successful gamification strategy: –

Create Games that Drive Behaviour

Ultimately, creating a successful gamification strategy relies on your ability to balance an engaging narrative with brand-specific goals and recognition. This creates a fun and relevant game, which in turn creates an experience that offers value to participants, drives brand awareness and influences behaviour in a positive manner.

To achieve this, you will first need to identify the precise type of behaviour you are hoping to encourage. This can take many forms, but the trend for engaging customers through organic and informative content means that you should to encourage gamers to interact prolifically with your messaging. Over time, this should naturally drive higher sales conversions while also creating higher levels of brand awareness.

Create Simple Game Mechanics

As we have previously touched upon, it is the design of game mechanics that have the single biggest impact on the success of gamification as a marketing strategy. This not only refers to your ability to create a secure and incorruptible platform, but it also demands that you create a simple game format that is easy to follow and understand.

This does not necessarily apply to the game itself, but more the process of triggering an action to generate a reward. As a general rule, each game should focus on driving one action and subsequent outcome, as this provides a simple marketing proposition that customers can easily identify with.

National Post provides an ideal example of this

, as it clearly details its game mechanics and how each action relates to a specific reward.

Create Clearly Defined Layers and Levels that drive the user Experience

With a clearly defined strategy and game mechanics template in mind, the next step is to ensure that you optimise the user experience with alternate levels and layers of gameplay. This is where you get to focus primarily on user engagement, as each level should offer its own unique value and contribute towards a carefully structured journey.

To drive this process, strive to ensure that each level of gameplay offers its own brand-related challenge and subsequent reward. This will not only make sure that every conceivable element of the game is engaging and relevant, but it also creates an infrastructure that can include organic, optional purchase options.


This is arguably the most important aspect of your gamification strategy, as users must be empowered with a viable choice when it comes to subscribing or parting with their hard-earned money.