InterviewThe Founder of Scratcher Casper Christiansen Speaking About the Importance of Gamification
Gamification is the process of using gaming concepts in a non-gaming context in order to make a certain activity more fun and engaging for its participants. Nowadays gamification is applied in many different industries as it is considered to be one of the best ways to increase positive experience and enhance loyalty among the target audience.
Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down with Casper Christiansen, CEO and Co-founder of Scratcher - one of the leading platforms when it comes to gamification. He shared with us which are the benefits of gamification in the marketing funnel, how it works, how it can improve event experience, and other fantastic insights regarding the topic.
Check it out!
What are the benefits of gamification in the marketing funnel?
Casper Christiansen: Each stage of the marketing funnel can see benefits from gamification. It's all about creating a memorable experience and offering your audience an incentive to move them along in their customer journey.
For the top of your funnel, interactive experiences can be used to develop awareness and generate leads. Straight-forward games like the Wheel of Fortune or Scratchcard are recognizable and engaging, allowing you to increase reach and seamlessly develop your marketing list. Mid-funnel is all about data enrichment. Here, gamification can be used to familiarise your audience with your brand and its products think games that develop brand knowledge or ask visitors about their buyer personalities while you delve deeper and gather visitor demographics and individual preferences.
At the bottom of your funnel, create highly targeted, interactive campaigns with personalized messages. Games that increase conversions like My Favourites or Quiz help you nurture visitors and highlight known preferences, aiming to move them forward in their journey.
How is gamification driving more results?
Casper Christiansen: We often say that gamification marketing builds on the power of karma when people receive something (a prize, discount code, or reward points), they feel obligated to return the favor (a name, email, or phone number). It offers a memorable and engaging experience in return for valuable customer information.
Gamification drives results by using interactive elements and theories based in design, psychology, and behavioral economics to attract and retain customers. Because of its fun and engaging nature, gamification also helps to increase the positive impression your audience has of your business. This ultimately has an influence on customer behavior and leads to increased reach, engaged target audiences, boosted sales, and loyal customers.
How do you see the future of gamification?
Casper Christiansen: I believe the future of gamification marketing will continue to evolve and become more personalized and integrated into daily life. Companies will use gamification techniques to create engaging and immersive experiences for their customers and will utilize data and technology to tailor the experiences to individual users.
We're seeing a boom in gamification being used across industries and we're thrilled to be at the forefront! It will likely become more widespread and prevalent in a range of sectors, from retail and e-commerce to healthcare and education. Ultimately, the goal of gamification marketing will be to create lasting and meaningful connections with customers and drive business growth.
How can gamification improve the event experience?
Casper Christiansen: Gamification is a fantastic way to get your participants to fully engage with your event both in person or online. By adding an element of fun and competition to an event, gamification can make the event experience more enjoyable and memorable for attendees, and can also help drive engagement and participation.
Rewards are incredibly motivating! Almost everyone has a competitive side. Set up a physical wheel of fortune or a digital game linked to a QR code and create fun, interactive challenges at any stage of your event to reward your attendees for their engagement. This is also a great way to track visitor behaviors and gather insights on which aspects are most successful, helping you develop future events.
How to determine if one business should use gamification?
Casper Christiansen: I think the best thing about gamification is that it can be added to the marketing strategy of any company, regardless of its size or industry! One way to determine if a business should use gamification marketing is to assess the goals and objectives of the company and determine if gamification can help achieve them. For example, if the business wants to increase customer engagement and loyalty, interactive campaigns can be used to create fun and engaging experiences for customers.
Additionally, it's important to consider the target audience of the business and whether gamification marketing will be appealing to them. If the target audience is typically drawn to games and competition, it may be a good fit.
It's also important to evaluate the resources and budget available for implementing gamification marketing, as well as the potential return on investment. If the potential benefits outweigh the costs, gamification marketing may be a worthwhile strategy for the business.
About Scratcher:
Scratcher is one of the leading gamification platforms helping marketeers, e-commerce and businesses to achieve their objectives by improving engagement and enhancing loyalty among their target audience. Featuring a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor, Scratcher allows merchants to easily design, set up, and manage an interactive customer journey.