How to Gamifiy Your Email Campaigns

Gamification engages email subscribers through easy, fun, interactive campaigns that result in a valuable reward for your readers.

Many brands seek to increase their open rate with promotions like sales and contests, but stop short of engaging their subscribers any further. Why not spark further interest by creating a game for your readers that rewards them for clicking-through to your promotion?

Most importantly, around 70% of marketers believe that interactive content such as gamification is successful at converting visitors.  https://www.agilecrm.com/blog/gamification-how-to-take-it-to-the-next-level-in-2020/ 

Gamification also increases:

• average time spent reading an email

• open rate (OR)

• click-through rate (CTR)

• revenue per 1000 emails  delivered (RPME)

• audience engagement

• social sharing

• data collection

The game itself should be easy to play, while capturing your subscribers' attention for longer-than-average time.

How many times have you opened your Google Search tool to find an interactive game in the search bar, and have completely lost track of time from playing it? Could you even remember what it was you were going to search for?

When Google Doodles first launched their interactive games in 2010, they started with Pac-Man. That first game grabbed users attention for a total of 4.82 million hours of play! https://www.engadget.com/2017-09-27-google-doodle-games-19-birthday.html

Of course, you most likely don't have Google developers working on your Content Marketing team, nor do you have their user base, but you can use their success as inspiration for how to gamify your email campaigns!

Your game can come in many forms, and you can provide a variety of options throughout your campaigns.

Embed Rich Content

Your game doesn't have to require complicated HTML or embedded JAVA-script to be successful.

By using a simple gif, you can offer an illustrated challenge that will be visually stimulating and fun to play!

Your game can also come in the form of a quiz or contest that challenges your subscribers to participate with their own content and share among their network.

Just remember, rich visual content like images, gifs, and graphics is 40x more likely to be shared on social media. (Buffer) 

https://buffer.com/resources/infographics-visual-content-marketing

And those shares mean more subscribers, which only stands to increase your sales!

Here's a quick list of 10 ideas to gamify your email:

• Badges

• Points

• Rewards

• Levels

• Leaderboards

• Spin-to-Win

• Loyalty Programs

• Embedded Games (will require a developer)

• Quizzes

• Crack-the-Code

As you begin to generate ideas for gamifying your emails, there are some other important factors to consider.  As with any email marketing campaign, you want your gamified email to fit in with your overall goals for subscriber outreach.

Have a Plan

What is the outcome you're seeking? Is it strictly to drive up sales, or to generate brand loyalty? Are you looking to explore customer behavior, inquire to their habits and how they interact with your products?

Because a single email never sits in isolation, your campaign overall needs a goal, and the gamified email needs to have a purpose within that overarching goal.

You'll also want to provide adequate follow-up from that email for those who participated, and reminder emails for those you opened but didn't click-to-play.

Consider all the usual aspects of drafting an email as well: your subject line, preheader text, the copy within the body of your email, footer, and your Calls to Action. Make sure your email and all of its content are optimized for mobile devices. These basics need to remain within the forefront of your gamified email in order to generate the success you expect.

Click here to develop a personalized email strategy for your small business!

Understand Your Subscribers

While you can just throw in any old game to motivate your subscribers, you'll have more success if you consider the motivations of your customers first. This requires a deeper look into your industry, the products and services you provide, and what your subscribers find valuable. What motivated them to subscribe? Which emails drive the most engagement? What offerings get them excited?

By reviewing your analytics, you'll gain a more thorough understanding of what excites your subscribers and sparks their desire to click-to-play.

Click here to learn How To Review Your Analytics And Begin to Audit Your Email Marketing Strategy!

Offer a Reward of Value

That reward can go beyond discount codes or contest entries. It could include free content or freebie products, exclusive access to VIP events, or loyalty programs. The value of your reward should depend on the motivations of your subscribers and ideal customers.

This is where your brand's creativity gets to shine!

Be Unique

While it is tempting to merely download some stock gifs and apply them to your email, a little bit of personalization, branding, and creativity goes a long way!

78% of consumers trust brands that produce custom content, compared to generic content. (The Content Council) https://thecontentcouncil.org

Think about how you can incorporate your logo, your subscriber's names, and original art into your game. You want your game to reflect your industry, and your subscribers' interests.

Your subscribers will respond, even if only subconsciously. By providing unique, interactive content, you are building interest, loyalty, and trust with your subscribers!

Be the Fun One

Checking your inbox is boring. Opening an email is boring.

You want your gamified email to have what the most exciting games have: inclusive access to an exclusive challenge, with a little bit of competitive pressure, the satisfaction of progress achieved and the promise of reward in the end!

The most engaging emails get shared, and sharing will grow your subscriber list. By making your gamified email fun and rewarding, your subscribers will be just as excited to share it with their network as you were to develop it!

Keep it Simple

Again, there is no reason why you have to hire a developer to generate a fancy, Angry Birds-style game for your gamified email. 

You can create a simple, cost-effective challenge for your subscribers that is engaging and rewarding without coding. It just takes a little creativity, maybe a few graphics, and something to motivate them to participate.

Need help in creating the perfect gamified email for your subscribers?

Rising Mountain would be happy to help! 

Click here to ask our experts anything about your small business email marketing strategy.