To keep people coming back for more, there is nothing more powerful than saying “thank you”. Here are four new ways to reward your loyal customers for visiting your stores, purchasing your products, engaging with your content or creating content for you.

2. Reward Gaming

As “gamification” becomes the hottest marketing buzzword, companies are increasingly gravitating toward games as the format of choice for branded experiences. The benefit of a game versus a static marketing piece is plain to see – a more engaging experience that necessitates repeat visits, creating a strong community of regulars around your marketing.

“[Traditional marketing] is failing because people today are seeking more reward and more engagement from experiences than ever before,” argues Gabe Zichermann, author of Game-Based Marketing. To this end, developing gaming mechanics that stimulate initial plays and repeat visits is key.

Points:

The most commonly used form of game mechanics, points allow you to measure achievements in a linear and limitless way. This creates an environment of competitiveness in the form of scoreboards, or, to use the gaming term…

Leaderboards:

Leaderboards encourage users to become power players to the end of seeing their name reach top rankings. To maximize competitiveness, create a universal leaderboard and one that compares a user’s points with those of their friends.

Levels:

Levels make a game more “sticky” by giving users an accomplishment to work toward, similar to…

Badges:

Like levels, badges provide an incentive to keep users playing in order to unlock symbols of virtual accomplishments. Badges also become part of the user’s identity, as they can be featured on a gamer’s page within a type of “digital trophy case”.

Prizing:

Of course, none of these mechanics should exist in a vacuum. Gaming initiatives work most effectively when players can exchange their digital achievements for real world prizes. This can range from company merchandise, to company products, to larger prizes that do not necessarily utilize your product but speak to your brand – like an exotic vacation for a company that makes travel backpacks.

Social:

The final step to ensuring your game creates maximized impact is to integrate a social layer in the rewarding dynamic. Compensate users for sharing interactions with your game to their audiences on Facebook and Twitter. There are mechanisms for prompting users to post such updates, even going so far as suggesting the content of the update to enhance fluidity between playing and posting. At the very least, posts that get rewarded with points should include @-mentions (or tags, in the case of Facebook) of your company. This maximizes exposure of your company to your user’s audiences, who can click-through on their friends post to your company’s page, and gives you a way to tabulate company mentions resulting from game play. For increased impact, ask users to recognize the promotion name in the form of a hashtag (Twitter) or event link (Facebook).

Other Posts in This Series
Reward In-Store Interactions
Reward Social Participation
Reward User Generated Content

Read up on a recent campaign we delivered with partner Maritz for Embassy Suites. It highlights the power of games in existing loyalty programs. It asks the question: “Why should I reward customers that are already loyal to my brand?”
http://www.maritz.com/News-Events-and-Insights/Social-Community/Man-vs-Brand/Brand-Engagement/Suites-Surprises-and-DelightsOh-My.aspx

Article Highlights:

• “The question usually surfaces after recommending a surprise & delight strategy that consists of a brand giving something of value to a customer just for being one of their best. A great example of the impact such a strategy can have is with a recent promotion we co-created with the Embassy Suites brand marketing team.”

• “One test group was linked to an online game experience where they were educated on the brands values and in the process they played their way towards their own selection of gifts. The interactive game was designed in collaboration with Maritz’ partner, Brandmovers.”

• “And the results speak for themselves. The email open rate for surprise and delight segments had a 53 percent average and the guests that received this unique treatment increased their stays by 10 percent over the control group. They also spent nine percent more during the promotion period. Remember, there was no requirement to book a room, but it occurred at a higher rate and with guests that were already loyal to the brand. Overall, the promotion generated a 246 percent ROI and we, ourselves, were “surprised and delighted” as these loyal guests responded by bringing a greater portion of their wallet share to the brand.”