There’s no denying the fact gamification is fun, especially in email marketing, which for obvious reasons, can quickly get boring if not executed properly. However, gamification in email marketing and that too for e-commerce remains a whole new dimension waiting to be explored for its true potential to be unleashed.
It is a pity that despite being ranked high in subscriber engagement, gamification is one of the most underrated and underused aspects while creating an email marketing campaign. With the ongoing pandemic showing no sign to slow down, the already booming e-commerce industry must continue to prosper. Hence, if you are a stakeholder in the e-commerce landscape, it becomes essential for you to leverage marketing aspects like gamification to draw more and more conversions for your business.
Today, let’s have a look at some of the most intuitive gamification practices that you can deploy to drive more conversions for your e-commerce business. But first, let’s get clear about what gamification actually is? As per Oxford Languages, “the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service.”
The entire strategy of gamification revolves around the single point agenda of subscriber engagement. The problem is that there are way too many channels for the customers that serve way too much information. This overflow of cluttered information makes the decision-making process difficult, especially in the digital space of e-commerce. Hence, the conversion rates take a dip. So, the more the customer engages, the more likely it is to buy a product or a service. And, nothing comes closer to offer immersive customer engagement than gamification.
You can imagine the importance of customer experience and engagement from the fact that as per a report from PWC, “88% of customers are willing to pay more a better experience.”
So how can gamification skyrocket your e-commerce conversions? Well, let’s find it out.
Product Recommendations
Developing product recommendations based on personality, pets, and other personality factors and then eventually presenting them to your subscribers through emails adds another personalization level and appeal to your email marketing campaign.
An easy way to insert gamification in your online store’s emails is by asking your subscribers a few questions such as gender, lifestyle, budget, etc. The deployed algorithms would present them with the best-suited products for them.
Do you want to create those enticing gamification emails for your e-commerce business? Well, taking assistance from professional services like Mailchimp email experts and Marketo certified professionals would take your email marketing campaign to the next league with more e-commerce conversions than ever.
One look at the example mentioned below, and you will understand what I am trying to convey. This email from Lyst is a great way to showcase the customers’ recommendations based on their buying behavior and preferences.
Theme-based quizzes
Another great way to increase conversion is by indulging the subscribers into a personality quiz based on a specific theme. You can create a set of questions and represent it in a visually appealing format in your emails. Upon receiving the emails, your subscribers would take the quiz, and you can serve any information to them as a result.
It can be a product recommendation, or even a sneak peek into the details of an upcoming product or service. You can even take it to your brand’s social media channels and lure your customer base to take the quiz and further widen its reach.
Reward-based Loyalty games
When you add the element of reward in a gamification campaign, be it on social media or as a part of an email marketing campaign, it’s appeal rises a notch above. Reward-based gamification has reported some of the highest conversions in the email marketing industry.
Here is an excellent example from Chick-fil-A. The brilliance of this emailer lies in the sheer simplicity of the concept and its execution. As you would see after scrolling down, the image features a simple word puzzle with the details about their product concealed in it. I mean, how cool is that? This has two significant advantages over a more ‘complex’ gamification addition: First, the time while searching for that word would be higher than, say, a usual poll. Second, when the users find the details of the product on their own, it would automatically create a recall value in their minds at its actual launch. Thus, increasing brand awareness and loyalty which would indirectly lead to more conversions.
Wrapping Up
A well-executed gamification campaign directly translates into higher customer engagement and eventual conversions for the brand. However, do not just blindly follow any tips and techniques. The beauty of gamification lies in how connected it can make the subscribers feel to a brand, and that’s precisely where the problem also lies. Gamification is a personal affair, and hence, it needs to be tailor-made as per your target audience or customer base. Spray and pray does not work here. So, these were some of the most profound strategies to incorporate in your e-commerce campaigns.
About us
Kevin George is Head of Marketing at Email Uplers, one of the fastest growing email marketing agency that specializes in crafting professional email templates, PSD to HTML email conversion and free HTML email templates in addition to providing email automation, campaign management, and data integration & migration services. He loves gadgets, bikes, jazz and eats and breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on his blog.
