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The word "gamification" seems to be something new, but in fact, it is game mechanics that have been used for a long time and widely by all more or less large companies to promote business and achieve specific goals.

The best-known examples of gamification are incentive lotteries with coupons collection, contests in social networks, loyalty cards, and special discounts "for the most beloved customers." Maybe, on the web you saw an interactive banner with a mini-game that takes you to the site? This is another gamification element, the purpose of which is to lure a new visitor to the site.

Such techniques can be used at each stage of the sales funnel, pushing potential customers and customers to the desired action for you.

In this article, I will talk about the 3 most effective mechanics of gamification, which you can enter into your business easily and quickly.

Advertising with the game

Perhaps you use printed materials to advertise your company services.

Any advertising brochure or leaflet will become more effective if you add an interactive element to it - a simple riddle. Needs to place a crossword puzzle or a logical riddle on one of the pages with the reward promise for solving. If the client solved the puzzle, you give him a promotional discount or bonus. A proposal to seize the opportunity may look like this: “Solve our puzzle to learn a keyword. Enter it in a special form on our website to receive a gift! ”

Even if the client doesn't immediately try to take advantage of this offer, he will want to keep your advertising material for himself, so that later, just in curiosity, try to solve the riddle. If the client copes with the crossword and finds out the keyword, he will receive a reward by entering it into the form on the website.

Of course, you can give a potential buyer a discount for free. But the game mechanic, in this case, the solution to a crossword puzzle or riddle, gives the client a sense of the greater value of the discount he received, because he received it for some work.

To make your crossword, complete these steps:

1. Choose any web service with the creating crosswords function. 

Among the good ones - cross.highcat.org, also good puzzlecup.com and crosswordus.com/puzzlemaker.

2.Choose words.

Best to choose the words that most closely describe your business - what you do, what you sell, what services you provide to customers.

Below is an example of a crossword for a company specializing in tourism and leisure activities.

3. Assign a number to each word.

For each word you should add a number and a simple hint sentence so that the client can guess what it's about and where to enter the answer.

Example:

To the word "Tourist" we assign number 1.

Your hint suggestion may be:

1 - A person who came to rest in another country.

4. Select the word for the discount.

This will be the very word that a client can use to get a discount. In a graphics editor, coloring this word in a distinctive hue and make a note that the keyword is under a specific number. Where you have numbered words with suggestive hints, the keyword needs to be given a good clue so that the client understands what it means.

5. Make a form to enter a keyword on the site.

This is necessary so that the client can take advantage of your offer and get your prize. The discount can be issued in the unique promotional code form.

6. Distribute your offer

Make a beautiful design for your promotional products, print and distribute among customers.

Game mechanics for the form of collecting contact information

Many visitors are lazy to fill out large forms on sites, so they often drop the case halfway and prefer to simply leave the page. The client doesn't care that for some businesses, extended data and customer wishes are needed to understand what can be offered.

This problem can be minimized by adding an encouraging animation to the questionnaire with approving comments. A questionnaire filling indicator in percentages is also working well here. These simple methods allow the client to see how much is left to the end and it will be easier for him to complete the questionnaire.

Again, it’s better if the animation or motivating comments are relevant to your business.

For example, one company in the field of auto loans designed this game mechanics as follows. They added an animated speedometer to the questionnaire on the site. The speedometer starts to move in response to each item filled, and the customer saw similar encouraging inscriptions: “You're so quick! Can you faster? ”When the client finished with the questionnaire, the speedometer changed to a greeting inscription.

This technique, which added interactivity in the questionnaire, led to the fact that customers of this company began to fill out forms to the end more often.

How to make such game mechanic on the site

1.Develop an animation design concept

The concept should fit your field. As mentioned above, the speedometer is well suited for automotive topics. If you have a service to travel around the world, in the process of filling out the questionnaire, the client can observe how an animated cruise liner across the oceans crosses the globe.

It can be done differently: for example, instead of animation, the client sees that his personal discount is growing for each filled field.

2. Make a ProgressBar

This is such a line with a fill indicator. In it, the client will be able to see how many fields he has already filled in as a percentage.

Filling out the form can be divided into steps. At each stage, a person will see what is filled, what is being filled and what is only to be filled:

For ProgressBar you may need a programmer and designer.

If among the friends, acquaintances or staff there are such experts - well. But if not, the freelancing services can help you. On freelancing sites, you can make a technical task for potential performers, create a description of what you want to see in the end and select a freelancer with a good portfolio that best meets your criteria.

3. Check the work done

After the layout of your ProgressBar is ready, ask the specialists who were involved in it to show its work and test. This is necessary to verify the work correctness. If all is well, then you can embed ProgressBar in the site form.

4. Get results

Check out what happened. Now you have more customers who have completed the form to the end.

Sales growth with gamification

Companies that have many product lines often face this problem. The client thinks for a long time what to buy, is lost among the huge choice and as a result, refuses to buy at all. Here you can implement a slot machine, which will enable a client to win a discount in an interactive form. In addition, you can make another game mechanic - for example, the fortune's wheel makes a choice for the client, urging him to buy.

By fortune's wheel, I mean interactive animation on your site, which repeats the principle of work and the design of a real gaming machine.

If you have a gift shop, a specific product may be important to your customers, as presents are usually chosen by loved one's people. You can help a person to determine by reducing the time of his thinking. The client can turn the fortune's wheel as much as he wants until gets a really interesting option for him. So, with the help of this game mechanics, you will turn a boring digging in the catalog into an interactive game.

In one pizzeria, a similar game mechanic was used. Customers for a long time couldn't decide what to order. The owners of the pizzeria introduced fortune's wheel on the site, which showed a random pizza. This led to the fact that people have become faster and more often to make orders. In addition, the roulette can be implemented in such a way that, in addition to the main product, the choice of a related product is shown to customers.

Yandex IT company also used a weather prediction game to get more action from visitors to the site. Users could even break the lever if too often pulled off it.

The BM Institute made another version of this gamification. A potential client could spin the drum on their website. If the game had three identical services, the person received a discount on the purchase of the course. This increased sales, since buying a course with a discount is more profitable than without.

One grocery store also increased sales with game mechanics. Their customers visited the site didn't know what to choose. Owners added a game element on a website. The customer first chose what he wants to cook. After that, the system selected products for the client's dishes that were suitable for the recipe.

In addition, the store has worked with the community on social networks. The client could cook a dish and boast a photo of the result. All this has increased sales and store visibility for new customers.

Gamification can be considered as a variant of viral or advertising creativity in marketing. The easiest game mechanics, such as crossword puzzles on booklets, require very little time and investment. Others may cost more, but they can also look more impressive. However, those and those with successful implementation gamification elements always increase sales and, as a result, the business efficiency. Regardless of what you do, in any area there is always a bit of space for interactivity and games.

With respect, Vladimir Kalugin.