{"id":8246,"date":"2024-01-24T17:02:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T11:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/email.uplers.com\/blogs\/?p=8246"},"modified":"2024-11-21T19:53:53","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T14:23:53","slug":"gamification-email-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/email.uplers.com\/blog\/gamification-email-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Dissecting Gamification in Email: The Nitty-Gritty, Tips, And Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As an email marketer, you want your subscribers to engage with your content. Gamification is engagement multiplied by infinity. You want to put your best foot forward so that your audience can perceive, via light entertainment, the character of your brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, of course, translates into tangible benefits for your business. According to Stripo<\/a>, gamified emails can increase conversions by 2.5 times. In addition, e-commerce companies say that gamification leads to a 14%<\/a> increase in average clicks in contrast to promotional emails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not so fast! We need to first understand what gamification in email newsletter marketing involves. We will explore its facets in this post. To begin with, what is email gamification?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Email Gamification? Savvying The Context<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is important to realize that we are not talking about games as such. The primary objective of gamification is to effect persuasion in the minds of users, leading to \u201cserve certain strategic business motives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis new paradigm,\u201d informs Luis Filipe Rodrigues et al. in their 2019 paper<\/a> on gamification principles, \u201crelates concepts that promote a human-machine interaction, and brings out elements such as persuasion, eye-catching design, and game mechanics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThus, gamification is a fresh mode of thinking, developing, designing and deploying software applications, which aspires to change users’ attitudes and behaviors,\u201d the authors add.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the framework within which email gamification operates. It is basically what the authors call a \u201cnon-game environment improvement\u201d for the promotion of products and services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Is The Best Time to Send Gamified Emails?<\/h2>\n\n\n
<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Notwithstanding the impact of gamification, you shouldn\u2019t send gamified emails too often. Usually, the tendency among certain brands is to view gamification as an alternative engagement strategy, which leads them to overuse it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, gamification is a discrete component in your marketing blueprint. There is a time for it. Sometimes you want to surprise your audience; at other times, your subscribers might be expecting something out-of-the-ordinary from you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(At Email Uplers<\/a>, we use gamification only during the holiday season. We have indirectly trained our newsletter subscribers to expect something interesting from us around this time. Each year, we fulfill their expectation, which amplifies engagement and loyalty.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With these factors in mind, let\u2019s explore the best times when gamification emails will work for your brand. <\/p>\n\n\n

\"Gamified<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

1. When The Holiday Season Is at Its Peak<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The holiday season is arguably the best time to send gamified emails. In fact, your audience more or less expects you to send entertaining emails their way during that time of the year. If you want to offer discounts, you can ask users to \u201cwin\u201d discounts for themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or you can simply use games for entertainment. We at Email Uplers sent the following Christmas quiz to our subscribers. (If you want, you can play the game here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Christmas
Image Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

2. When You Want to Amuse Your Audience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The thing is, as an email marketer, you can\u2019t always find relevant content to share with your subscribers. But you can still keep your audience engaged during those dry patches through gamification. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what Penguin Random House does in this email. The email does not include any incentive. It\u2019s pure entertainment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gamification_email\"
Image Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

3. When You Can\u2019t Afford Generous Discounts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This, too, is a great marketing tactic, which Kudrenko references in his ebook. When it is not possible to give away generous discounts to all of your subscribers, you could still leverage gamification and convert your limitation to an opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Which is exactly what Skills Life has done in this email. This Wheel of Fortune game implements the special offer with singular panache: now only one subscriber would win the lion\u2019s share of the discount, while others must be content with smaller amounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"gamification<\/a>
Image Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the following gamification email example, Boden also offers discounts through a similar Spin-to-Win game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Email
Image source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
\"Interactive<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

4. When Making An Exciting Announcement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Feel free to use gamification when making important announcements. You can transform a text-and-image-only announcement into something humorous and entertaining. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, in the following email, in which Parcel announces their virtual conference on email marketing, the tongue-in-cheek use of Outlook as the \u201cofficial hurdle\u201d in the game is amazing. Note how contextual the game is, as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Email
Image Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

5. When Launching A New Product<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You definitely don\u2019t want to make it a custom, but you may, at times, use gamification in your product launch emails. It\u2019s kind of a DIY launch if you will. Instead of you launching the product, your newsletter subscriber does it. We feel it is quite respectful on a brand\u2019s part.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out Chick-fil-a\u2019s awesome way of introducing a new summer drink. It is a superb way of using the legendary word link game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gamification_email\"
Image source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Characteristics of A Good Game <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Coming up with an interesting game is not simple. But if you know the anatomy of a good game, you will find it easier to produce one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have identified four non-negotiable elements of a good game:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. A storyline: Any good game has an interesting storyline. \u201cInteresting\u201d doesn\u2019t, however, mean it can\u2019t be simple. In fact, you want<\/em> to make these emails simple and achievable.<\/li>
  2. A goal: Your game must have a \u201cnon-stupid\u201d goal to motivate the viewer to play.<\/li>
  3. A character: Include a character whom the player can relate to. This is another way of letting the player immerse themselves in the story.<\/li>
  4. Rules: Make sure the rules of your game are easy to follow. Don\u2019t include too many. 
    <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    For our holiday campaign<\/a> last year, we incorporated the above aspects in the following Thanksgiving gamification email. It tells a story; has a goal; has characters; and just three easy-to-follow rules. (Feel free to try the game<\/a> yourself!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gamification<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Strategic Considerations for Email Gamification<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Thinking up a good game and actually implementing it \u2013 not the same thing. You must have certain strategic flagpoles to implement a gaming email newsletter template<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n