We discover what gamification is and how to implement it in your company! Have you ever stopped to think about the way in which young children absorb all the information during their first years? The answer is, neither more nor less than through the games. The problem is that, when we grow up, we forget to play and that implies a stagnation of many of the areas of our brain.
In recent years, some of the largest companies around the world have incorporated gamification to multiple processes to achieve both internal and external objectives. From GumsUp we want to introduce you to this innovative technique so that you can motivate your employees to achieve success in your company. If you want to know what gamification is and how you can implement it in your company or brand, keep reading!
Discover what gamification is: definition
Gamification is a technique that is based on choosing everyday processes and making them fun. and interesting using game-like elements. These elements can be applied to increase the motivation of both internal employees and customers outside the company.
Some typical elements of a game that can be applied in companies to improve the commitment of the participants are the point system, medals, leaderboards, challenges, prizes, etc.
The main objective of gamification is make the activities of a company more fun, to encourage users to participate willingly and energetically.
Why should you consider gamification in your company or brand?
The concept of gamification has been applied in different fields such as marketing, education, health care and even business. This technique favors and promotes specific actions and behaviors that are beneficial for the company, for the individual and for the environment that surrounds them.
By incorporating game elements into different tasks, gamification is capable of making the user experience more fun and engaging. This results, in most cases, in an increase in motivation and productivity.
Benefits of gamification
Keep employees and customers happy, involved and motivated with their daily tasks is one of the priority objectives of any company and, especially, of the Human Resources team. Many of the companies are already implementing gamification in their new projects, because it can provide them with all these benefits:
- Greater commitment: Gamification can increase the participation and engagement of employees or customers, since you are turning tasks into playful and entertaining activities.
- Productivity increase: By incorporating elements of the game, this technique can stimulate the productivity and efficiency of workers. Setting clear goals and offering tangible incentives encourages higher performance in reaching goals.
- Improve learning as a professional: This can be an effective tool for learning and developing the skills of professionals. Since you will be presenting the information in an interactive and fun way, it will be easier for them to retain knowledge more effectively.
- Relationships are built: Humans are relational people, and even at work, we need to create our own social circle. By incorporating social and collaborative elements into gamification, you can encourage interaction between participants and promote customer loyalty.
Take note: By implementing a system like the one we propose, you can collect valuable data about the interests of your employees and customers, in order to use them in your marketing strategies.
Examples of gamification in successful companies and brands
As we have mentioned before, over the last few years, many companies have adopted gamification as part of their DNA and some cases have been really successful. For example: uterine
- Nike +: This app motivates Nike runners to reach and exceed their own fitness goals. They can also compete with friends and receive virtual rewards.
- Starbucks Rewards: This is a gamified loyalty program where customers earn stars for each purchase, to unlock different membership levels.
- Duolingo : Users earn points, level up, and unlock achievements as they complete lessons and reach their goals.
- Microsoft Xbox: Players earn achievements by completing certain tasks or reaching specific goals in games.
How to implement gamification in your company or brand
In order to encourage interaction between your workers and your customers, gamification can be implemented in many different ways and you will have to find the one that best suits the needs of your company. These are some of the key steps you will need to follow.
Identify your gamification objectives and know your audience
clearly defines what do you want to achieve with gamification, whether it's increasing employee engagement, improving customer retention, or fostering worker learning and development.
You will also need to understand the characteristics and motivations of your target audience. That will allow you to design game elements that are engaging and relevant to them.
Once you have it, you can set the rules and challenges that the participants have to deal with. You will also need to define the rewards or incentives they will receive for completing tasks or reaching goals.
Choose the right gamification platform or tool
There are different options of gamification software or applications available on the market, such as is the case of GumsUp, a platform that will allow you to easily integrate loyalty incentives, achieving immediate results.
Before implementing this innovation tool on a large scale, you can perform pilot tests to evaluate its effectiveness and make adjustments based on the feedback and results you get.
Final tips to implement gamification successfully
Our first piece of advice to start implementing gamification in your company is to surround yourself with professionals and have the right software to support you. This will help you create a professional and effective gamification strategy, both for your employees and for your clients. However, there are other tips that you cannot pass up:
- Design a gamification system that is easy to understand and participate always keeping simplicity.
- Set realistic and achievable goals so that the participants feel motivated.
- It incorporates elements of healthy competition between the participants, such as leaderboards or group challenges.
- remains open to changes and improvements as you learn from experience.
Conclusions
Gamification is a process that is generating more and more benefits at a business level, since it allows organizations and team leaders to train, motivate and develop their employees in a very different, innovative and effective way.
Traditional learning techniques are repetitive and less and less effective, so it's time to look for new solutions. Your employees will thank you and you will automatically reap the results.
In order to be able to implement these techniques in an orderly manner, it is good that you can count on a platform like that of GumsUP. Our tool will help you encourage and manage your team, as well as build customer loyalty by creating online promotions. Here you can see one Free demo.
If you are interested, you can contact us via email contact@gumsup.com and we will be happy to assist you, without any kind of commitment.
