Have you ever been a part of something where you are able to complete tasks or challenges in order to level up or gain some sort of reward? This is the act of gamification. We see it CONSTANTLY in the world of marketing today. Whether we recognize it or not. I think of gamification within a loyalty program as a staircase that one is climbing to reach a goal. Most of the time, there are little treasures strategically placed along the way, which will keep you coming back for more! Paharia notes in Loyalty 3.0 that it is human nature to be intrinsically motivated by autonomy, mastery, purpose, progress, and social interaction. (Paharia, 2013) This is what gamification taps into as it motivates people through data. It is very beneficial for a company as it increases customer engagement, retention, and loyalty. It produces higher sales and revenue, as well as gathers valuable data and audience insight for a business. The most significant of all though, is the increase in social interaction which is something everyone desires. This is why IT WORKS!
     There are Key Mechanics of gamification that when utilized, create a successful model to increase loyalty. These include:                                                                                                                      1) Fast Feedback
This plays into the intrinsic motivators: mastery and progress. This can look like when a company instantly reinforces good behavior, strategy, and tactics or enables you to learn quickly and adjust when a mistake is made. An example of this would be a message that flashes across your screen telling you that you've hit a milestone (in real-time) and suggests the next action.


2) Transparency
This falls into the progress and social interaction category. People want to know what they agreeing to be a part of. Examples of transparency would include an individual profile page, list of goals and the user's progress toward them, and leaderboard pages. Essentially, making all of the data that the company is collecting visible to the user.


3) Goals
Setting goals naturally taps into a sense of purpose, progress and social interaction. These would include achievements, challenges, and missions. Usually these goals include a description of what needs to be done to accomplish it, an indicator of how much time is left before it expires, a reward for completing it, visual indicators of progress, and a others in a community who are working towards the same goal.


4) Badges
Similar to goals, badges exemplify mastery, progress, purpose, and social interaction. A badge is a literal indicator of a specific accomplishment or conquest of a task or skill. A badge's value stems from what they represent in a community. Think Boy Scouts! Humans love to collect to complete a set as well as visibly show things off.


5) Leveling Up
Leveling up is the same as badges in many ways. However, it indicates longterm, sustained achievement. Leveling up is more of a status symbol within a community. Typically, reaching a specific point balance unlocks certain special abilities, goals, badges, content and rewards, indicating a "level up".


6) Onboarding
Onboarding simply pertains to mastery and internal motivation. This is the technique of training customers to use a product effectively without making it feel like training. This will drive sales and renewals.


7) Competition
Competition brings out our desire for mastery and social interaction. Within gamification, competition frequently looks like a leaderboard where consumers are able to watch, match, and try to exceed their competitors (which is the community of users).


8) Collaboration & Community
Collaboration and Community fall into the purpose and social interaction realm. We all have an innate need for social interaction. These two components create a unified mission within consumers that cultivate a sense of belonging and goes far beyond materialistic motivators. As a Christian, I am reminded of Hebrews 10:24-25 that reads, "Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."(NLT Bible : New Living Translation., 2018) The component of collaboration and community exceeds all other elements as it is a priority of the Church of Christ.


9) Points
Finally, points are indicators of progress and social interactions. For participants, points are a number that goes up and down that indicates how much of something you have and that you might be able to spend. For a business, points are a way of tracking or scoring an attribute of a participant. They can reward a participant for doing something of value to the company and can give the participants spending power, which benefits both parties.


     All in all, gamification is the third key element that creates the Loyalty 3.0 model that companies strive to achieve. It creates a sense of interaction that is beneficial to a business and to the consumer!
     See you text time!
 
NLT Bible : New Living Translation. (2018). Bible Society New Zealand.
Rajat Paharia. (2013). Loyalty 3.0 : how big data and gamification are revolutionizing customer and employee engagement. Mcgraw-Hill Education.