Checking in at places, movies, books, beer and other products, then sharing the check-ins on social networks, has become something natural for millions of users around the world. Just recently, Foursquare announced that it reached the 10-million-users mark and the company reported, back in February, that it was getting 2 million check-ins per day. How did Foursquare achieve these numbers? They used game mechanics to keep users coming back for more.
Going old school, the history of game mechanics
If you think that game mechanics are something that was invented recently, think again. Becoming a “Mayor,” or what is described as “Area Movement” in game mechanics, was being used as early as 7000 B.C. in a game called “Liubo.” “Go,” the globally known board game invented somewhere around 5551 BC, used something called “Area Enclosure.” “Area Control,” where players score points or gain abilities by having more of their units in an area than others, was being used in 1972 in a game called “Way to the White House.” “Swarm badge” anyone?
What makes people check-in?
People check-in for a variety of reasons: social status within their networks, belonging and interacting with a specific community, or real life rewards obtained online, are the most important. To become the “Mayor” on Foursquare of a certain location brings the user social credit and offline rewards; to have that exclusive sticker on Get Glue makes the user feel special and you can place that sticker on your laptop for everyone to see; to get a discount or a freebie on a certain location because you found an item when checking in on GoWalla makes it worthwhile checking-in.
Game mechanics 101
Your business has to be where your customers are.
If your customers are checking-in on your brand or product, and you aren’t there to reward them they will stop checking-in because you are not playing a game with them. Basic rewards, like a RT on Twitter with a “Thank you!” shout out will have a strong impact on the user, making them more willing to promote your brand or product within their networks.
Establish a reward system based on feedback and sharing
Engage users to review your products by awarding them badges and/or featuring them on a global leader board. The more a user engages the more rewards he can get toward a final time-based goal (weekly, monthly, etc.).
Make your reward system connect directly with social networks
You should reward users that not only engage on your site but are also spreading their engagement on their own social networks. Give them special rewards and feature them on your own social networks.
Develop special marketing campaigns for those that are more engaged
Loyalty should be rewarded: users that bring in new users, make the most comments, share their comments within their social networks should be rewarded by having access to special deals.
How to make customers play a game with you
Integrating game mechanics in your marketing strategy will be challenging and time-consuming but the rewards that you receive from the effort will be worthwhile.
- Start by making an assessment of where you are already present and start rewarding those that are broadcasting your brand/product on social networks.
- Implement game mechanics on your site deeply integrated with social networks
- Use available tools (APIs) to develop mobile applications so that you can be where your customers are at all time making it easy for them to play the game.
From giveaways to special editions, game mechanics can turn your marketing efforts into an enjoyable and fun game that you play with your customers and there are already some companies out there that can help you with it: OneTrueFan, Badgeville, BigDoor or Beintoo are some of those companies.
What do you think? Shall we play a game?
