Are you struggling with engagement rates despite trying every trick in an email marketer’s book? So, what you can do is add some fun to your email marketing strategy for leveraging the inherent benefits it offers like improved sales and building brand awareness.
Gamification is all about making use of the game-related components in the emails. It is a game approach to solve non-gaming activities like audience engagement, employee motivation, and of course, marketing. It can help design interactive email templates, and this article will help you know everything about gamification in email marketing.
What Is Gamification In Terms Of Email Marketing
It is all about making use of game components inside emails for influencing the subscribers to finish tasks like getting registered for a conference, downloading an ebook, or buying an exclusive product.
Why Consider Gamification
There are many benefits of email gamification. Not only will it help you attract more subscribers, but it will also protect your list from degradation. By creating an interactive email, your subscribers will be more likely to forward it and engage with it. It will also allow you to get more customers and make more sales. By introducing games into your emails, you will be able to increase your chances of generating more clicks and attracting a wider audience.
Lastly, gamification can drive cross-channel engagement and stimulate activity on other channels, increasing your social media KPI. You can feature riddles that are solved or predict an outcome for an uncertain event where the right answer can land your subscriber a generous discount. You can also ask them to post a screenshot on their social media as an extended task to gain even more engagement.
Best Ways To Gamify Emails
Gamification in email marketing can be very effective in boosting subscriber engagement. If done correctly, gamification can increase your brand’s popularity. For instance, an online retailer could create a game in an email for subscribers to play and share. The winner gets a special voucher for their next purchase.
Some of the best ways for gamifying emails are listed below:
#1 Quiz
You can add trivia questions or puzzles for gamifying your emails. This way, your customers will have a feeling of accomplishment after getting rewards for answering the questions correctly. It encourages sharing and establishes loyalty. You can ask your subscribers to complete certain activities like voting on your social media handles to earn rewards, which in turn leads to increased traction and revenue.
#2 Wheel Of fortune
Wheel of fortune or roulette is one of the easiest ways for gamifying emails. All your subscribers need to do is tap a button for spinning the wheel, and when the wheel stops, it will reveal a prize.
#3 Scratch Cards
Integrate scratch cards into your email marketing strategy. Your audience will move their cursor to reveal a discount. This kind of email design is unique and delivers excellent engagement.
#4 Slot Machine
People love to win jackpot prizes. So, feature a slot machine in your email marketing strategy. Your people will need to pull the lever, and if they are lucky enough, they can win the jackpots.
#5 Puzzle
Puzzles are the best way to bring the thinking skills of your subscribers into action. Most people cannot resist solving a puzzle. So, when you include it in your emails, it leads to great customer engagement. Showcase a jigsaw puzzle, a crossword puzzle, or a riddle that is not too complicated.
One of the best ways to gamify your email campaigns is by creating a unique game mechanic for each email. These mechanics should be custom designed and different from what your competitors are doing. Your goal should be clear and achievable for users. When you create a quiz, make sure the questions are relevant to your brand and are easy to answer. Typically, these interactive emails are best used during special events or when a new product or collection is released.
Best Practices For Email Gamification
4 most common practices to gamify emails are as follows:
- Test the gamification model before you send it. Make use of good software, or you can send it to some different email addresses.
- Your target is to enhance engagement and eventually increase revenues. So, make sure that your puzzles or quizzes are easy to solve.
- Measure the results of your campaigns. Monitor your email’s response, and see if it is successful or not.
- Your strategy must go with your brand persona right from the colors to the experience.
Using a game to engage subscribers is a great way to increase open and click-through rates. The most effective gamification emails require no more than a hyperlink to your call to action button, which is usually a link to the product or service website. Once the user has engaged with the email, he or she is more likely to read and act on it.
Summing Up
While it may take more effort and time to implement a gamified email, it can make your emails more memorable and attract readers’ attention. By adding a fun and intriguing element, people will be enticed to open your emails and click on the links. By providing a prize worth winning, you can encourage people to engage and take action on your offer. If they have a feeling of winning a ‘prize,’ they’ll be more likely to take action on your offer to manifest the entire prize in the process.
But you must not overdo it, or else you will end up losing your charm. It is best to offer gamification emails during sale seasons, product launches, or holidays. Gamifying emails is one of the hottest trends at present that generates high revenue and engagement.
Author: Kevin George is the head of marketing at Email Uplers, that specializes in crafting Professional Email Templates, PSD to Email conversion, and Mailchimp Templates. Kevin loves gadgets, bikes & jazz, and he breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on email marketing blog.