Improve User Retention by Gamifying your Product
Why Gamification Works
Gamification involves drawing inspiration from video games when designing a product, with a focus on understanding and incorporating human motivations into each feature. It goes beyond simply incorporating elements from popular video games without consideration. Human motivation is diverse, encompassing factors such as risk-taking. While the iGaming industry effectively addresses this motivation, other powerful factors, such as the desire for creativity, customized experiences, progression, challenges, and shared experiences, often remain overlooked.
These aspects mirror the successful elements found in video games, which contribute to their status as the largest entertainment sector. Successful video games tap into fundamental human emotions, making factors like progression, mastery, customization, creativity, and camaraderie the driving forces behind every action. Although integrating gamification into a product can be challenging and time-consuming, the potential results are substantial.
Research supports the positive impact of gamification on human motivation. According to Zipdo, implementing gamification can lead to a 50% increase in motivation. Additionally, a study by Tobias Wolf, Welf H. Weiger, and Maik Hammerschmidt from the University of Goettingen indicates that all motivational experiences with gamified services significantly enhance customer commitment and willingness to pay. In essence, it is evident that incorporating gamification into a product can result in heightened engagement, improved retention, and increased revenue. The question then arises: how can one effectively implement gamification?
Integrating Gamification within Loyalty
Based on the findings of the Global Customer Loyalty Report by Antavo, companies implementing an active loyalty program can significantly reduce churn by 65%. Within this realm, those incorporating gamification into their loyalty programs experience an impressive 80% higher return on investment compared to traditional cashback programs. This underscores the effectiveness of introducing a gamified loyalty program or enhancing an existing one as a proven strategy for business improvement.
In the iGaming sector, prevailing loyalty solutions often heavily focus on risk-taking elements or rely solely on transactional cashback programs to retain users. At Scrimmage, we specialize in crafting gamified loyalty programs that not only provide users with fresh incentives but also set your product apart from competitors, all while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
According to the same Antavo report, the average company requires 16.2 employees to actively manage their dataset’s loyalty program. Instead of investing in a sizable workforce, consider leveraging our features to significantly enhance your metrics, offering a more efficient and impactful approach to building and maintaining a successful loyalty program.
Level Progression – Keeping Users Motivated
The concept of level progression is a crucial yet often misconstrued element in building an effective gamified system. In a study conducted by Dominik Gutta, Tobias von Rechenbergb, and Dennis Kundischa published in the Journal of Business Research, the researchers investigated whether gamification could sustain long-term engagement in a community by progressively increasing the challenge of goals after each successful achievement. The study revealed a positive impact on engagement when new goals were continually challenging. Simply assigning meaningless levels or tiers for participation does not contribute to increased retention; rather, users must be presented with meaningful and progressively challenging goals.
At Scrimmage, we empower companies to customize level progression in various ways. Each level achievement can be linked to the completion of user-specific actions, progressively increasing in difficulty. This unlocks new abilities, gameplay options, and redeemable items, motivating users to advance through the loyalty program while experiencing a sense of challenge and pride at each level attained. In modern video games, carefully constructed level progression leads to a sense of accomplishment for gamers upon reaching a new level.
In the iGaming industry, neglecting to provide users with a sense of accomplishment, even in the face of monetary losses, results in a loss of value. When users feel hopeless, their willingness to continue playing diminishes. A study by Andreas B. Eisingerich, André Marchand, Martin P. Fritze, and Lin Dong from the Imperial College Business School and the University of Cologne highlighted the importance of gamification principles that promote hope, emphasizing that hope is more strongly associated with customer engagement than the negative impact of compulsion. Users can lose money and still feel accomplished if they perceive progress and improvement. As indicated in the Zapdo study mentioned earlier, gamification can increase the time users spend on a website by 28%.
Quests – Solving Bottlenecks in your User Journey
Quests serve as a compelling method for companies to motivate users by offering rewards and a sense of accomplishment upon completing specific actions. A well-designed quest system can be a potent tool, fostering mutual benefits for both the company and its user base.
At Scrimmage, we’ve meticulously crafted our quest system to address challenges within an operator’s user flow, aiming to incentivize users to take desired actions. According to the Zipdo report referenced earlier, 72% of individuals feel more motivated to learn in a game-like setting, and incorporating gamification elements into employee training and onboarding programs can boost engagement by 60%. Our quest system proves highly impactful in guiding users through your product’s onboarding process, motivating them to overcome hurdles such as identity verification, linking bank information, and initial deposits.
Moreover, our quest system extends beyond retention and plays a pivotal role in referral acquisition.
In alignment with the study by Tobias Wolf, Welf H. Weiger, and Maik Hammerschmidt from the University of Goettingen, users are more likely to engage with referrals when tasks involve ongoing challenges and positive feedback. Our quest system is designed to reward and challenge users throughout the process of bringing their friends to your product. Companies have the flexibility to customize the rewards offered at each step of the acquisition journey.
Our quest system provides a diverse range of quest types, including:
- Solo quests – Users complete actions individually.
- Group quests – A designated group of users, organized through tags, completes an action together.
- Time-sensitive quests – Actions must be accepted and/or completed within a specified timeframe.
- Scheduled quests – Companies can pre-schedule quests as needed.
- Questlines – Quests grouped together, requiring sequential completion for a reward.
- AI-generated quests – Utilize our AI tool to generate quests tailored to users based on their tags.
Perks – Personalizing your User’s Playthrough
While personalization is a standard expectation in various industries, the iGaming sector has been sluggish in delivering tailored experiences to users. According to a study by McKinsey, 71% of consumers anticipate personalized interactions from companies, and 76% express frustration when this expectation is not met. Moreover, 78% of consumers believe that personalization increases the likelihood of repurchase. In the realm of iGaming, there is significant untapped potential for value creation, as users currently lack the means to feel that their betting experience is uniquely crafted for them.
Scrimmage addresses this gap by offering users a personalized betting experience through our perk system. This system enables operators to reward users with upgradable perks that enhance their playthrough. For instance, if a user is identified as an avid NBA fan who frequently places bets on Trae Young, operators can provide a perk offering a 1% odds boost on bets related to Trae Young, which the user can then upgrade for a more substantial boost over time. This approach not only incentivizes increased activity from users but also cultivates a sense of uniqueness in their betting experience. Operators have the flexibility to create an infinite variety of perks tailored to different player preferences, ensuring an exceptionally customized experience for every type of user.
Redeemable Items – Rewarding Different Player Types
The ability to tailor rewards is paramount in motivating diverse user types. At Scrimmage, we empower users to redeem their earned rewards for a range of options, including physical goods (company merchandise, jerseys, etc.), digital goods (tickets, coupons, etc.), or free bets credited back to their account. Operators have the flexibility to selectively present redeemable items to users based on various criteria, such as user level, betting activity, or assigned tags.
This customization not only ensures that users are motivated by progressively receiving more enjoyable rewards but also allows operators to strategically target specific users with redeemable items that align with their objectives. The versatility of our platform enables operators to create a tailored and engaging experience, enhancing the overall effectiveness of their loyalty and reward programs.
Scrimmage & Gamification
Gamification stands as a powerful tool to set your product apart from competitors, and it’s increasingly becoming a necessity for the new generation of users. Incorporating gamification into a loyalty program is a highly effective and proven strategy for boosting engagement. A study conducted by Jiyoung Hwang and Laee Choi from UNC Greensboro and the Hasan School of Business focused on the impact of gamification in loyalty programs. They found that, “the results confirmed that gamified loyalty programs (vs. conventional ones) increased consumer loyalty toward loyalty programs. The study emphasizes the essential role of gamification in customer relationship management and highlights its potential to differentiate loyalty programs from more traditional counterparts.
Scrimmage offers the expertise to either build a new loyalty program or revamp an existing one, with a clear focus on increasing retention, engagement, and revenue. Our integration process is swift and seamless, and we collaborate closely with your development team to ensure maximum effectiveness while minimizing the time required for integration. By leveraging gamification through our loyalty solutions, we can help your company stay ahead in a competitive landscape and meet the evolving expectations of the latest generation of users.
