We’ve become so accustomed to seeing basic email popups that we often tune them out. This is known as banner blindness—and it’s a real thing.
But this doesn’t mean you should give up on popups! To avoid banner blindness, you just have to make your popups interesting so visitors don’t ignore them.
You can do that by using a gamification strategy.
We’re going to look at the benefits of using popups with gamified content and talk about how you can use this tactic to boost your online store’s conversion rates and increase sales without disrupting your users’ experience.
Let’s do it!
What is gamification in marketing?
Gamification marketing involves involves applying elements from games to your marketing strategy, either by creating gamified ads or gamifying your actual product.
Some gamification examples in marketing include:
- Awarding points to site visitors who answer surveys
- Adding leaderboards to your referral marketing campaign
- Creating playable mobile advertisements
- Gamifying your email list-building popups
What are gamified popups?
Gamification popups are a popular way to add some fun to the user experience (and increase conversions at the same time). Lucky wheels, scratchcards, and pick-a-gift popups are great examples of gamification marketing campaigns.
Lucky wheel: Spin-the-wheel, wheel of fortune, spin-to-win… many names, same game. Customers spin the wheel to win a prize.
Pick a gift: Customers choose their own gift from several mystery options.
Scratch cards: Visitors can virtually scratch off a card.
But why would you want to create a gamification marketing strategy in the first place? Let’s look at some of the benefits of a successful gamification marketing campaign!
Benefits of a gamification marketing strategy
Gamified marketing comes with several benefits, including:
- Greater engagement: Customers naturally want to play your games to see what will happen. For you, that means capturing a lead or sending the customer down the sales journey.
- Increased sales: Roughly 60% of customers said they’re more likely to buy from your brand if they have enjoyed your gamified content.
- Gamification works well with Gen Z: Gamified marketing speaks to Gen Zers who grew up playing video games, appealing to their competitive spirit and desire for rewards.
Just how effective is using gamification in ecommerce to solve challenges with conversions?
Here’s an example from one of our gamification case studies. The company Babyberry created a spin-the-wheel promotion to motivate users to sign up for their newsletter.
Customers could spin to win exciting prizes like discounts and free shipping. The end result? Their conversion rate soared to an impressive 12.43% and they collected more than 3,000 email subscribers.
You can enjoy these same benefits by adding a gamification popup to your online store. Something as simple as a spin-the-wheel popup is perfect for lead generation.
Should you set up a gamification marketing campaign?
Absolutely. It’s an excellent business strategy. Here are some stats to prove it:
- Gamification techniques can boost your conversion rate by as much as 700%.
- Gamifying elements of your website has been shown to increase visitor browsing time by 30%.
People love interactive ads. More than 90% of customers prefer interactive content, and gamification gives them that interaction they crave. It’s simple consumer psychology.
5 gamification examples for ecommerce stores
We’ve looked at the benefits of gamification marketing, but how do you actually get started with it? Below are 5 successful gamification ideas you can use for your own site!
1. Grow your email list with lucky wheel popups
Lucky wheel (or spin-the-wheel) list-building popups are one of the best ways to collect email addresses, and they have a 13.23% average conversion rate.
Here’s exactly how they work: when a visitor sees your spin-the-wheel popup, they’ll need to enter their email address and then spin the wheel by clicking the “Spin!” button. When the wheel stops spinning, the visitor receives a prize (like a discount code), which they can use at checkout to claim their reward.
You can customize the prizes, as well as the probability of winning each.
To get started, pick a template from OptiMonk’s expansive library of lucky wheel popups:
2. Offer discounts with a pick-a-gift popup
The pick-a-gift popup is another gamification strategy that can help to create a memorable website experience your customers will love. This type of template is also an effective way to build your email list.
Here’s how it works: there are five gifts in total. The visitor enters their email and then chooses their gift. Again, OptiMonk lets you set the prizes and the odds of winning each.
Select a gamification template from OptiMonk’s library to get started:
3. Show a scratchcard
Everyone loves scratch-off lotto tickets. Bring that same excitement to your ecommerce store with OptiMonk’s scratchcard popup templates!
With an average conversion rate of 7.17%, this type of popup allows website visitors to have fun interacting with your brand while you capture emails.
If a holiday or special event is around the corner, you can try one of our themed templates to gain subscribers using highly-relevant popups.
4. Gamify your surveys
Surveys help you gather valuable feedback, but sometimes it can be tough to convince your customers to fill them out. Gamification can help!
You can create a gamified survey by:
- Giving customers points for each survey they answer
- Running a leaderboard for the customers who answer the most surveys
- Awarding trophies to all customers who consistently give good feedback
This is a great way to learn more about your customers’ needs and buying preferences, while keeping the experience fun and enjoyable.
5. Use gamification marketing in your loyalty programs
Want to increase conversions, fight cart abandonment, and retain your loyal customers? Then gamify your loyalty program or rewards program by:
- Adding a leaderboard for top customers
- Awarding badges or trophies to dedicated customers
- Offering prizes through lucky wheels, scratch-offs, and other games of chance
Wrapping up
Now that you’ve learned how easy it is to get started with gamification marketing by creating gamified email popups with OptiMonk, there’s only one thing left to do: set up your first gamification campaign.
Once you start using gamified popups on your site, you’ll understand why they’re becoming more and more popular. Users love playing them, and when you see your conversion rates, you’ll love them even more!
Browse our growing library of gamification website templates to get started.
