Gamification and GDPR

Let's face it the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has dealt a blow to online marketing campaigns. All the (not so compelling) opt in options, tick boxes, and data consent information have made it harder for opt-in marketing to meet the intended aims. This makes one thing clear- it won't be very long before we all suffer from permission marketing fatigue. Therefore, we must look for a tool that can get people to volunteer their valuable information and be happy with doing so. Fortunately, we already have such a mechanism in place for marketing, i.e., gamification. The challenge, however, is to incorporate it correctly if we are to get the desired results. 

What is Gamification?

Gamification is a technique employed by designers to weave game elements in non-gaming contexts with the aim to boost user engagement with the product or service in question. Designers seek to tap on users' intrinsic drives by integrating fun features such as leaderboards, badges, points, and progress bars into systems that may otherwise be boring. This makes them relish in using it more. 

A tool like gamification fits really well with present-day technology, especially when we are asked to sign up for almost everything in a world of information overload. Why? Because it makes the entire process a lot more motivating and fulfilling.

How to get users to opt-in and sign up?

Gamification holds the promise of a win-win for anyone looking to revive their pool of customers. The key lies in providing customers with sufficient and meaningful incentives that will drive them to opt-in. When you incorporate novel and exciting content in the user experience you offer, you provide your users with a sense of fulfillment and an enjoyable experience that automatically drives them to exhibit particular behaviors and complete specific tasks- ticking yes in the opt-in boxes being one of them. 

As explained in previous articles, there are multiple ways you can employ gamification for your marketing needs. One such method is through loyalty schemes. These schemes have come a long way from being that punch card you kept in your wallet. Today, electronic loyalty schemes can be used as a quality source of user data. Customers exhibit their loyalty in many ways, such as referring your products to friends and are offered prizes in return. These prizes could be anything that holds meaning for your customer base and can attract the people you wish to access. 

What stops someone from signing up?

We have mentioned some ways of offering customers incentives to sign up. Still, it is equally important to consider the factors that could put off your audience i.e. the very frequent pitfalls of gamification. Your customer base could interpret these pitfalls as red flags that would convince them that giving consent will be a bad idea. Here are a few possible reasons as to why signup performance has plummeted:

1. You are coming across as untrustworthy (due to vague testaments)

2. You aren't giving anything in return

3. Wrong timing- often making the user feel marketed sold to 

4. The prizes you are offering don't hold meaning for the customer base 

5. The size of the prize you are offering is unrealistic, making the user think it's hard for them to win it.