Over the course of these articles, we have stressed about one thing, and that is how gamification may be integrated into existing programs to enhance user engagement through our Spot the Ball solution. Tentacle has also been keen to point out the importance of strategy and that of creating meaningless versus meaningful points and leaderboards. All, with the ultimate aim of conveying to you the essence of gamification and how to stay true to it in order to use it successfully.

An indicator of success, however, is increased user engagement as a result of effective gamification. In this article, we will look at how gamification can be leveraged to drive user engagement.

Growing and keeping every customer engaged in a community of the like is a tricky job. However, like many other platforms such as Blue Ribbon, Tentacle aims to make this a walk in the park for you by integrating gamification that can play a significant role in increasing customer retention as well as engagement.  

As you already know by now, gamifying a program is to employ game mechanics to non-gaming contexts to both engage and tap on participants' intrinsic motivations.

Challenges and rewards are elements of gamification that are integrated into programs to stimulate participation from users. Here's how it works according to Grazziti Interactive:
 
Drive User Engagement

Gamification essentially transforms the experience of the entire community into a competition. Customers that advance to new levels are given rewards for having accomplished set goals. These goals could range from starting a discussion, posting reviews of products to replying to questions, etc.

Promote Rand Loyalty

Giving a sense of accomplishment and position to customers by way of points, badges, and leaderboards help transform them into brand promoters. Rewarding them by, for example, offering discount vouchers or free products for a specific goal, such as sharing the product or service with their friends, makes them feel appreciated. Hence, they become more loyal to your brand. 

Generate User Data

The more information is posted or shared in your community, the easier it becomes for you to get customer data, which can be extremely helpful for your brand. While many processes gather customer data, gamification is one technique that guarantees accurate results. You can thus analyze this data to enhance your marketing strategy.  You could specifically analyze customer performance; for example, the number of queries they have answered or referrals made. 

Augment Lead Scoring

In some cases, gamification also offers an opportunity to trace the activities of leads engaged in your network and weigh up the scope of changing them into customers. In order to plan your customer acquisition actions better, you can assign values to unique user interactions.

Increase Brand Awareness

Customers that are rewarded often share their accomplishments on social media. This not only helps in bolstering brand awareness among potential customers but is also a much better alternative to time-consuming and expensive methods of acquiring customers. Gamification can raise the interactivity bar in your network of customers, syncing user behavior with your organization's aims. But, of course, this only happens if it is done correctly. As customer loyalty increases, user engagement is achieved, and this is what matters the most if you are to achieve your desired aims.