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A
rguably, gamifcation can be truly utilized best
by those in marketing and sales. This is of course
because both sales and marketing are heavily
competitive and, of course, gamifcation itself
is a marketing device/method unto itself. Aside
from being yet another incentive to engage users,
gamifcation may also be introduced to (sales and
marketing) management strategies. Since sales and
marketing is mostly performance-based, it only
makes sense that gamifcation (which is also heavily
infuenced by performance) would become a major
player there.
If you have personally served on a sales or marketing
team, then you are most likely already familiar with
gamifcation. For example, if you’ve ever received a
commission check, then you know what gamifcation
is. Most companies will institute a rewards program of
sorts for employees that are able to achieve a certain
level of sales, for example. Perhaps a car, boat, or
members-only privileges to a prestigious country club
would be among the prizes one might receive in these
types of situations. Fostering an air of competitiveness
among employees can have negative consequences,
but, as long as there are specifc gains in question
(no potential losses), employees will greatly enjoy
participating in gamifcation programs.
While using gamifcation to drive sales and marketing
(teams) is certainly nothing new, using it to interact
and compel customers to buy or participate certainly
is. Time and time again, studies have shown that
those businesses that are able to keep their visitors/
customers/users busy are usually able to achieve
higher sales conversions. Likewise, those that are able
to capture increasing numbers of potential customers
often have much higher repeat business as well. What
does all of this tell us? Customers like to be confronted
with goal-oriented activities, especially where rewards
and incentives are presented. In this way, gamifcation
ofers a sales and marketing team the ability to not
only generate consumer interest but also grow a
certain amount of brand loyalty in the process.
Some concepts for gamifying sales and/or marketing
tactics:
1.
Introduce a series of fun and entertaining games
or apps via social media to coincide with product
releases. The idea here is to create extremely fun and
engaging materials that customers will be more apt to
share across their vast network(s) of friends, thereby
reaching an extended audience in the process.
Gamification
Concepts
for Sales &
Marketing
WilliamManning