Robin Moss shared the exciting world of Website Gamification with us at the Rocks Digital Conference. (Sadly, we did not earn any badges for attending her session, but I’m sure she’s working on it for future presentations!)
What is Gamification and Who are Gamers?
- Wikipedia defines gamification as using game thinking in non-game contexts users and increase user’s contributions
- 42% of Americans play video games at least 3 hours per day
- The average gamer is 35 (Surprised that it’s not 18-20 year olds?)
- Nearly 44% are female
- $22 billion are spent video games (So the perception of gamers as jobless young guys living in their parents’ basements is probably inaccurate. SOMEONE is making and spending that money on games!)
- 960 million games are on smart phones
Different Types/Elements of Gamification
- Sales
- Education
- Loyalty
What can Gamification Provide?
- Return visits
- More engagement
- Increased Sales
- Increased Learning/Participation
If you think that just because you don’t have a gaming console that you’re not a gamer, think again. Some sites have very subtle gamification.
LinkedIn (Yes, the professional networking site!)
- Endorsements
- Achieving “all-star” status for filling out your profile
- Getting the 500+ connections designation on your profile. Doesn’t matter if it’s 501 or 5000 – you get the “badge” for 500+
- Now awarding badges for doing things you should be doing anyway (although they are not making it easy to get the badges)
How to Add Gamification to Your Site
Adding Gamification to your site can be easy. WordPress has multiple plugins that will help but (Buyer Beware) you need to read the fine print and really understand the investment you’ll be making. Some of the plugins claim to be free but when you get into them you find that the free version is really limited in functionality and to get “the good stuff” you have to upgrade to the premium version which can cost hundreds (and sometimes THOUSANDS) per month.
Where have you spotted gamification and how has it impacted your relationship with the brand(s) that are using it?
To learn more about Robin Moss you can read her full bio on Rocks Digital.
