Gamification is a marketing buzzword that’s been around for a few years when I said it you probably thought of a flashy spin-to-win with garish colors and a pretty standard setup. However, while those may have been the gamified pop-ups of yesterday, they are nothing like the spin-to-wins that Justuno Professional Services and our enterprise clients are building.

Not to mention that spin-to-wins are not alone in the gamification world; custom slot machines, mystery prizes, and lotteries are just a few outside of the box games our clients have thought up.

Before we dive right into the eye candy, let’s talk about gamification and the psychology behind why this marketing strategy works so well (and cases where it doesn’t).

What is Gamification?

Gamification is the principle of introducing the elements of games that are appealing into non-game settings, appealing to shoppers more competitive and fun side. By “winning” their prize, website visitors feel a sense of ownership over the incentive you’ve given them and have a sense of accomplishment for having come out ahead.

These types of promotions are an exciting and creative way to engage with visitors, making an otherwise mundane task a little more fun. Plus, gamification is a great chance to introduce your brand voice, show off some personality, and entice customers to hang around your site a bit longer.

Spin-to-wins are one of the highest converting pop-up styles averaging a little over 13% throughout the year.

But gamification isn’t for everyone. Our Professional Services team has found that larger stores or site with lots of visitors tend to have more success with gamification. Gamified pop-ups are a great way to collect many leads, but some clients have reported to us that they aren’t always the highest quality (those with the strongest buyers intent), so depending on your site and target audience this may or may not be the lead capture strategy for you.

Surprisingly while spin-to-wins convert at a high rate usually it’s during the holidays they drop to one of the lowest converters. During Cyber Five, the opt-in rate for these promotions dropped to an average of 6.5%. This drop is likely due to a change in site traffic and buyer motivations during this time, which is why it’s a best practice to avoid list building pop-ups during those doorbuster days.

A common misconception about gamification is that you can’t do it on mobile, you can! We’ve had several clients have opt-in rates that far exceed their desktop counterparts; it’s all about knowing your target audience and using incentives that appeal.

That doesn’t mean you have to give a discount if that’s off-brand for you there are plenty of alternatives for incentivizing players. It can be free shipping or a gift with purchase, whatever works best for you. You can also set a minimum on orders where these are applicable, so they’re only awarded the prize after they cross a specific price threshold. Using our advanced targeting rules, you can get as granular as you’d like with the audiences for your games and create exclusive site experiences for any segment.

Our Professional Services team can custom build pretty much anything you can dream with the price varying upon how much design work is required. Let’s check out some of the awesome games that our team has designed and run for clients.

Spin Me Right Round

This is an epic spin to win pop up designed for Simply Carbon Fiber, as a welcome spin-to-win that provides the ultimate branded experience and showcases one of their popular products. In a recent client interview, they said this was hands down their favorite promotion they’ve run, and it boasts an impressive 18% opt-in rate on desktop.

Keto-Mojo put a twist on the idea of a spin-to-win by having their meter kit display the potential prizes rather than a wheel. Again, using one of their products, they deliver a site experience that stays true to their brand and incorporates fun into their lead capture.

Chelsea Gifts have a more traditional form of a spin-to-win with a product twist. They created a completely custom game that fits into their site design and catches a shopper’s attention.

As you can see whether you want to incorporate your brand’s products to make a completely customized game or want to just put a twist on a traditional spin-to-win, design options for gamification are endless. These add an element of urgency in driving visitors to complete the task, so they don’t miss out on the prize without making them feel overly pressured to convert.

Just the numbers

We pulled some numbers from our platform to share how these PS clients did on average with these customized games and with an average engagement and conversion rate on desktop of 15% they’re clear winners. On mobile, the conversion rate dips slightly to 11%, but that’s still higher than the industry average. No matter what your on-site conversion stats are now, they could likely be improved with gamification.

Gamification and specifically, custom games are a great way to take your on-site marketing efforts to the next level. The more thoughtful and branded your site messaging is, the more cohesive an experience your visitors will have. Your strategies should always be customer-centric, and gamification is just one of many ways Justuno empowers you to put your customers first.