How organisations can use gamification to engage young people

Gamification is the technique of introducing typical game playing elements to a marketing campaign (such as point scoring, competition and rewards) to foster audience engagement. It’s a marketing tactic that can be employed by just about any organisation, across any sector.

Many organisations will hear the word gamification and gulp at the thought of high costs and long timescales. But the beautiful of gamification is that it doesn’t have to be expensive. It can take many forms and can be as simple as putting together an online quiz and sharing it on your social media channels.

One organisation that has used gamification to their advantage is the UK GCHQ. As a strategy to attract potential new applicants, they created an encrypted message on their website Can You Crack It, which tested candidates by asking them to decrypt and decipher a hidden message as the first part of the recruitment process. Not only did this make the whole process more enjoyable and exciting, but it also gave candidates a taste of what to expect in working for the organisation.

Most of us probably grew up with some form of ‘gold star’ system during our early childhood, whether at home or at school. This is because children are motivated to complete instructions in return for a reward, and this behaviour remains deeply rooted in us as we continue into our adulthood. For this reason, the emphasis of your gamified experience should be placed on achievement, success and progress.

When used correctly, gamification can also provide an experience that is educational as well as enjoyable. This is what we did on a project with Network Rail.

Last spring, we worked with Network Rail to create a suite of e-learning games and educational resources for children, designed to inspire them for a future career in rail and to keep them entertained during lockdown. These covered everything from building your own rail track and caring for the environment around the railway, to providing a selection of online colouring in resources.

It’s important to recognise is that gamification and any associated rewards/benefits should enhance your offering, not detract from it. So make sure that that you are offering to your audience complements your brand experience.

And remember - a game is only the means. The ultimate goal is growing traffic, building awareness, lead nurturing and conversion. So whilst your gamified experience needs to be powerful in attracting your audience, your remaining user journey will need to do the rest of the work - so make sure it’s good!