The last quarter of the year is a special time for advertising, marketing, and many other related industries. Consumers are searching for holiday gifts or planning their vacations, and advertisers are investing significant resources to win the race and achieve as many sales as possible. With e-commerce being one of the main methods of purchase – it is expected to keep growing in the US reaching between 2024 and 2029 by in total 657.8 billion U.S. dollars (+53.79 percent) (Statista) – I can assure you that gamification is positioning itself as a key segment to capture the attention of audiences in a period of constant information overload. I want to share some reasons why this could be the key tool for preparing an effective advertising strategy during the last months of the year.
✔️ An immersive format that adopts video game elements. With the increase in demand during the last period of the year, advertisers often respond to advertising spaces to capture buyers. However, the abundance of advertising inevitably causes noise and saturation among people. This is counterproductive to the messages that brands want to convey as they fail to capture people’s attention (either voluntarily or involuntarily), causing the investment to lose its potential. In-game advertising formats such as interactive ads, playable ads, and augmented or virtual reality options open the door to novel experiences that offer rewards and provide differentials to participants.
✔️ Facilitates retargeting thanks to its engagement capacity. Impacting consumers who previously interacted with the brand through retargeting strategies is usually very useful during this time. Thanks to the high level of engagement that gamification generates, due to its playful elements that predispose the user in a much more relaxed way to messages, it can improve brand recall and possibly make the advertiser one of the first choices when selecting a brand in their product category.
✔️ Personalized and segmented campaigns When we seek to be effective, it’s more important than ever to reach the right people with well-personalized messages. In this sense, gaming gives us two advantages. First, the reach: video games are a massive pastime that reaches two-thirds of the online population. And second, targeting: we can segment campaigns – with the help of contextual information and user data – to ensure we reach each consumer with the right message.
✔️ Generates communities that add value to the experience Players who participate in these spaces demonstrate their knowledge, compete amicably, and collaborate to answer questions and learn. They help form a community. An established community also means an increase in brand presence: interacting with others adds more importance to the activities we participate in, reinforcing word-of-mouth. Facing the upcoming shopping season, the key will be to impact users with content they haven’t seen before. Gamification positions itself as an effective strategy for brands by engaging users voluntarily and actively. Thus, the greater the engagement, the higher the chances of conversion and brand recall.
