Wondering how to take the intimidation out of financials and provide your users with a more entertaining and engaging experience? Gamification is a great way to introduce an element of fun, help build consumer engagement, and help teach customers about complex financial concepts.
Here are five ways that financials can benefit from gamification:
Educate Your Users
Games can help users with skill development and can educate them on important content, all while having fun. Many consumers don’t really want to read about complicated financial concepts but, when incorporated into a game, engagement levels will heighten and users will begin to enjoy the experience of what they’re learning. What’s more, games can teach many lessons far better than simple descriptions. While a few articles on investment can teach the basics and the theory, an interactive investment game can provide that same information while also giving users the experience of actually investing, and letting them play and experiment with a real, informative system.
Best of all, gamification is not exclusive with other educational best practices. Videos and animation are more enjoyable than plain text on their own, but when users can earn points and get encouraging feedback for watching them, the effects are compounded. Such rewards, though they might seem minor, have a way of drawing us in, and keeping us motivated to continue.
Teach Good Financial Habits
Games are a great way to teach consumers about various financial habits like saving. Rewarding players for achieving a certain target in a game – for example, a simulation-style game where a user runs a business and is awarded a second location once they’ve reached a certain amount of revenue – is a gamification technique used to encourage best practices.
Gamification elements can also be incorporated to illustrate some simple lessons like the idea that small changes can result in big savings. A savings widget that shows how investing the daily cost of a cup of coffee can lead to a large sum within a year or two, is a great example of such a concept, and also invites the user to keep playing to see other results. You could also consider rewarding current customers once they reach a certain savings goal, or have set up an automatic savings contribution, by providing them with a virtual certificate or badge. This carries forth the gamification element offline as well.
Build Engagement and Loyalty
Games are extremely effective in boosting customer engagement, and as a result, customers become more involved with your financial institution through playing and investing their time. Many times, games meant to build engagement and increase return visits have multiple levels, increases in complexity and have some personalization elements – picture yourself as an avatar!
Although this type of game may be more of an investment, there are a lot of opportunities to keep your brand top of mind by asking questions related to your financial products, using your brand colours, incorporating your logos and brand mascots. Adding new levels regularly will keep customers coming back. Also, think about offering some sort of reward – points to a loyalty program you offer, branded merchandise or even product incentives. Having it within a secure section of your site is a great way to have customers use their existing login to help track their progress throughout the game and for any personalization.
Train Your Own Team
Gamification, while great for consumers, is also a very useful tool for training staff. Games can be created that help test the understanding of various products or processes. Scenario-based games are also a great option for seeing how your staff handle different everyday situations, such as dealing with customers. Providing a training game is a great way to help your employees brush up on their skills in a fun, engaging, and more memorable way.
Promote Sharing
Games are fun, and fun is shareable. Providing a unique, enjoyable, valuable experience that anyone can try is a great way to go viral on social media, and providing the opportunity to self-educate is an especially good way to win the hearts and minds of millennials. A well-designed game, or gamified online experience, can promote itself among the largest, most difficult-to-reach, and financially-skeptical generation in history.
Gamification provides a great way for financial institutions to differentiate themselves, build brand loyalty, and engage with consumers, while making their products more approachable. Consider how you could incorporate gamification, or gamification elements, in your next digital project.
