Creating Community Through Social Networks Is Possible With Gamification?

Apply the game to different, original, and creative environments. Is it possible? Yes, as long as it starts with a good strategy, well-defined and clear objectives.

In the article on applying gamification to improve employability, I explained what this technique consists of and its multiple benefits for students.

The subsidized training allows you to advance in the business world while updating or expanding knowledge in current areas and skills. The rise of new technologies and the appearance of different channels and social networks have led to greater access to the digital world.

Although Spain faces a high rate of people who suffer the effects of the digital divide, it is being reduced thanks to the commitment to projects and initiatives that bring the online world closer to places where it did not reach before.

In this social environment, professionals understand the need to expand their knowledge in previously restricted areas to experts in these matters. One of them is digital marketing. A discipline encompasses a series of strategies, actions, and tools that can be useful in all sectors of professional activity.

Why Is Digital Marketing Essential?

Companies know the importance of having an internet presence, but is just being there enough? The digital presence is useless if you do not start from a well-defined function and a solid marketing and communication strategy. However, SEO, SEM, and Social Media concepts are no longer restricted to the big brands. SMEs understand that they must invest in training their employees to expand their digital skills.

Digital marketing is not the future; it is the present and changes and evolves every day, requiring constant updating and review. 

The Benefits Of Having A Good Digital Marketing Strategy Helps To Identify Needs

• Improve the branding of the brand. It allows knowing the target audience of the brand better.
• It offers solutions adapted to the weaknesses and areas for improvement that exist.
• There are multiple tools and channels in which to disseminate communications.

All this results in an improvement in the reputation perceived by the customer, which translates into an increase in sales.

To achieve this, you can use many techniques, but the best thing is to start. It was choosing a marketing course that responds to the needs that the company or the employee has at that time. From there, and thanks to the multiple platforms that exist with free resources and articles, it is possible to delve into this area and gradually guide the strategy so that it fits with the values ​​of the brand. 

Gamification Applied To Digital Marketing

As we have seen, this concept does not only apply to education. Marketing and advertising have been applying the benefits of gamification to advertising campaigns and actions for years. In this example, the famous soft drink brand used different elements to create an immersive game that allowed users to approach their commercial objectives less intrusive: turning the action itself into an extension of the film that was intended to be promoted.

Steps To Define The POS

• What makes my brand different?
• What do customers value most about my products or services?
• What needs have I identified in the client, and how do I respond to them through my company?
• And finally, if I had to explain what my company does in less than 3 lines, how would I do it?

At this last point, it is highly recommended to review the Elevator Pitch concept that helps to synthesize and explain a project clearly, concisely and concretely, in less than a minute. 

Social Networks Are Not Simple Sales Channels

A common mistake that companies were starting in the digital world is trying to use social networks to extend their website or e-commerce. 

The consumer is more and more aware and looks for brands that care about their customer experience. Therefore, those companies that focus solely on selling their products and services will have a more challenging time maintaining the loyalty and trust of their customers.

Faced with this, companies should focus on creating community on their social media profiles. A somewhat longer process involves allocating resources and attention to generate quality content that responds to what your potential customers need. 

What Do Brands That Manage To Create A Strong Community Do?

• They listen to their customers.
• Criticism is taken as an opportunity to grow.
• They ask, offer alternatives, and give personalized answers.
• They generate elaborate content and not simple filler publications.
• They bring the values ​​of the brand closer to their followers.
• They are honest and show the human team behind each product or service.

How Can Gamification Help Build Community?

Through my teaching experience, I have identified in the vast majority of students a negative and biased view of social networks, understanding them as a channel that serves to sell products and saturated with invasive advertising that annoys the user. This biased view ignores the data offered by analytics companies in social networks such as HubSpot or Hootsuite that reflect that the growth of brands is based on a commitment to engagement with their users. 

They focus on listening to their users, understanding their needs, answering their questions, and offering practical and effective solutions. Breaking with the dynamics of social networks = advertising channels is necessary so that professionals trained to manage brands’ digital presence do not repeat erroneous patterns.

The training in social media management, which professionals receive, must consider this current circumstance and work to dispel the smoke and transmit the company’s values, objectives, and needs in a clear, concise, and concrete way. Gamification can be used to establish an original and creative communication strategy that keeps the customer hooked and guides them in their purchase process. Social media, in this case, would be the starting point where the game would begin. 

Nowadays, all companies must have professionals in charge of digital marketing and who use Social Listening tools that allow active listening to the perception that exists about the brand. Once all these concepts are clear:

• Brand values ​​that you want to achieve.
• Channels in which the company will be present.
• Tone and message.
• SMART objectives.
• Specific actions to be carried out.
• Metrics will be used to measure the results.

You can start developing a Digital Marketing Plan that includes gamification as part of the strategy.

Some Ideas For Introducing Gamification Into The Customer Experience

• Use the tools these channels offer, such as surveys, to launch questions that help guide the content.
• Launch contests to increase engagement.
• Broadcasting live videos that show the day-to-day of the company helps to humanize the brand.
• Develop storytelling of the brand that helps to know its story and connect with the client’s emotions.

Each brand must know its trajectory and be very clear about what it will focus on transmitting. 

Also Read: How To Stop Procrastinating?