Gamification in EcommerceDigital Sales Alchemy

Alchemy:The transformation of something common

into something special.

Gamification:Integrating elements of games,

concepts and motivators in games or game design mechanics

into non-game environments to drive behavior.

Points, Badges and Leaderboards aka “PBL”

can lead to “pointsification”

Points, Badges and Leaderboards

• not synonymous with gamification • when done badly hurt revenues and brand • can be appallingly overused • try to apply cookie cutter solutions to

complex problems • can be implemented through a variety of services • many times are synonymous in users

heads with loyalty programs • can be made interesting and effective and useful

if applied sparingly and creatively

STEP2 BUZZBOARD Reviewers level from New Bee to Honey Bee to Super Bee to

Queen Bee as they review, post videos and photographs, share to Facebook, and earn positive ratings from other BuzzBoard -ers.

Points earn $5 to $20 credits toward future purchases.

BEYOND PBL Appointments Avatars Behavioral Momentum Blissful Productivity Bonuses Duels Cascading Information Theory Challenges Combos Community Collaboration Context menus Countdown Creating Discovery Easter Eggs Epic Meaning Free Lunch !

Infinite Gameplay Loader images Levels Loss Aversion Lottery Narratives Ownership Priming Progression Puzzles Quests Reward Schedules Scarcity Status Urgent Optimism Virality

Involvement creates impact. based on Dale's Cone of Experience (Dale, 1969, p. 107)

Persuasion heart/desires

Usability body/actions

Engagement mind/attitudes

interaction acts as a Catalyst

users join your brands “team”

In Ecommerce, many of these things happen via your website AND in social media

!First person to answer gets a +20 bonus to Salesmanship.

What are the Four Stages of the sales cycle?

? $

4 stages in game adoption cycle !

Discovery, Onboarding, Scaffolding and Endgame

? $ !

4 stages in Gamification cycle!(the alchemy bit)

!Initiation, Realization, Transformation, Integration

!!

? !$

ARCANum

!Gamification and gaming are not the same thing. Great gamification fuses the normal sales cycle

with appropriate game mechanics, tools or concepts to achieve measurable goals.

!Sometimes those methods are subtle.

!

Great. So I need to hire a game designer?

(No. You just need someone who can think diagonally.)

You don’t have to use badges, points

and leaderboards.

Any designer or creative content provider

can implement these gamification ideas in

different aspects of the sales cycle.

Congratulations, Your Initiation as a Digital Sales Alchemist has begun.

You may leave the Noob Cave.

How do we do this?Let’s look at a few examples of gamification

without overt PBL apps.* !!!!

*These are relatively low complexity/tech

PersuasionProspects / Hey Look at This!

!Discovery / Lead Generation / Initiation

Appeals to: Explorers, Achievers

SkilledUp QuizzesGrowth from 20 new email subscribers each

month to over 500 each month - a 2400% increase

PersuasionProspects / Hey, I might like this!

!Quest / Prospecting / Initiation

Appeals to: Achievers, Explorers, Killers

Autodesk Free Trial Increased trial usage by 54%,

buy clicks by 15% and channel revenue by 29%

Before

After

PersuasionCustomers / Hey I want to buy this!

!Priming / Sales / Transformation

Appeals to: Explorers

Hubspot Loader MessagesPracticed by one of the most successful

internet marketing companies in the world, often seen in web apps

PersuasionEvangelists / Hey I want to share this!

Discovery / Evangelization / Integration Appeals to: Achievers, Explorers, Socializers

M&Ms Find the Pretzel25.000 likes on their Facebook page, 6.000 shares and 10.000 comments.

Virality, Bonuses, Status / Evangelization / Integration Appeals to: Socializers, Achievers, Killers

!

Rewarding Shares!

In January 2014, Dropbox raised $250 million at a $10 billion valuation. 1 billion files are saved to Dropbox every 24 hours

Over 200 million users, over 500 employees Installed on 250 million devices

Usability Leads / Hey Look at This!

!Priming, Discovery / Lead Generation / Initiation

Appeals to: Socializers, Killers, Achievers, Explorers

Heinz Table GamesQR Code, prompt to enter email address, gain coupon.

Usability Prospecting / Hey I Might Like This!

!Cascading Information Theory / Prospecting / Realization

Appeals to: Achievers, Explorers, Killers, Socializers

JNM Menu Tunnels250% increase in web site conversions

(phone calls/initial meetings) within 2 weeks

Usability Sales / Hey I Want to Buy This!

!Epic Meaning and Calling, Free Lunch / Sales / Transformation

Appeals to: Socializers, Killers, Achievers, Explorers

Amazon SmileIncentivizes users to buy from Amazon

rather than another online retailer by shopping from smile.amazon.com.

Usability Evangelists / Hey I Want to Share This!

!Levels, Status / Sales / Integration

Appeals to: Socializers, Killers, Achievers, Explorers

Ebay Seller ReviewsEncourages sellers to stay ethical and

buyers to give feedback and recommendations (crowdsourcing content creation)

ARCANUM !

Using combinations of game concepts or mechanics

at different targeted points of the sales cycle can generate

huge returns for you. These tools may or may not be recognizable as “games.”

Congratulations

You are now an Apprentice in Digital Sales Alchemy

tweet something you have learned to me

@redtoadmedia

First three to tweet get my gamification planning template.

The Next LevelThoughtful tools to help you NOT unlock the

Mayor Badge of Meaninglessness !

!

It’s a Journey, Man.

HOW TO avoid pointsification

by Steve Bocska Source: http://gamificationexamples.com/gamification-pitfalls-badge-fatigue-and-loyalty-backlash/

“People don't contribute because they’re given stars by a teacher or bribed”

- can lead to gaming the system- results in low long term retention

- achieves low quality user-generated content

!

EFFECTS OF pointsification

1. Know your objectives

2. Know your audience

3. Tap into intrinsic motivators for SHARED GOALS

4. Be willing to listen and improve

how to avoid pointsification

it must be fun.

Sensation / Sense-pleasure Fantasy/ Make-believe

Narrative / Unfolding story Challenge / Obstacle course

Fellowship / Social framework Discovery / Uncharted territory

Expression / Soap box Submission / Mindless pastime

CATALYSTS (Intrinsic Motivators)

Autonomy / Give creative choices and freedom power words: “I choose”

!

Mastery / Allow for learning and overcoming adversity power words: “I grow”

!

Purpose / connect people to causes power words: “I matter”

!

!

!

autonomy combined with discovery

Covet Fashion App: Paper dolls

mastery combined with fellowship

Drop ’Til You Shop: Freeze the price and win!

purpose combined with fantasy

America’s Army

arcanum

The secret to lasting bonds and deep impact on a person’s relationship

with your brand is the combination of shared goals, catalysts in the form of

intrinsic motivators and old-fashioned fun.

ConGratulationsYou now have the tools to be a Journeyman Digital Alchemist

For a mixie game that helps you, generate game ideas,

subscribe to my newsletter at redtoadmedia.com/gamify

A GAME CAN BE YOUR VEHICLE: HSN

Home Shopping Network Arcade !Over the first year, 650,000 users logged 116 million gameplays. Arcade users spent twice as long on the HSN website, returned twice as often, and purchased more units of merchandise and in more categories than their non-arcade customers. #epicwin #wordofmouthrocks

A GAME CAN BE YOUR VEHICLE: INGRESS

INGRESS Mobile Augmented Reality Gaming brings customers to you. Around 10

million downloads on Android and iOS

!

!Partnerships with ZipCar, Hint Water, Anker, AXA and more

ARCANUMWhether you integrate your brand into a game

or use games to enhance your web presence, you can build community, garner name recognition and win significant market share by using a vehicle

that fits your audience.

Who Is Anne Miles?- Designed a cutting edge interface for the financial services sector

- Branded, designed and developed multimillion dollar retail ecommerce presence for brick and mortar wholesaler, vidavici.com

- Art Director, UX team, Stonestreet One Software !- Currently working with Indiana University Health on a gamified

admin system for updating and managing employee training materials. !

- Contributor for Smashing Magazine’s Navigation and Interaction design book

- Toad-in-Chief, Red Toad Media, 2001 to present !

- Global Unight16 Coordinator, Ingress Resistance

!!!!!

!anne@redtoadmedia.net www.redtoadmedia.com @redtoadmedia

Thank you. !!!!!

!

!anne@redtoadmedia.net www.redtoadmedia.com @redtoadmedia