Gamification is the application of game mechanics to non-game contexts. And besides being used more and more in ecommerce, it is also used in other industries. Gamification in B2B changes how companies interact with their clients and stakeholders.
Historically, in the B2B market, companies had the tendency to communicate in a stiff manner, full of jargon, and plain boring. But they have come to realize that they were still selling to people. And no one liked that way of communication.
So, let’s see how things can change by implementing gamification and providing a more fun experience to customers. And how this can bring in more customers, boost loyalty, and increase engagement.
How Gamification is Used in B2B Marketing
For Increasing Engagement
Users are captivated by gamification, which transforms the most mundane and boring of tasks into fun, interactive challenges. For instance, a company that produces software for other businesses could gamify its onboarding process by rewarding users with points for completing its tutorial. These users could be told that they’re earning “badges” that will give them access to exciting, new software features—access that’s usually reserved for pre-launch beta testers.
Ways gamification boosts engagement:
Interactive Webinars and Product Demos: Adding gamified elements such as live polls and quizzes during a webinar makes for an actively participating audience.
Customer education: Online courses and training sessions offer more challenges and rewards, making them better conduits for learning.
Example: A CRM platform could incorporate gamification by awarding points for completing setup tasks, fostering a sense of accomplishment, and, ideally, showcasing the product’s value proposition.
For Improving Lead Generation
Gamified experiences draw in and help qualify leads while building deeper connections with potential clients. Using things such as contests, quizzes, and interactive challenges works well to engage and qualify prospects while gaining a lot of insights.
How gamification helps generate leads:
Quizzes: According to DemandSage’s report, 76% of the consumers said they would prefer to purchase from a brand that personalizes user experiences. So, the immediate value provided to prospects through quiz results is a good reason to include them in your marketing plan.
Challenges: Having users participate in challenges to win exclusive perks and discounts is a good way of increasing engagement. Moreover, this could also offer them a memorable experience that will keep your service or tool top of mind.
Example: A marketing automation platform could host a challenge, where users build email campaigns. Users could be rewarded based on how well their campaigns perform, thus making for an interactively engaging experience that also serves up some genuinely useful data.
For Enhancing Customer Loyalty
Nurturing long-term relationships is key in the B2B industry. And gamification is a powerful tool to help you do that. B2B companies can use it to integrate loyalty programs and personalized experiences. The result? A powerful engine encouraging repeat interactions, generating advocacy, and even ensuring some memorable moments.
Key strategies for building loyalty:
Reward Systems: Use points, badges, and other rewards to improve the active users metrics, or generate positive reviews.
Exclusive Benefits: Unlockable perks for high-value customers.
Example: A cloud service provider might provide a tiered loyalty program. Points that get accumulated from the service usage unlock access to premium support and beta features that aren’t available to everyone.
Real-World Examples of Gamification in B2B
All of this sounds nice in theory, but let’s look at some real-life examples of companies that implemented these tactics. Let’s see how they have implemented gamification elements in their efforts to stand out in industries that are usually quite boring.
Google Marketing Expert Journey
This program is made to share news about the new Google products development and educate users on how to use them. However, it also recognizes individuals who have demonstrated expertise in Google Ads, Google Analytics, and other Google Marketing Platform products. To do this, Google uses:
Tiered Certifications: The program features a tiered certification system, with each level requiring the completion of specific courses, exams, and practical projects.
Badges and Recognition: Earning certifications grants users badges and public recognition on their LinkedIn profiles, enhancing their professional credibility.
Community Building: The program fosters a community of skilled marketers through online forums, events, and networking opportunities. This allows experts to connect, share knowledge, and collaborate.
Why did Google do this? Well…it’s quite simple. People who know how to advertise effectively on Google will get better results. And if they get better results, they will spend more money on Google Ads. With all of this being stimulated by a learning environment filled with goals and achievements to be unlocked.
monday.com
At their recent Elevate 2024 conference, monday.com incorporated innovative gamification elements to enhance the attendee experience.
Immersive Virtual Reality Experiences: To combat potential “Zoom fatigue” associated with virtual events, monday.com integrated virtual reality (VR) experiences into select sessions.
Participants had the opportunity to “step inside” the presentations as llamas, explore interactive 3D environments, and engage with the content in a more immersive and memorable way. This innovative approach not only upped the ante on engagement but also brilliantly demonstrated the power of monday.com’s platform to bring work to life in new and exciting ways.
Semrush
Similarly, at their flagship event (Spotlight), Semrush came up with a great gamification idea to drive sponsor interactions.
Sticker-Based Rewards at In-Person Events: the event organizers provided sponsors with stickers to distribute to attendees who interacted with them at their booths.
By collecting these stickers, attendees were able to redeem merchandise from the event (t-shirts, socks, agendas, plushies, etc.). This incentivized attendees to visit the sponsor booths and check out their offerings.
Gamification Ideas for SaaS B2B Companies
Gamification offers SaaS firms a unique opportunity to further engage and delight their users. Here are some ideas to integrate game-like elements into SaaS products:
Gamified Onboarding
Interactive Tutorials: Change traditional onboarding tutorials into interactive experiences, complete with progress bars, checkpoints, and rewards that highlight your successful completion of various modules.
Onboarding challenges should be personalized and made relevant to the user’s specific role. For instance, when onboarding users to a CRM system, the system might provide not only platform-wide onboarding but also tailored challenges to the following three user groups: sales reps, marketing managers, and customer service teams.
Early Access Incentives: Compensate users who finish onboarding swiftly with early access to premium features, exclusive content, or personalized help.
Community Building with Gamification
Badge System: Award badges to users who actively participate in the community forum, contribute valuable insights, and assist other users.
Leaderboards: Publicly recognize top contributors and community champions on leaderboards.
Contests and Challenges: Host regular contests and challenges in your community. For instance, ask them to come up with the “best use case,” the “most creative integrations,” or the “most helpful comment.”
Exclusive Titles and Recognition: Award your users special titles such as ‘product expert’, ‘power user’, or ‘premium partner’.
Partner Programs
Agency Excellence Awards: Implement a program similar to Google’s Agency Excellence Awards to recognize and reward top-performing partners. And it doesn’t have to be that flashy (and expensive) – you can even host it as an online event in the beginning.
Tiered Partner Programs: most companies already have this in place, but it’s worth mentioning. Tiered programs with different levels of benefits and rewards based on the partner’s performance metrics (revenue generated, customer satisfaction, successful implementations, etc.) are a good way to motivate other businesses to use and recommend your product.
Gamified Partner Portals: Create a partner portal with gamification. Use elements such as leaderboards, badges, and points to drive and reward behavior (see the things mentioned before). Try to create an interactive, immersive portal that partners want to engage with.
Conclusion
B2B marketing is being transformed by gamification, which presents a potent form of customer engagement. It allows marketers to use gaming elements in non-game environments—like lead generation and B2B loyalty programs—to reach and resonate with their target audiences.
If you implement it carefully and concentrate on engaging users in a meaningful way, gamification can yield striking results for B2B organizations. It can be applied in many areas, including onboarding, a content marketing strategy, and even in some aspects of lead generation.
Even though the examples in this article are simple and not very creative, I want you to think of the core concept. Think of game mechanics that you or other people find fun, and implement it in a part of your business. Above all business-related things, your buyers are people. And they will seek to have fun every time they get the chance to.
FAQ: Gamification in B2B
Is gamification only suitable for SaaS companies?
No, gamification can be applied across several sectors, even including manufacturing, logistics, and finance.
Example: Companies in the manufacturing sector can use gamification to train their employees. Financial institutions, on the other hand, might engage their clients with interactive gamified financial literacy tools.
How can I measure the success of my gamification efforts?
Quantify user interaction, conversion of leads to sales, levels of customer satisfaction, and returns on investment.
Metrics to track: Time spent on gamified activities, completion rates, and impact on business goals.
What are the challenges of implementing gamification?
The main challenges include:
- Aligning strategies with brand and audience expectations.
- Avoiding superficial gimmicks and focusing on meaningful rewards.
- Maintaining engagement over the long term without causing fatigue.
