The Role of Gamification in Trade Show Marketing

There are a lot of tactics that can be used to get attendees who are walking by your booth to stop and play. Some of these include spinning a wheel or shooting hoops.

Event planners should define their desired outcome and choose a game that aligns with it. Mint’s budgeting app and Doritos Roulette (the product) are examples of gamification campaigns that achieve their desired goals.

Increase Attendee Engagement

When gamification is used in conjunction with event objectives, it can increase engagement significantly. However, it can also be easy to over-gamify events by using too many game elements that don’t align with the objectives. To prevent this, choose game elements that align with your event objectives and keep the gamification experience focused.

Gamification can be an effective way to encourage attendees to interact with exhibitors and network. For example, a social media competition where attendees tweet about your event’s hashtag to win a prize can increase engagement and brand awareness. Another example is 3M’s Twitter balloon that filled up with air each time someone tweeted with their event hashtag.

Contests and challenges capitalize on attendees’ desire for success by requiring them to engage over a set period of time or until they achieve a certain result. Rewarding these results can motivate attendees to participate and engage in the experience, and it can help them make more informed decisions about their purchase.

Increase Attendee Dwell Time

Gamification can increase attendee dwell time in your exhibit booth by providing a unique experience that engages and draws visitors. Going Interactive produces custom branded games that can be played on large touch screens or iPad and tablets to help turn passersby into visitors and then into perspective leads.

Offer attractive rewards or incentives to encourage repeat participation and engagement. Use leaderboards to encourage a healthy competition and provide visual reinforcement for participants.

Make it easy for attendees to share their game results on social media, which will further promote your brand and drive new traffic. Make sure your gamification is challenging enough to be engaging, but not so difficult that people get frustrated or lose interest.

Incorporate gamification into internal events such as product training sessions to improve knowledge retention. Studies show that gaming stimulates hippocampal activity, which makes information easier to recall. A gamified product training program created by SAP saw employees retain 60% more than when they simply studied written material.

Increase Attendee Conversions

In order to keep attendees engaged, make sure the games are challenging enough to give a sense of accomplishment, but not so difficult or complex that participants get frustrated or lose interest. Also, provide rewards that are enticing to your audience. Points, badges, and leaderboards are popular gamification elements that appeal to people’s desire for status and competition.

A well-designed gamification structure can lead to higher conversion rates at your booth, both during and after the event. Whether you’re collecting contact information through a game or simply a swipe of their badge, attendees will spend more time at your exhibit and will be exposed to your marketing messages multiple times.

Many companies are recognizing the value of gamification. They’re using it to increase customer engagement, loyalty, and sales. Several big-shot brands, including RE/MAX Accent and Starbucks have already incorporated the technique into their businesses. They’ve seen that gamification can increase website traffic, capture leads and be fun all at the same time.

Increase Attendee Referrals

Gamification taps into our innate desire to follow a clear path, be rewarded for our actions, and engage our competitive natures. Credit card points, frequent flier miles, and digital badges are all examples of this type of marketing, and events are the perfect places to take advantage of it.

Networking is a major reason for attending trade shows, and incorporating gamification makes it easier to connect with attendees. Use ice-breaker games and challenges to help attendees find each other, then display the leaderboards on the event website and mobile app. This will foster competition and excitement as attendees see who is on top.

However, you should never encourage attendees to attend your event simply to win. You need to offer a compelling reason to come to the show, and your rewards must be subordinate to that objective. For example, if you give away a free ticket to next year’s show, this will be a more compelling reason to visit than a free t-shirt.