Gamification In SaaS: A Comprehensive Guide

Updated on August 22, 2022

Gamification in SAAS is the introduction of fun, game design elements into the UX of SaaS products to encourage customers to take part in and achieve certain tasks with the alluring power of enjoyable and immersive gaming elements. This can help businesses boost their revenue, and achieve amazing results with customer engagement and loyalty.

Gamification also has the power to turn mundane tasks into game-like experiences and makes people excited to pursue tasks to win rewards, which in turn, gives them fulfillment.

Companies of all sizes use Gamification techniques to design their customer loyalty programs to help retain their customers for longer and to increase revenue.

Different businesses employ different methods when designing a Gamified product experience for clients and users. And with the main elements of behavioral economic theories, game mechanics principles, and user experience, they can create an enjoyable and addictive game.

What follows are a few key points that are present in most successful Gamification platforms:

Progression Clarity

To accomplish a certain customer-related business goal, you need to break your plan into actionable steps. As the customer goes through each stage of the Game, there should be clarity concerning the progress they’ve made. Also, the customer has to have a clear idea of what they’d need to do next to level up and obtain their reward. For example, if there are 15 stages to go through, at the end of each, they need to be made aware of how many stages they’ve completed and how many they have left to complete.

Virtual Meeting Rooms

Businesses can benefit in many ways by giving customers/learners the means to socialize with each other so they can feel they’re part of a thriving community. This way, users can talk about the game, the best way to beat a certain stage, and so on.

These interactions can give people a sense of belonging as well as an increased interest in the game itself. Also, connecting their gaming experience with social media (discussions, score sharing, etc.) can boost interactions and bring even more players to join the community.

User Experience & Graphical Interface

The visual aesthetics, as well as the experiences that your Gamified product provides, play a key role in customer engagement and loyalty.

It takes skillful artistry to transform complex information into a visually pleasing and intellectually engaging product that users can engage with and enjoy. The game should be easy to navigate and once the user understands the basics, it should be clear and easy for them to proceed and have an engaging, non-confusing experience. Take, for instance, how the major social media platforms are set up everything is visually pleasing and easy to interact with.

Rewards & Feedback

Every level should hold a prize the user can obtain by completing. Rewards can include points, badges, a voucher that can be used in real life, a fun video, or anything else that will keep the user entertained and willing to return for more.

When you make the user feel appreciated, you will keep them encouraged and excited about going even further into the experience. There should also be a leaderboard with a top score set by other users to keep people motivated to become better at the game and earn their spot on the board. At the end of every stage, the user should also receive appropriate feedback about their performance. In SaaS Gamification, users can be given financial rewards, which can incentivize them to return more often.

As soon as you’re able to get a customer’s attention, you can steer it towards achieving certain business goals. These can include customer engagement, customer loyalty, conversion, education, and more. Below, we have listed 7 tips to help you get there.

1. Loyalty & learning

There are times when you need to help customers learn more about your product before they start feeling ready to invest their hard-earned cash in it. This can be about your place in the industry and what you’re doing to improve people’s lives.

A program can, for example, be designed into three levels – beginners, intermediate, and advanced. It can be split into different modules with allotted time slots. Towards the end of each module, there can be a questionnaire based on which the user can receive some rewards, like points and special badges.

This way, customers will have the ability to turn a mundane tutorial into an enjoyable gaming experience. In return, the business can benefit from brand awareness, customer conversion, and boost loyalty.

2. Customer engagement and product adoption

Another cool Gamification example that boosts engagement can be seen in social media sites and dating apps. If a user’s profile hasn’t been fully completed, there’s usually a message that appears saying something like “Your profile is 60% complete,” which motivates the user to complete the missing fields and make it 100% for a special reward (like messaging credits), or

boosted exposure.

3. The impact on human psychology

When we accomplish something - no matter how big or small - we feel as if we are getting psychological and emotional value out of the experience. This is a consequence of the endorphin brain chemical being released into our system every time we feel that something positive is happening to us, even if it’s something as simple as laughter.

Most users will fear losing what they’ve accomplished if they stop their subscription to a certain service or remove an app from their mobile device if they’ve been interacting with it for a while. By rewarding them with points and special prizes, you boost their sense of accomplishment and make their decision to leave a more difficult one.

4. Retain customers by rewarding their loyalty

You can make your loyalty point system more exciting for users by introducing better game mechanics. For example, you can set up a deal hunt game where participants search for special hidden deals.

Alternatively, you can also reward them based on how often they shop at your establishment. Let’s say, they win a $25 gift voucher if they earn 1000 points. The more you Gamify the customer’s experience, the more likely it is that they’ll keep coming back.

Another cool way to retain customers is to give them valuable appreciation gifts for loyalty. For example, some airlines offer passengers free flights if they fly with them often enough.

5. Remind players of unfinished tasks (so that they’ll have more reasons to return)

Introducing a progress-rewarding strategy will inevitably boost engagement. You can introduce progress meters that rise as people interact with your product or service. Customers will also stay motivated if you highlight the badges and rewards they are set to earn upon completing certain tasks.

Our brains are wired to complete unfinished tasks, and unfinished business will naturally push customers to revisit your product or service to finish what they’ve started.

6. Attract new users/customers through tournaments, rewards, and freebies

To keep customers happy and wanting to come back for more, your product/service needs to work like a magnet. And that’s where Gamification comes into play. You can attract new customers through rewards and badges. Rewards can even come in the form of discounted prices (we all know this always works like a charm from personal experience).

Alternatively, you can reward customers for referring you to their friends, acquaintances, and family, or you can organize contests that require customers to provide their contact information. This way, even if they don’t immediately become a customer, you can send them offers and promotions to win them over eventually.

7. The alluring power of social media-friendly games

For a fully engaging customer experience, you can make your games social media and mobile-friendly. People should be able to experience your product/service at any place, any time, and they must be given the means to share their progress with others on the social media platform of their choice.

Seeing that others are sharing things related to your product or service will encourage others to also give it a try. Soon enough, you’ll experience an uptick in revenue and retention rates.

SaaS Gamification is an extremely potent behavioral tool that you can use to achieve your customer-related goals. Goals can include onboarding, product/service engagement, loyalty, brand awareness, and more.

Gaming is a natural adrenaline booster, and when people are also allowed to be social and share their accomplishments with others, it’s just a matter of time before they fall in love with your product/service and start recommending it to others.

To learn more about the power of Gamification and what it can do for your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team at: https://smartico.ai/request-a-demo/

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