As marketers, we all know how challenging it can be to grab the attention of our subscribers and keep them engaged with our messages. With inboxes flooded with countless emails every day, it's crucial to stand out from the crowd and offer something unique and valuable. One way to achieve this is through gamification in email marketing.

Gami-what? If this is new to you, don’t worry. In this article, we’ll take time to discuss what gamification is and how you can use it to level up your email engagement.

Buckle up because this is going to be a long ride of fun and games!

What is gamification?

Gamification in email marketing refers to the process of adding game-like features to emails to make them more entertaining and engaging. The nice part about gamification is that it can increase open rates, click-through rates, and overall brand engagement. Studies show that gamification can increase email open rates by 30%. That’s just one awesome benefit of gamification, let’s look at some more benefits below.

How can gamification benefit your campaigns?

There are several benefits to using gamification in emails, such as:

• Increased engagement: Gamification can make your emails more engaging and fun, which can improve the chances of subscribers opening, reading and interacting with them. It can also help build a sense of community and encourage social sharing.
• Improved brand loyalty: By offering your subscribers incentives for completing certain actions, you can create a sense of loyalty and motivation among your subscribers.
• Enhanced customer experience: Gamification can help create a more personalised and memorable experience for your subscribers, which can improve their overall perception of your brand and increase their likelihood of making a purchase.
• Valuable insights: Gaining insights into the behaviour, preferences, and interests of your subscribers is another benefit of gamification. You can better understand what resonates with your audience and tailor your upcoming campaigns by tracking and evaluating engagement metrics.

Here are some ways to use gamification in email marketing:

1. Feedback surveys

Surveys can help you discover more about the preferences and interests of your subscribers while also adding excitement to your emails. If you’ve been trying to get your audience to let you know how they feel about your products or services, now’s the time – but you’ll have to make it fun.

We've created in-email surveys on Mail Blaze that let you add a single question (embedded and answerable in your campaign) at any time. It's best to use this type of survey when you only have one goal for the survey. A great example of using this kind of survey is to use an in-email survey to gauge the sentiment surrounding your brand. You could use a star rating style question as an easy way to get your audience to participate in your campaign. Take this idea to the next level and create a game where the first three subscribers to provide you feedback stand a chance to win a prize.

The aim of the game is not to force them to give you positive feedback but rather to encourage your audience to give you feedback (positive or negative) and to do so quickly.

If you’re interested in this feature and you’d like to have a survey in one of your emails, you can read our article about creating a survey with Mail Blaze.

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2. Countdown timers

A countdown timer can create a sense of urgency and encourage your subscribers to take action before time runs out. For example, you can use a countdown timer to promote a limited-time sale or offer or to create anticipation for an upcoming event or product launch.

This is a fun feature that Mail Blaze allows you to incorporate into your emails. Check out our article about our three new interactive content blocks to learn how to apply a countdown timer.

There are a lot of great ways to incorporate countdown timers in your campaigns; just keep in mind that all email clients cannot support interactive elements, so we always encourage our clients to add the end time in their campaigns to ensure the time specifications aren’t lost.

Image Source: Mail Blaze

3. Holiday season campaigns

Everyone loves a good Easter egg hunt. Who’s to say you can’t have one in your email campaigns? During the holiday season, people are geared up for fun and games, so you can take advantage of the spirit of the time by adding game-like features to your campaigns. For example, you can have scratch cards for Easter shopping coupons or share clues to some of the products you’re promoting during the Christmas season. The first person to get the clue(s) right can then get a discount. You can go wild with ideas. It’s all up to you and your brand.

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4. Upcoming events

Do you have an upcoming event? You can create real hype around it by adding gamification elements to your marketing. You can use a quiz to find out what your attendees are most looking forward to at your event.

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When incorporating gamification into your email marketing campaigns, it's important to keep in mind a few best practices:

Keep it simple

Make sure the game or activity is easy to understand and doesn't require too much effort or time to complete. If it's too complex or time-consuming, your subscribers may lose interest in the activity.

Make it relevant

Ensure the game or activity is relevant to your brand and aligns with your marketing goals. If it's too disconnected or irrelevant, it could confuse your subscribers.

Use clear calls-to-action

Make sure you include clear calls to action that prompt your subscribers to participate in the game or activity. This can include a button or link that takes them to the landing page or website where the activity takes place.

Make it mobile friendly

According to some findings by Litmus, 43.4% of email opens happen from mobile devices.

Make sure your emails always display correctly on mobile. If it's not optimised well, subscribers won't want to participate in your game.

Final thoughts…

Gamification in email marketing can be a powerful tool to increase engagement, promote brand loyalty and drive conversions. By adding game-like elements to your emails, you can create a more enjoyable and memorable experience for your subscribers while achieving your marketing objectives. So why not give it a try and level up your email marketing game?

We'd love to hear from you. Let us know which gamification elements you'd like to incorporate into your campaigns.