In this article, we’ll be diving into the world of always-on campaigns and exploring why they are essential for any business looking to create a lasting impact on their audience. We’ll also be discussing why it’s important to have an always-on marketing strategy, and how you can use game mechanics to boost your always-on campaigns across the buyer’s journey, from the awareness stage all the way through to customer nurturing.
We’ll share some exciting examples of always-on gamified campaigns that you can use to engage with your audience and keep them coming back for more. Whether you’re looking to boost brand awareness, increase engagement, or nurture existing customers, always-on campaigns are a powerful tool that you can use to achieve your marketing goals.
So, let’s get started!
Interesting in learning more about always-on marketing? We also have an eBook available!
Download the eBook
Always-on marketing is a strategy that involves creating content and activities that are available to your audience all year round. Unlike traditional campaigns, which are often tied to specific events or promotions, always-on campaigns are designed to have a long-term impact on your audience and build lasting relationships with them, hence boosting customer loyalty.
At its core, always-on marketing is about being present and available for your audience whenever they need you. It’s about creating a continuous stream of content and activities that are relevant and valuable to your audience, regardless of where they are in their buyer’s journey.
Creating always-on campaigns is important for several reasons. Firstly, they allow you to be more agile and responsive to your audience’s needs, providing relevant and timely content and activities. Secondly, they can help drive more consistent results over time, building momentum and loyal followers.
Furthermore, always-on campaigns have a high ROI because the time spent creating the campaign is valuable for a longer period of time. Instead of investing in short-term campaigns, always-on campaigns offer a long-term impact and help to maintain a consistent presence in the minds of your audience.
It’s easy to sometimes think that certain practices like always-on marketing might just be for B2C setting and not B2B. But this way of thinking is a mistake because even in a B2B context, your customers still want their needs met when they are looking for something specific.
We like this explanation from MarTech Advisor: “The ‘always-on’ nature of B2B marketing has become a necessity to get, and keep, your message in front of target prospects throughout the buying process. If your message isn’t available to them BEFORE they’re ready to engage, you’ve probably missed your opportunity to get into the consideration set.”
Using game mechanics in your always-on marketing strategy can help you create a more dynamic and immersive experience for your audience. By incorporating game mechanics such as games, leaderboards, and challenges, you can transform your always-on campaigns and activities into more interactive and engaging experiences.
Game mechanics can be particularly effective in incentivizing specific behaviors, such as sharing zero-party data or driving sales, as well as creating a sense of competition and community among your audience. This not only encourages repeat engagement but also can foster a more loyal and engaged audience that is more likely to enjoy your content and recommend your brand to others.
Below, we will show you examples of always-on gamified campaigns for each of the stages in the buyer’s journey.
Always-on marketing for the awareness stage can help maintain a consistent brand presence, increase brand recall, and reach potential customers who may not be actively searching for a product or service.
These are just examples of gamified always-on campaigns you can use in the awareness stage. Of course, the goal is to increase awareness around your brand and engage your audience. But, you can also leverage the results of your always-on digital campaigns to collect valuable data about your audience and to send personalized offers, recommendations, and content to participants later on in the customer journey.
Arbejdernes Landsbank, a prominent Danish bank, aimed to assist potential homebuyers by providing personalized insights and guidance early in their home-buying buyer journey.
They developed an always-on personality test, “Are you ready to buy a house?” Prospective homebuyers answered questions about their property and loan preferences, financial situation, desired location, and budget. Participants received personalized insights and learned about the bank’s offerings non-intrusively. At the end of the test, they were invited to a dedicated page to book a meeting with a counselor and start planning their home purchase if they wished.
Always-on marketing in the consideration stage can also provide businesses with an opportunity to educate potential customers about their products or services, and understand their current needs and pain points. By providing helpful information and resources, such as educational videos, assessment tests and quizzes with feedback, businesses can establish themselves as a trusted source of information and build stronger relationships with potential customers.
The UK furniture retailer, DFS created the “What’s your thing” personality test where users answer a series of questions about their sofa style preferences, fabric choices, and so on. Based on their responses, the campaign insights enabled DFS to categorize participants into specific style profiles. These profiles then guided users to sofas at DFS that best matched their tastes and preferences. This is a great example of how you can use a personality test to help potential customers in the consideration stage to easily find the products that are the best fits for them!
Creating always-on campaigns in the decision stage can help businesses nudge potential customers towards making a purchase or taking a specific action, by providing them with relevant and compelling information at the right time.
Ecooking wanted to address the challenge of selling foundation online. Knowing that choosing the right shade can be tricky without the ability to try it on, Ecooking aimed to provide the same level of assistance customers receive in physical stores. They develop the Foundation Finder, a personality test that guides customers in identifying the best foundation shade for their skin. By answering a series of questions, users receive personalized recommendations, making the online shopping experience akin to an in-store consultation. The campaign’s exceptional success led to its integration as an always-on feature available directly on Ecooking’s homepage, demonstrating how gamification can effectively enhance online shopping assistance and drive sales.
Creating always-on digital campaigns for customer nurturing can help businesses build long-term relationships with their existing customers, by providing them with ongoing value and support even after the initial sale.
FAF also uses gamification to cultivate deeper loyalty with their fans through personalized interactions – their birthday campaign being an example.
On their birthday, their subscribers receive an email with an access to a gamified landing page featuring a gift box they can virtually open to reveal the birthday video from the National Teams as well as a 10% discount code.
We’ve always known that being closer to the customer and getting information straight from them was the ideal. We also know the way many marketers get data through third-party cookies will be changing for good and very soon.
So how will you get customer or audience data? One way to get closer to your audience (and gain first-party data) is through gamifying your marketing activities. We’ve seen that the value exchange is strong and that consumers are willing to share personal details when the experience is engaging and fun.
A major benefit of collecting zero-party data is that it increases relevance for your audience while increasing your ability to personalize.
Customers are in control of when they interact with us and (of course) when they are ready to buy. It’s unlikely that you will win the sale or customer if they only come across your business or brand in the acquisition phase.
A post from the LinkedIn blog explains the solution perfectly: “Ideally, you’re creating constant value far earlier than the buying process when they’re simply researching and learning and educating themselves. You have to be ready not just on your own site and your own channels, but be available wherever they may be…. It’s all part of a buyer-centric, customer-centric marketing program.”
Alway-on activities can be a great solution for this. By thoughtfully designing a customer experience with always-on activities and/or content, marketers can be sure that they fit their customers’ needs whenever and wherever they need.
As marketers, we must accept that our job is to be testing, analyzing, and adjusting. This applies to social media posts, brand positioning, gamification campaigns, and also always-on activities. To be successful, you must be willing to embrace revision so that you are providing the experience that your customers respond to and want.
Always-on marketing can be a powerful tool for businesses to engage with potential and existing customers throughout the entire customer journey. By incorporating gamification elements into these campaigns, businesses can increase engagement, build brand loyalty, and drive conversions. Whether you’re looking to create a quiz, personality test, or exit-intent campaign, there are endless opportunities to gamify your marketing strategy and achieve better results.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to gamify your always-on campaigns, book a demo with Playable, the leading gamification platform. Our team can help you create personalized, effective campaigns that resonate with your audience and drive long-term success.