With continuous advancements in smartphone technology, there are new mobile apps being introduced on a daily basis. However, as app developers find heavy competition in the industry, apps with basic features no longer make the cut. This has resulted in the introduction of new creative and exciting apps that use mobile app gamification to create a more user-centric approach. With this strategy, mobile app developers are increasing traffic and engagement.
Mobile app gamification has become one of the most powerful marketing tools for user engagement. Attracting users is a priority for mobile apps, and the most effective elements of gamification are social media management, personalized discounts, in-product customer experiences, and giveaways. Of course, there are a lot more strategies available to easily engage an audience.
According to statistics, mobile apps generated a revenue of $77.2 billion in 2020, growing by 13% every year. Many apps have adopted the concept of gamification to entice audiences through internal currency, rewards, badges, points, scoreboards, and levels.
So, what exactly is mobile-app gamification?
This refers to the addition of game components and contexts to a mobile app in order to make the user experience more enjoyable. The app’s entertaining features contribute to the app’s increased traffic. Furthermore, a fun-filled experience encourages users to return to the app.
As previously mentioned, gamification is one of the most popular game-based marketing strategies, with features like social interaction, progress display, rewards, leader boards, and more. Most people are eager to finish tasks in order to receive the prize at the end of the game. Making the app user experience better helps companies to attract more customers, increasing user engagement and motivating them with a more interactive environment. There is a larger winning potential, which has a greater impact on user behavior.
At the present, gamification has moved from gaming apps to other industries like fitness, lifestyle, and other apps where the game elements are used to draw people in. According to research, adult brains release the hormones dopamine and serotonin when they play games and take on challenges. They feel a sense of internal accomplishment that makes them happy, energized, and motivated to keep going and progress to the next level. This explains why people want to interact with apps that include gamification more and more.
How does gamification work? A user generally accomplishes a particular task in an app, earning them different rewards. The user gets a sense of accomplishment when they meet the goals set out for them. Moreover, everyone has a more enjoyable experience in the process.
There are different techniques of app gamification that companies can use.
Rewards is one of the most common gamification strategies. Brands can provide users with rewards for frequency of use, purchasing goods, accomplishing personal goals, participating in quizzes and competitions, sharing posts with their friends, and inviting other people to join the app. This not only helps to retain user interest but also increases brand loyalty. The types of rewards can include cash rewards, digital goods that can be exchanged for real goods, and in-app currency that can be spent inside the app. In other words, you can offer anything that provides value to target audiences.
Progress display is also an element of gamification. We as people like to see how far we have moved towards achieving our goals and what improvements have been made. This inspires us to keep going and even increase our efforts. As much as we might not like to admit it, we like to be recognized for our accomplishments. Similarly, seeing ourselves improve is definitely a huge motivation. Even so, tracking our progress is not big enough of a motivation for us to stick to our goals when used on its own. On the other hand, when we can compare our achievements with other people, it becomes a lot more interesting and tempting to participate to prove who is the winner. For this reason, many apps will include a leaderboard to rank efforts of different users.
While gamification for mobile apps has been around for quite some time, it has now been incorporated in decentralized apps and blockchain as well. Thanks to its immutability, transparency, and interoperability, the blockchain paves the way for new and more effective gamification strategies. Blockchain technology guarantees that an app and its information cannot be tampered with by any parties and provides authority through the information recorded. When centralized gamification scenarios are proposed to new communities, one of the main obstacles encountered is the fear that in-app games are based on rules that only benefit the app developers. Users are more likely to trust gamification mechanisms if they are clear, transparent, and possibly codified through a smart contract. Once you earn their trust, they are more likely to invest more money and time.
Today, gamification is focused on a single product or brand; however, by bringing gamification to the blockchain, it is possible to create virtual resource portability that is unrestricted. Finally, by incorporating gamification to the blockchain, it will be possible to buy, exchange, and sell assets obtained through gamification activities.
Let’s see how companies have implemented gamification techniques and how the blockchain can offer a competitive edge over a centralized platform.
First of all, brands are using gamification of qualifications. This is a series of strategies that encourage users to acquire and publish qualifications and skills, share academic merits, follow training and specialization courses, provide technical opinions, and participate in discipline-specific contests. The main problem is that restrictions and qualifications are often obtained and held by different organizations with no international standard of portability. However, blockchain can improve this by providing an immutable and neutral ledger with a common format where users’ qualifications, merits, and results can be certified. A global and verifiable vision can also be obtained from organizations authorized by the holders of these qualifications.
Some companies also use productivity gamification, which is a set of strategies aimed at improving worker productivity, safety, and accident avoidance. Worker performance on tasks and projects is measured and tracked, and leaderboards are created to show who is performing better in terms of performance and errors. This strategy can create healthy competition and a desire for improvement in the team if used responsibly.
Finally, many brands use fitness gamification to encourage people to stay in shape. This refers to a set of mechanisms that encourage users to overcome their laziness and engage in physical activity. Many insurance companies offer significant discounts in exchange for monitoring policyholders and verifying weekly physical activity achievements. Just as with gamification of qualifications and productivity gamification, the main problem faced is that data produced by an app is usually not available to other companies. This makes it impossible to build a shareable history of previous fitness activities. Blockchain can improve this by tracking users’ fitness activity on a neutral platform and making such data completely accessible, allowing for the creation of new data markets. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that data tracked on blockchain, which represents real-world actions, is only as reliable as the devices (and companies) that perform and certify these measurements are. While there are several techniques to reduce the risk of personal data relating to fitness activities being falsified, this data is still vulnerable.
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