Gamification has been on the rise in businesses across the globe, helping them engage both employees and customers to be more invested in the brand. But where is gamification going? How is it improving?
New technologies will change how people interact with your gamification as they are invented and adopted into the mainstream. Here are seven gamification trends you should be aware of as we go into 2022.
In 2020, the global gamification market was valued at $10.19 million USD. By 2026, Mordor Intelligence anticipates that value to almost quadruple up to $38.42 million USD.
Why is gamification expected to grow this much? There are a few main contributors:
Common onboarding tactics are outdated. New hires are tired of sitting in a meeting room for hours just to click through orientation slides with your HR team.
By the time they get their on-the-job training, which often happens the same day, they have too much information they’re trying to retain. The result is an unstructured mess that rarely teaches anything of value. That’s why one of the biggest workplace trends is gamification.
Gamification offers that needed structure to the onboarding process. Studies show that information retention and recall can be improved by implementing game design elements. Additionally, onboarding can be completed much faster—some companies find onboarding time reduced by 90%.
In the aftermath of COVID-19, the use of telehealth has increased 63-fold. Gamification can help these telehealth initiatives produce better health outcomes and maintain connections for long-distance patients.
For the health and wellness industry, gamification already proves to offer a lot of benefits. Current applications of gamification include:
As gamification becomes more prevalent in the industry, its applications will continue to help patients become better involved in their health.
While it is a frequently debated subject, studies do show that gamification can improve sales performance. This usually involves your sales team logging their behaviors and results into a gamified system and getting rewards. For example, a sales representative may get a point for every cold call they do in a single day.
Reward behaviors rather than results to make the most out of your sales process gamification. The purpose of the points system is not to get the highest score but is to reinforce good behaviors. Choose the tasks you believe make your salespeople better at their jobs and assign value to those only.
Artificial intelligence will be the driving force of change in gamification technology. Artificial intelligence offers a predictive element, which helps gamification become adaptive.
This combination has already been used in the education field with great success. Educational game programs can now adapt according to the person’s skill and education level, with the ability to recognize subjects the person isn’t as familiar with. This leads to a more customized and tailored educational experience.
In the coming years, A.I. tech can (and will) be applied to other industries. With A.I. at your disposal, gamification in any application will be more adaptable and offer greater results.
A.I. isn’t the only technological gamification trend to be aware of. The market size for AR and VR technology is expected to skyrocket to $300 billion by 2024.
This technology is a logical addition to gamification practices, as it can create immersive experiences that educate and engage your audience. So, as AR/VR devices become more common in the average American household, your gamification strategy must grow to include these experiences.
While all these current gamification trends can be excellent starting points for a new strategy, you must still strive for quality.
A recent study found that most companies use generic means to implement their gamification program. This is usually characterized by an overemphasis on points, leaderboards, and badges without balancing the competition with collaboration. Mordor Intelligence estimates this is the case for 80% of companies that have employed a gamification strategy.
Moving forward, companies need to reemphasize creating experiences that build a community and loyalty around their brands when implementing gamification. With that focus, companies are more likely to offer something valuable, thus improving their chances of retaining customers.
These trends prove that gamification isn’t a fad—it’s a well-established marketing strategy that continues to deliver outstanding results in engagement, lead generation, and much more.
So how do you leverage these trends for your own benefit? Whether for better lead generation or employee engagement, these gamification trends help you know what’s on the horizon and plan your gamification strategy accordingly.
If you haven’t started developing your gamification plan, contact CataBoom. Our gamification and engagement software will help you apply game elements to anything you can think of. Get in touch today!