Games, whether actual sports, fun trivia, or mobile games, resonate with the audiences. They have the power to gather and unite people. So, ever thought of incorporating games into your public relations campaigns?
Enter gamification, one of the PR trends in 2024 forecasted by business leaders. It has become an increasingly popular tactic for engaging stakeholders. But how does it work, and how can you make the most of it?
This article talks about the use of gamification in public relations. Learn how to implement a gamified PR campaign to engage audiences, boost your business, and more.
Ready? Let’s dive right in!
Understanding PR Gamification
PR gamification is a strategy used to connect with various business stakeholders through fun, exciting, and engaging games. Think of companies holding online quizzes, interactive polls, competitive leaderboards, and immersive virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) games.
Take a look at this trivia game held by Edustipend every Friday and posted on LinkedIn:
PR games usually offer rewards such as points, prizes, badges, and even digital assets for the audience participation. The ultimate goal is to turn passive audiences into active participants for high engagement, positive relationships, and business success.
It’s safe to say that the benefits of PR gamification are multifold:
- Improve brand awareness and business image. Online games offer several brand benefits for PR campaigns. For one, PR gamification catches the audience’s attention for brand recognition. Also, a successful PR engagement through interactive campaigns can boost business reputation.
- Enhance audience interactions and stakeholder relationships. PR campaigns improve the user experience (UX) with gamification. These interesting games not only gather various audiences but also keep them engaged. Ultimately, they help improve your relationships with them.
- Gain brand loyalty and customer support. PR gamification goes a long way for your business. For one, solid engagement through interactive games makes stakeholders loyal to your brand. It also helps you earn the utmost support from clients or customers.
- Augment data insights and decision-making. PR games enable you to leverage digital tools and modern technologies for data insights. You can then use these pieces of information to make sound decisions for your PR campaigns.
- Attain business growth and overall success. Initially, PR gamification boosts brand awareness, stakeholder relationships, and customer support. However, all these eventually translate to business profits and long-term success.
Learn how to engage stakeholders using PR gamification in the next section.
How To Implement Gamified and Interactive PR Campaigns For Audience Engagement
It’s easy to see companies and organizations investing in PR management. In fact, its global market is projected to grow from $114.1 billion this year to $144.28 billion in 2028 at a 6% CAGR.
But ever considered holding games for your PR management? It’s a good idea because of how gamification engages the audience? Given this and all other potential benefits, you have all the right reasons to do so.
That said, here’s how to implement an interactive PR campaign through gamification:
1) Start with setting clear PR goals
PR campaigns primarily aim to connect with various stakeholders. However, many of these campaigns lead to a futile attempt. So, it’s best to take a different approach—gamification.
To get started, define your specific PR objectives for your gamified campaign:
- To boost stakeholder engagement. Looking to improve your interactions with stakeholders, whether the media or the general public? Gamification might be the answer!
- To enhance brand recognition. Seeking to boost your brand awareness in a different light, like the use of gamification? Gamified PR campaign could help!
- To improve customer relationships. Planning to establish good relationships with your target market? PR gamification is key!
Gary Hemming, Owner and Finance Director at ABC Finance, underscores the importance of PR goal-setting. He believes that the PR team should be clear about what they aim to achieve from gamification.
Hemming argues, “There’s a line drawn between implementing a gamified PR campaign and journalist outreach. The same is true for digital PR, press releases, or HARO pitching. Start by setting objectives so your PR campaign will make sense at the outset, and you’ll be properly guided all throughout.”
2) Get to know your target audience
After setting your PR goals, study your audiences for your gamified campaign. You need to understand them on a deeper level. That way, you can align your PR tactics with what appeals to them, as recommended by Brooke Webber, Head of Marketing at Ninja Patches.
Generally, PR campaigns reach out to both internal and external stakeholders:
- Internal stakeholders: Start with those with whom you have contracts, such as LLC operating agreements and service-level agreements (SLAs). These can be your labor workforce, partnered vendors, and third-party service providers. You should prioritize building good relationships with them.
- External stakeholders: Then, you can proceed with conducting research on your target market. This market includes the public consumers (especially potential customers) and the media (news organizations and journalists). Understand their needs, interests, and preferences based on demographics, psychographics, and other factors.
By deeply understanding your stakeholders, you can align your gamified PR campaigns with what works best for them.
3) Pick the right platform or channel
Now, it’s time to choose the right digital channel or platform for your PR gamification. Ask yourself first: Is this an immersive VR/AR game on your website? A conducive mobile game on your app? Does the user have to scan a trackable QR code to participate? Or an interactive poll on social media?
Below are the typical platforms or channels used for a gamified campaign:
- Business website: It’s better to have a gamified PR campaign on your website rather than any other platform. For example, you can employ contractor marketing like interactive ads for contractors with a fun game of some sort. Or take a look at this online quiz on BuzzFeed as an example:
- Mobile application: In today’s digital landscape, it’s easy to see businesses running mobile applications. With an app in place, you can host mobile games to engage with your customers or clients regularly. Take a look at Wiz with its mini-game accidentally created:
- Social media pages: PR gamification strategies require interactive content, such as quizzes, polls, and trivia, on these channels. You can also harness user-generated content (UGC) in social media campaigns as part of your PR initiative. See Brunswick Hotel with its trivia game posted on Facebook:
Image source: Facebook
Gavin Yi, Founder and CEO of Yijin Hardware, recommends choosing the right platforms for gamified PR campaigns. He believes that businesses should take space on the internet, create social media pages, and even build apps in today’s digital landscape.
Gavin explains, “These digital platforms or online channels are where people reside. So, if you’re looking to employ PR gamification and connect with stakeholders, harness the power of these digital spaces. That can make a world of difference in your audience engagement.”
4) Set the game mechanics in place
After choosing the platform or channel for your PR gamification, it’s time to establish your game mechanics. It requires three key steps: Pick a game, design the mechanics, and reward your participants. Easier said than done, right?!
Here’s how what you need to do:
- Identify and define your game. Determine the kind of game your target participants will play for your PR campaign. Is this a trivia game on your click-and-order store? An interactive poll on X (Twitter)? Or a VR/AR game on your mobile app?
- Plan and design the mechanics. Of course, the mechanics vary from one particular game to another. However, ensure one thing: There should be an engaging game and an exciting reward for it. Therefore, sit down and brainstorm with your team to develop a good one!
- Engage and reward participants. Games can be fun and exciting for participants, but what they can get for joining should be enticing and rewarding. For example, if you run an e-commerce store selling anything related to sleep, hold a slumber trivia party online and offer some of the best mattresses for kids as prizes or rewards.
With well-designed game mechanics in place, you can expect active participation from your target audiences. More importantly, you can build great connections and establish positive relationships with them.
5) Implement gamified PR tactics
Finally, you’ve reached the last step—PR implementation. It might just be a game for your participants, but it is a make-or-break campaign for your company. So, set key metrics, track your performance, measure it against KPIs, and adjust your strategies when necessary.
Below are gamified PR campaigns and real-world examples from top brands:
- PR Challenges and rewards: Starbucks nails PR gamification by offering points for every purchase through its Rewards program. These points can be redeemed for free drinks, food, or exclusive offers, keeping customers engaged and coming back for more.
- Competitions and leaderboards: Nike’s Run Club App combines fitness with competition by letting users join challenges, track their progress, and rank on leaderboards. This PR initiative builds community by motivating people to stay active and connected with the brand.
- Brand narratives and storytelling: Duolingo turns language learning into a fun game where users earn points and unlock levels as they go. By adding friendly competition, it makes learning more engaging and helps retain users.
Learn from Jesse Hanson, Content Manager at Online Solitaire and World of Card Games. By offering online games, he can attest to how these games can bring people together and build good relationships.
Hanson says, “Gamification has transformed how brands engage their audiences by blending entertainment with rewards. Adding interactive elements to your PR campaigns can help foster loyalty and community. These strategies not only deepen stakeholder engagement but also keep them coming for more.”
Final Words
PR gamification proves beneficial in many ways, especially when promoting audience engagement. Not only does it improve stakeholder relationships, but it also boosts your business reputation and decision-making. Ultimately, it lets you gain brand loyalty, customer support, and business growth.
That said, consider implementing gamified and interactive campaigns. Follow the key steps outlined above for your PR implementation. With all these practical tips and steps, you can take your PR efforts to the next level for solid engagement and overall success!
