Gamification is becoming an increasingly popular method to boost attendee engagement at events. By incorporating game-like elements into your event strategy, you can encourage participation, create memorable experiences, and achieve your event goals more effectively. If you’re thinking about adding gamification to your event, here are four essential tips to ensure success:
1. Communicate Early: Make Attendees and Exhibitors Aware of Your Engagement Tools
To get the most out of your gamification efforts, it’s crucial to inform your attendees and exhibitors about the engagement tools available to them before they arrive. Send out pre-event communications that highlight these tools, and consider including detailed instructions or demonstrations on your event website. The earlier they understand how to participate, the more likely they are to engage fully when the event begins.
2. Recognize and Reward the Right Engagement Activities
It’s important to identify the engagement activities that align with your event objectives and reward them accordingly. Whether it’s attending sessions, participating in discussions, or interacting with exhibitors, offering meaningful rewards can drive the behavior you want to see. At Validar, our attendee behavior tracking solutions can provide a plethora of critical interactions, whether it be consuming session content, engaging with exhibitors, providing session and overall event feedback or engaging Attendee to Attendee. Whatever your event intent is, gamification can be customized to help you meet your goals.
3. Showcase Achievements: Let the Community See Recognition and Rewards
Public recognition can significantly enhance the impact of your gamification strategy. Make sure that achievements are visible to the entire event community, whether through leaderboards, social media, or announcements during the event. This visibility not only motivates participants to engage more but also creates a sense of accomplishment and community among attendees.
4. Sell Your Engagement Tool as a Sponsorship Opportunity
Gamification can be more than just a tool for engagement—it can also be a valuable sponsorship opportunity. There are many prominent and visible brandable components associated with gamification. Many brands monetize these assets by creating sponsorship opportunities. You can not only cover the cost of your engagement tools, but also create an additional revenue line item. A win-win for everyone involved.
