CRAFTSMAN+ Blog

5 Ways to Gamify Your Ads

Written by Craftsman+ | 09/24/24

In today's crowded marketplace, capturing the attention of consumers is more challenging than ever. Traditional advertising methods often fall flat, compelling brands to seek innovative ways to engage their audiences. Enter gamification—a powerful tool that transforms standard ads into interactive experiences that resonate with users on a deeper level.

In this blog, we’ll explore five effective ways to gamify your ads, showcasing strategies that can elevate your marketing efforts across various industries.

Why Gamify Your Ads?

Gamifying your ads with playable, interactive creatives can significantly boost engagement and performance across various metrics by tapping into fundamental human desires for recognition, reward, status, achievement, competition, and collaboration. This psychology of gamification can, in turn, help brands capture audience attention, increase time spent with an ad, and drive higher conversion rates. 

  1. Increased Engagement: Gamified ads encourage engagement by using the power of game mechanics. They tap into people's innate desire for competition, achievement, and rewards, making the ad experience more enjoyable and memorable.
  2. Higher Conversion Rates: Gamifying the ad can help improve conversion rates by making the experience more fun and interesting for users. When people enjoy interacting with an ad, they are more likely to take the desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
  3. Enhanced Brand Awareness: Gamified ads create a more immersive and engaging experience for users, leading to increased brand recall. When people have fun playing a game related to a brand, they are more likely to remember that brand in the future.
  4. Differentiation from Competitors: In a crowded digital landscape, gamified ads can help your brand stand out from competitors who may still be using traditional advertising methods. By offering a unique and interactive experience, you can capture the attention of your target audience and make a lasting impression.
  5. Improved Customer Loyalty: Gamification can foster a deeper emotional connection between your brand and customers. By rewarding engagement and creating a fun, memorable experience, you can increase customer loyalty and turn them into brand advocates who are more likely to make repeat purchases and recommend your brand to others.

Key Statistics

According to our research, on average, playable ads achieve a:

  • 40% greater Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) than static ads
  • 50% increase in engagement and loyalty
  • 5x higher average Installs Per Mille (IPM) than rewarded video ads

With these compelling benefits in mind, let's explore five effective ways to gamify your ads.

5 Ways to Gamify Your Ads

1. Interactive Quizzes and Trivia

Incorporating quizzes or trivia questions into your ads can be an excellent way to engage users while subtly promoting your brand or product. This approach works well across multiple verticals: 


  • Entertainment: A streaming service could create a character quiz for a popular show, allowing users to find out which character they're most like. 
  • Education: A language learning app might offer a quick language quiz within an ad, giving users a taste of their learning experience. 
  • Shopping: An outdoor retailer could include a "What's your adventure style?" quiz to guide users towards relevant products. 

Pro Tip: Use simple multiple-choice questions that are quick to answer and provide instant feedback or results.

2. Slide-to-Reveal Mechanics

This gamification tactic taps into humans’ natural curiosity and desire for instant gratification. Users swipe to reveal hidden content, discounts, or prizes. 

 

  • Shopping: A beauty retailer could use a swipe-to-reveal style ad to uncover a mystery discount on beauty products. 
  • Gaming: A mobile game developer might let users swipe to reveal a free in-game item or currency. 
  • Entertainment: A streaming service could have users uncover exclusive content or behind-the-scenes footage for an upcoming release. 

Pro Tip: Make sure the revealed content is valuable enough to justify the interaction and aligns with your brand message.

3. Mini-Games Within Ads

Embedding simple, quick-to-play games within your ads can significantly increase engagement time and brand recall. 

 

  • Gaming: While obvious for gaming brands, non-gaming companies can also leverage this. For example, a beverage brand could create a simple "catch the bottle" game. 
  • Education: Language learning apps might include a word-matching game in their ads. 
  • Shopping: An e-commerce platform could create a "spot the difference" game featuring their products. 

Pro Tip: Keep these games simple, ensuring they can be played in 30 seconds or less to maintain user interest.

4. Progress Bars and Challenges

Incorporating progress bars or challenges can motivate users to complete actions or engage more deeply with your ad. 

  • Entertainment: A music platform could challenge users to listen to 30 seconds of a new track to unlock a playlist. 
  • Shopping: A sporting goods retailer might use a progress bar showing how close a user is to unlocking a special offer as they interact with different product features in the ad. 
  • Education: An education platform could offer a mini-lesson within the ad, with a progress bar encouraging completion. 

Pro Tip: Ensure the reward at the end of the progress bar or challenge is clear and enticing to drive engagement.

5. Augmented Reality (AR) Experiences

Augmented Reality (AR) gamification can transform traditional ads into interactive experiences. By allowing users to engage with products in a virtual setting, AR can enhance brand interaction and also drive customer engagement and loyalty.

  • Entertainment: A movie studio could let users "try on" superhero costumes from an upcoming film. 
  • Shopping: A furniture app could allow users to place virtual furniture in their real-world spaces. 
  • Food: A QSR brand could invite users to participate in a virtual treasure hunt in which players navigate an environment to find hidden treats, earning points and rewards for their participation. 

Pro Tip: When implementing AR gamification, ensure that the experience is intuitive and accessible across various devices.

Gamifying your ads is not just a trend; it's a strategic approach to creating memorable and engaging experiences for your audience. By tapping into the fundamental human desires for competition, achievement, and recognition, you can foster deeper connections with consumers and set your brand apart from the competition. 

Ready to elevate your advertising strategy with gamification? Discover CRAFTSMAN+'s PLAY platform, designed specifically for creating, testing, and optimizing interactive and playable ads without any coding required. With our all-in-one solution, you can seamlessly scale your creative process and produce engaging ads that resonate with your audience.