As researchers, we’re always looking for ways to keep members engaged. Gamification is a great way to do that. We give members of our communities small incentives like badges or member statuses for their increased participation, and many love it. We also incentivize them by crediting points that they can collect towards redeeming gift cards and other prizes. It’s a common practice in the research world, and even in the social world (Foursquare comes to mind). However, I haven’t seen a ton of it on sites I regularly visit.
Until I went to set up our KLC Fantasy Football league this season.
I noticed a little notification letting me know I had 239 NFL.com rewards points. What could this be? Curiously, I clicked through. It turns out, the NFL.com site has its own form of gamification called NFL Rewards, and it rewards you for doing normal activities like reading an article, watching a video, or taking polls (sound familiar?). They also have “drives” which tell you what you can do to earn points today. It’s all a great way to keep you engaged on the site and get your news and content from them, as opposed to another site like ESPN or Yahoo Sports.
Before I knew it, I was up to 260 points just from doing things I could normally do. With points, you can do things like enter sweepstakes, redeem for a percentage off a purchase at the store, or get a discount on their video features. But the biggest proof that their system works? The most “expensive” prize.
The Authentic NFL Penalty Flag. Excuse me, the SOLD OUT Authentic NFL Penalty Flag.
For a cool 15,000 points (the next most “expensive” prize is 800 points), you can get an authentic penalty flag. Except right now you can’t, because it’s sold out. This means that NFL.com has kept members engaged for long enough on their site to accumulate 15,000 points. That’s 15,000 points worth of activities, page views, and most importantly, ad revenue. The NFL has created a system that successfully keeps their audience engaged in their site and their content. With gamification, you want to provide a fun, easy system that gives members a tangible goal.
As researchers, we could take a cue (or 15,000) from NFL.com’s system. If our members can clearly see their actions amount to something, they’ll participate. Giving them more redemption options, including things that are extremely inexpensive like a custom badge or member status, we give them a reason to keep coming back. Giving members “goals of the week” that award bonus points is just one way to keep members engaged, and consistently checking back on the site.
Instead of chasing page views and ad revenue, we as researchers are chasing insights. NFL.com shows us that the best way to chase these insights might not be direct, but rather just keeping people on the site, and letting the insights come naturally.