Visit just about any course creation site or marketing group and you are sure to hear the term gamification being used. Before we look at how gamification can help your course creation business, let’s agree on what gamification is. Gamification is the process of adding game elements to an activity to increase engagement. This strategy can be used for sales pages, courses, and even your own life. Instead of bringing customers to a regular sales page, you may bring them to an interactive quiz or mini game instead.
The quiz makes them feel as if the information provided is more personal. They take the quiz, providing a lot of data and information to you that you can then use in your product development and marketing. Their quiz answers lead them to a sales page that you made just for the person who answered the questions the way that they did. By using a quiz or interactive lead magnet you have added an element of playfulness, a sense of discovery, and a touch of personalization that makes the user feel motivated to take the next step.
Another example of gamification you can use is a checklist for recording daily tasks. After creating the checklist, add a point value to each task and create a list of rewards that can be earned for completing tasks. Claim the reward when the goal has been met.. This works well for boosting productivity, helping students’ complete coursework in a timely manner, and so many other things.
Improve Engagement
When you encourage a potential customer to engage with you via gamification, you’ll end up with so much more engagement. Applying thoughtful gamification strategies in your online course, can motivate your learners to continue and progress to complete the course. Engagement is important because it helps build trust, lets your audience and customers feel important, and show that you care. Plus, the engagement itself provides an element of value to your prospects, students, and customers alike.
Boost Course Completion Rates
If you have ever felt bored taking a course, a little gamification can make all the difference. Set up your course to include meaningful rewards for completing key tasks. One way to do this, use a progress bar which shows the learner their progress as items are completed. This technique can really make the student want to get more done. Some online course management systems also include access to apps or other plug-ins that allow you to send timely messages of encouragement, motivation, and to cheer the learner on as they progress through the course. Timing these messages appropriately will also help decrease learner fall-out and move them towards completing your course.
Increase Sales
Studies show that gamification of opt-in pages boosts sales by up to 40% for those businesses who add gamification. It can be as simple as a quiz, a progress bar, or a points and reward system for participation. Anytime you can make things fun and competitive, it will increase your sales and the joy of buying and selling.
Influence Behavior
If you want to teach anyone something new, turning it into a fun experience, like a simple game, will help them want to learn and helps retain information. For example, if you offer wellness courses, you could create a quiz that provides feedback on each answer. Include reinforcement of the behavior for correct answers and provide an explanation of what a better decision could be with incorrect answers. You can use tools such as Google Sheets, PowerPoint, or Genial.ly to create your own learning adventures. These can engage students and potential customers alike to have an adventure by playing a game.
Speed Up Learning Time
Most people can learn more when they feel like they’re having fun, and they get to use both sides of their brain. Onboarding and training both customers, employees, or students can all benefit from turning the training into a series of fun and challenging games.
Gamification Strategy
Now that you have some ideas of what gamification is and how it can be used, you will want to begin thinking about and planning your gamification strategy. The key elements to remember are:
- What is the goal – what do you want your customer/student to do by interacting with your content?
- What feedback will the customer/student receive along the way?
- How will the customer/student be rewarded for taking the desired actions?
Let’s look at a simple example before we wrap up.
Bob just signed up for your course on how to make homemade lasagna. Bob wants to impress his family with his new skills. Your goal is for the students to know how to make a simple homemade lasagna by the end of the course.
You create an assignment and ask each student to upload a video of the lasagna making process they used after completing your course. You provide feedback to each student noting what they did well and where they can improve. Additionally, you have set your course up to send a “You Did It” gif to each student who submits the homework.
You receive an email from Bob, stating that he made lasagna for his family for the first time and everyone loved it. The student was rewarded by his family. You also decide to send Bob a coupon for 10% off your next course on advanced lasagna making to reward him for taking action.
See how simple that was?
As you see, gamification can really help you motivate yourself and your audience. You’ll get more opt-ins, more course completions, and increase your engagement with your audience. And that is Gamification and How it Can Help Your Course Creation
Connect With Mary
Mary Nunaley is the Co-Founder and President of the Lavender Dragon Team where she and her son bring online courses to life by using gamification, animation, and great course design skills.
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How to include Gamification in your online course with Mary Nunaley