Living in a society that champions technological progress, the ever-shrinking attention span of the average consumer is a factor essential to address in order to achieve success. Major credit card issuers figured out long ago that building an engaging relationship is essential to effectively reach their target audience, using rewards programs and the like to create recurring business.
The evolution of that concept has created a buzzword that has caught the eyes of those trying to appeal to Generation Y and beyond: “gamification.” As an affiliate marketer, you should not only know what gamification is, but also know how it can be used to achieve your goals.
Just One More Level
The idea behind gamification is simple, and goes beyond appealing to a whole generation practically born with a video game controller in their hands. By engaging consumers using a progressive reward structure similar to those used in video games (often inherently addictive in nature), it can drive the urge to interact into the users themselves. It would be a lapse in judgment to dismiss the concept of gamification because of the parallels drawn to any number of overarching stereotypes. The focus of gamification is not the flashy presentation, but the recurring nature of content that builds loyalty and return traffic.
To capitalize on this strategy, certain credit card issuers have created co-branded cards that maximize the points and cash back rewards that customers can earn on specific purchases. These aren’t the prepaid points cards for in-game item purchases you find in convenience stores and supermarket displays, but actual credit cards with recognizable images and logos from popular video games that allow cardholders to proudly show off their favorite titles, while making purchases working towards their next digital escape. It would be advantageous to promote select credit cards that appeal to the brand loyalties for multi-million dollar game franchises, as fierce fandom knows no limits.
The concept of gamification has created rewarding relationships between major credit card issuers and cardholders, and new applications further blur the line between earning rewards in the digital and tangible worlds. Smartphones and other mobile electronic devices have created platforms through which cardholders can check on their progress towards card-specific benefits and goals, commonly in the form of rewards points or other “currencies.” Like any number of young adults who spend hours every night engaging in virtual combat online for a digital commendation their peers can recognize, some cardholders work towards goals (redeemable discounts, upgrades) and badges (statuses) awarded by credit card issuers.
Mission Objectives
Your quest as an affiliate marketer is to facilitate the forming of the relationship between credit card issuers who use gamification as key aspects of their rewards programs and the prospective cardholders most likely to engage in them. With minimal research beforehand, you can locate quite a few credit cards to promote on your website with rewards programs that use a gamification structure to attract and keep cardholders involved.
Video games have evolved over the past few decades to become more than temporary retreats from reality. The tried and true concepts used to create innovative and involved gaming experiences are being implemented throughout the business and financial world in the hopes of similarly positive outcomes. By properly identifying and promoting credit cards that use the concept of gamification to provide cardholders with a positive and rewarding experience, you’ll be engaging your audience in a manner that has the potential to take your business to the next level.