How to Use Gamification to Improve Your Virtual Or Hybrid Events
How do you think some businesses manage to host the most incredible virtual and hybrid events. Among other things, they use gamification in virtual event platform. Gamification doesn’t mean just playing games. It means creating a game-like setup by throwing in challenges, contests, leaderboards, or quizzes. Gamification allows businesses to leverage the competitive side in most humans and boosts engagement like no other.
In other words, gamification can
- Boost audience engagement
- Enable networking among attendees and participants
- Even enhance sponsorship RoI
- Create a lasting impression in the minds of the audience
Now that you understand what gamification is and why you should try it, let’s look at how you can use it effectively in your hybrid event platform.
1. Goal setting
While we believe that rewards and competitions get attendees going, we also think it is important to decide the purpose of adding gamification to your event. Are you looking to do it for more brand awareness, or is it to increase sponsorship RoI? Identifying goals and introducing gamification that is in alignment with them is more likely to help you hit the jackpot.
2. Knowing which game to pick
It makes more sense to have a game of virtual basketball at a shoe launch than an automobile launch. So, make sure that your game is relevant to your goal and to your event. For instance, at the shoe launch, you could have a virtual basketball tournament with different levels of difficulty. The winner’s reward could be the new shoes you are launching.
You could also partner with a well-known gaming company and that can help you promote your sponsors as well.
Similarly, if you’re hosting an employee night, then team-building activities like scavenger hunts, escape rooms, and group trivia tournaments are perfect. They bring people together and are fun.
Along with the right game, choose the most suitable rewards too. When you know that the speaker at your event is in-demand, you could make time with him/her, a reward. Similarly, if you have a trade show, then discounts and coupons could be a reward.
3. Involving your sponsors
Dedicate one or two of your games to your sponsors. Let them lead in deciding what the challenge and the reward for it would be. Sponsors could promote their products as rewards or offer heavy discounts to winners. This way, they will feel in control of that particular part of your event and will be happier. It also improves their chances of a strong RoI.
4. Rule setting
Every game has a set of rules and that’s what makes it all the more fun. Communicate with your attendees and keep them well-informed of the rules. You could make a slideshow or a video to make the rules easy to remember. Using the best virtual event platforms such as vFairs, Almond Virtex, Airmeet, Hopin, Eventcube can help take care of these little details.
5. Tracking your games for the future
Gamification may not always work. So, it is important to keep track of who’s enjoying what. So, make sure you are closely monitoring these activities. If the virtual basketball tournament didn’t go as well as expected, you could try something different in the future. That’s how tracking helps!
At the end of the day, gamification is supposed to bring in that element of fun and help your attendees learn while playing. So, with that in mind, reach out to Virtex.
