Gamification: Rewarding Users with Points

Gamification is an effective strategy that motivates and influences behavior by adding game elements into non-game contexts. There are many ways to make that happen, including rewards, points, badges, leaderboards, and so much more. Rewarding users with points is a practical gamification technique that you can also implement. Learn more about it below.

Point system in games

You know how they work, even if you’re not a fan of video games. Video games rely on a point system as a mechanism through which players are rewarded with point values every time they accomplish a task in the game. It’s a crucial component of game mechanics mainly because the point system significantly influences players’ satisfaction.

Points act as positive feedback or a reward that motivates players to take on bigger challenges in the game. They also serve as a bridge between players and games, thereby indicating the extent to which players are motivated to achieve the main objectives of a specific game.

In a nutshell, points measure success.

The key benefit of a point system is that it gives real-time feedback to players. It makes the games a lot more fun and engaging. Everything you do in a game significantly influences your statistics, avatar, and experience. With more experience and better avatars, players also have more game money and options to complete their quests or beat their enemies. 

As you’re already aware, you go from entry-level and change avatars in some games as you keep making progress in the game world. Your avatar becomes more elaborate and powerful while points keep getting higher. You also discover different ways to earn even more points in the game.

Point system in gamification

Gamification mechanics revolve around using features from games for other purposes, and the point system is one of the easiest methods to choose. Essentially, gamification is a dash where you have tons of options to choose from and customize your approach for the best possible results.

What are gamification points, actually? They are the points that users receive for completing a particular action, just like a player would receive for their activities within a game.

The gamification point system has several purposes. For example, you can use points to reward correct answers or progress. Since people like to show off their progress, even online, points can be a way of achieving social status. In some cases, a points system can serve as a mechanism to unlock certain premium content available to those with a higher score.

Scores and points motivate users and ensure they’re more willing to continue using products, and services, keep learning, or do something else that is specific to your niche. That is the only way for users to achieve a higher level. Then, the cycle continues. The users are motivated to keep winning points until they reach a new level, and so on.

Gamification points lead to either virtual or concrete benefits, sometimes both. The main point is that users know their points lead to something specific. That way, you create a meaningful experience for everyone involved. 

Why do gamification points work?

If you’ve never applied a gamification points system to your marketing strategy or sales before, you’re probably wondering whether it can really benefit you. The points system works primarily because we love seeing our actions’ immediate progress. That’s a part of human psychology.

You see, humans are hardwired to want things – and we want them now. Instant gratification describes our desire to experience fulfillment or pleasure without deferment or delay.

It’s all a part of our psychological model, which is based on the belief that humans act on the pleasure principle. Generally speaking, the pleasure principle is the driving force behind the desire to gratify our wants, needs, and urges. The most important thing here is that modern devices and information exchange fuel instant gratification.

That’s precisely what happens with a gamification points system. It appeals to our natural desire to experience benefits or satisfaction immediately. When we complete a certain task, we don’t want to wait for days or weeks to see our progress. We want it now. Gamification allows users, customers, or students to immediately see their progress as they receive points and move from one level to another.

Gamification points also work because they provide both simulation and adventure. Seemingly tedious tasks get a whole new dimension when you add game design elements into the mix. Let’s take online surveys as an example. 

Most people prefer to avoid traditional surveys because they can be quite dull. But relying on gamification techniques such as points and leaderboards can spice things up, yield more results by increasing engagement, and increase the quality of the whole marketing research.

Where to apply gamification points?

That’s the beauty of gamification – you can apply it across different industries. The Gamification points system isn’t limited to a specific niche. 

Whether you own a business or brand that wants to boost sales, a marketer conducting research, a lecturer providing courses, a fitness trainer, an app developer, or something else, gamification can work for you. And so can the points system!

How to apply gamification points?

Gamification points are a fantastic strategy because there are no specific rules. Your imagination plays the most crucial role here. 

All you need to do is think of different ways to reward users for their actions and how many points you will give them for each activity. Here are a few examples.

Increasing sales

You can use gamification points as a part of a customer loyalty program. For every purchase or every dollar spent, a customer gets a specific number of points.

Once they reach a certain amount, customers get useful rewards such as discounts and promotions. Points can also have a cash value. For example, when they collect 50 points, they can are entitled to a free purchase of up to $50. Options are truly endless.

Rewarding customers for their loyalty leads to increased sales and positively affects brand identity. After all, loyal customers like to feel appreciated. They need to know their decision to be involved with your business or products and services doesn’t go unnoticed. 

Improving learning experience

Educators can use gamification XP (experience points) to engage learners, motivate them to keep learning and track their progress. In fact, learners and educators alike can get a detailed insight into their progress. 

That way, students are more willing to keep going and get as many points as possible, whereas educators obtain valuable information on the strengths and weaknesses of their material.

Gamification points for education purposes can serve as a way to encourage interaction in the learning environment, incentivize social activity, identify engagement patterns, and much more.

Combining points and leaderboards is a great way to encourage students to keep learning. It works by making students more competitive. When we see someone with a higher score or more points, it’s perfectly normal we want to do it better and score higher.

But even more so, gamification points help build connections and collaboration. It may encourage learners to work together. They may form study groups where all students help one another with their weaknesses. That way, they get more points for each activity in the course and make faster progress.

Increasing app engagement

Or let’s say you developed a fitness app that helps users lose weight. You can use a gamification points system to tackle the biggest obstacle to successful weight loss – lack of motivation to adhere to regular exercise and a healthy diet. Points can make the whole process fun and more motivational, and engaging.

There are many ways to make it happen. Remember, you are only limited by your imagination. The easiest approach is to list all measures a person should take to slim down. These may include a healthy diet, regular exercise, drinking enough water, eating meals at a specific time, and following the program religiously.

Try to observe this list as a goal that people need to achieve. The most effective way to achieve a goal (or more of them) is to break it down into smaller tasks. That’s what you need to do in this case. 

Create a to-do list with different points, including eating three meals a day, making a specific number of steps, exercising for at least 30 minutes, drinking eight glasses of water, and more.

As users complete each task on the to-do list and log it into the app, they get points. When they collect a specific amount of points, users move on to the next level. This increases their intrinsic motivation and engagement in the app. In real-life circumstances, doing so would translate to a healthier lifestyle and more effective weight loss.

To give users even more motivation to continue, you can set up bonus points for their loyalty, i.e., everyday use of the app.

What happens when they don’t complete goals or use the app daily? Well, one option is to deduct points to encourage positive changes. This is associated with loss aversion, a cognitive bias that describes why the pain of losing is a lot more psychologically powerful than the pleasure of winning. 

A person prefers avoiding losses more than they like gaining points. By deducting points for inactivity, you are actually encouraging or motivating users to keep winning points.

This tactic isn’t just for the scenario with the fitness app; you can apply it in any other setting or circumstance. Loss aversion isn’t about punishing participants or app users; it is about motivating them to keep going. It also applies to motivating employees. 

Spinify Makes Gamification Simple

All companies can benefit from gamification and a points system regardless of their size or niche. The points system is one of several gamification techniques you can implement to increase participation and motivation. It also rewards users for every action they complete, which improves their overall experience with your brand, business, app, or something else.

As Spinify is the #1 gamification platform in the world, we can help you implement an engaging, motivating, and exciting points system. Our easy-to-use gamification tools will not only boost your team’s performance, but also make your team excited to work. 

Book a demo today and discover how we can help make your gamification journey simple.