As virtual events get more and more popular, they will require new incentives to keep everyone engaged. Gamification is a great way to keep your audience engaged while connecting people with each other.

For years, planners and organizers have used numerous ways to engage attendees and generate ROI through gamification. As we now slowly shift into a virtual space, online event gamification has become popular.

Understanding the basics of gamification

• The concept of gamification works on the principles of rewards and reinforcement. As humans, we all have the desire to compete and win. When positive rewards are at stake, attendees will display behaviours you want them to show.
• Gamification allows the audience to interact with each other, the speaker and the exhibitors as well. When the audience interacts amongst themselves they find people with similar interests, leading to the development of a community feeling.
• Gamification must have rules and should involve some sort of rewards at the end. Define rules at the beginning of the task, otherwise, it will be a hefty task to manage scoreboards and reap results from your event gamification. If possible you can also send an emailer before the event with the instructions and prizes offered to the attendees.

Types of event gamification you can use

Every event is different and depending on your goals, you will have to utilize activities that work with your plan. Whether in-person or online, gamification is a great way for you and your audience to have fun. Some examples of the type of games you can use in your event are:

Trivia

You can conduct this game in two ways. You can either hold a separate trivia segment where you ask questions or attendees can answer a series of questions throughout the event. Each correct answer gives a point to the participant. The person with the most points can win a prize.

Scavenger Hunt

Virtual scavenger hunts will involve giving your attendees tasks based on the areas of your events you wish to highlight or emphasize on. The participants can be given a list of tasks that they will have to complete through the course of the event.

Virtual Pictionary

These Pictionary challenges can be customised to your theme. This is a great game for breakout rooms and can accommodate smaller groups of attendees.

Creative Labs

Here attendees will be split into groups, where each group will have to come up with ideas to improve or promote a new product, service or initiative. Each team will then have to present their ideas to all the attendees. The attendees can be asked to vote on which pitch they found the best. The team with the most votes then wins.

These are just some examples of online gamification. These activities will enable organisers to keep the audience engaged.

Benefits of gamification include:

Data collection

The data collected through virtual event gamification include attendee behaviours – understanding how attendees function in a virtual event space and collection of leads.

The generation of leads is very important for businesses, therefore the data collected from here can prove to be useful for the organisers. This will also allow organisers to understand the needs of attendees and plan future events accordingly.

Sponsorships

Virtual events provide sponsors with a great opportunity to showcase their brand and logo to a large audience.

Gamification on virtual events allows sponsors to get brand recognition. They can also maximize their branding opportunities by providing their product or service as a prize.

In changing times, it’s important event planners adapt and cope with developments in gamification for virtual events. Here are some ways gamification can prove to be useful.

1. Embracing change

The shift from in-person to virtual events to hybrid events can be difficult. During this process, organisers need to understand that feel and experience of an in-person event cannot be replicated. However, they must learn to adapt and make use of the opportunities provided by virtual events.

With virtual events, many people across the world can attend the event without worrying about travel expenses and logistics. Virtual events are cost-effective to both the organiser and the attendees. In addition to this, numerous online events platforms have sprung up that make the process of hosting events with ease.

Nunify is a next-generation online virtual events platform that aims to give both the organiser and attendees a rich and easy digital experience. With numerous features, Nunify makes the process of hosting an online event very simple. Engagement tools are plenty, ensuring that the attendees are never left bored during the event.

2. Choosing a relevant game/contest

Whatever game or contest you choose, it has to be relevant to your virtual event. Pick a game that organically fits into the plan and design of your virtual event. Depending on the target audience and audience size, you can further define the rules and agenda of the game.

3. Social media promotion

Gamification can also include social media. You can ask your audience to post pictures of the event, tag a friend, ask them to like the event page and so on to win prizes. By asking your attendees to promote your event on their social platforms, you will reach a wider audience. You can also set up a brand hashtag and ask your attendees to use that hashtag when they post something related to your virtual event.  

4. Gamification and contests with Nunify

As of now, we at Nunify are working towards providing you tools for gamification and contests. However, we have various other engagement tools that make it incredibly easy for you to hold any contests or to conduct games.

Offering end-to-end virtual experiences, Nunify has interactive rooms and pop-up polls that can be used to conduct trivia contests, scavenger hunts and so on. Nunify also supports dynamic content like carousels and GIFs to ensure your virtual event will keep your audience engaged and your event memorable.