Online consumer spending grew significantly, reaching 43.1 billion euros, this represents an increase of 12% over the previous year. Faced with this dynamic, it is essential for companies to strengthen their online presence and attract users to their website or application.

That’s the point of a drive-to-web strategy : this means finding channels to engage and direct your audiences. In this article, we’ll be focusing on gamification, or integrating playful, interactive elements into your campaigns. We’ll look at how to use this lever to transform an interaction or advertisement into an engaging experience.

SUMMARY

• Drive-to-Web: Definition and Challenges
  
• Gamification: a powerful Drive-to-Web strategy
  
• Our recommendations for a successful Drive-to-Web gamified campaign
  

Drive-to-Web refers to marketing strategies aimed at redirecting customers from a physical channel to a virtual one (store, event, display advertising, etc.). The aim is to encourage consumers to continue their online experience. To find out more about the brand, discover its exclusive offers or complete a purchase.

Why is a Drive-to-Web strategy essential?

While Web-to-store transforms an online shopper’s interest into an in-store visit, Drive-to-Web does the opposite: it converts a physical contact into a digital interaction (and conversion).

The objectives of Drive-to-Web are as follows:

• Strengthening a brand’s digital presence
  by transforming physical visitors into engaged Internet users. The latter can become Instagram account subscribers, customer account holders or online orderers.
  
• Collect customer data to understand the audience and personalize campaigns.
• Increase online conversions through offers that encourage purchases on your e-commerce site or app.

Classic Drive-to-Web levers

Retailers have tools at their disposal to transform IRL (In Real Life) prospects into customers, including :

1. In-store QR Codes Displayed on POS (point-of-sale) advertising, sales receipts or product labels. These can be used to access an online catalog, promotions or customer reviews.
   
2. Interactive terminals. These devices offer the possibility of exploring more products, or even ordering online if an item is out of stock.
3. Offline-to-Online advertising campaigns. Billboard campaigns (in public transport), TV, radio or print ads can include call-to-actions to a website (e.g. “Go to online store for more info”).
   
4. Connected physical events. Brands can organize events to encourage participants to interact with their site or app (online competitions, newsletter sign-ups, etc.).
   
5. Digital loyalty cards. This alternative to the physical card encourages customers to create an online account to benefit from exclusive advantages.
   

As part of a Drive-to-Web strategy, brands are looking to maximize interactions between their physical outlets and their digital platforms. Among the levers available (QR codes, offline-to-online advertising, connected events, etc.), gamification stands out for its versatility and effectiveness. It will boost the impact of these communication media, making them more interactive and engaging.

Why ? Because a game, unlike a QR code or an advertisement, offers an immersive and memorable experience. Here, we take a look at the advantages of Drive-to-Web levers.

1. Boost brand awareness in an engaging way

Compared with QR codes and static ads, a game arouses curiosity and prompts action. A game mechanic like
a Jackpot, a Quiz or a Contest boosts visibility. It’s a lever for virality, since it encourages sharing on social networks (and word-of-mouth).

Example: La Roche Posay’s marketing campaign via Showroomprivé was designed to give visibility to the brand’s 4 new serums, while recruiting new qualified leads with an affinity for the product and the brand. Thanks to an addictive mechanism (Click&Win), it generated over 42K new visits to the brand’s website.

2. Refine customer knowledge and qualify leads

Unlike traditional advertising, which reaches an audience that is not always qualified, a game enables you to collect valuable data (emails, opt-ins, purchasing preferences and frequency, etc.). Because of their interactive nature, games encourage less intrusive interactions than a lead capture form. Thanks to the insights they gather, brands can qualify their leads, refine their segmentation and personalize their campaigns.

Example: Its gamified Drive-to-Web campaign enabled La Roche Posay to qualify new prospects by offering them the chance to choose their favorite serum right from the start of the game. This enabled the brand to better understand the needs of its audience. Thanks to the opt-ins collected, it will also be able to carry out retargeting for future operations.

3. Boost conversion through greater engagement

Static advertising simply transmits information (presenting a product, publicizing a current promotion), whereas a game creates an incentive to discover a product or an offer. In exchange for taking part, the player can obtain a discount voucher, a sample or VIP access. Incentives that facilitate the transition to purchase. By adding a time factor (a deadline for taking advantage of a discount), the drive-to-web game generates a sense of urgency and scarcity.

Example: Casino.fr used the marketing game (a Scratch Card) and the expertise of Adictiz Ads to recruit new customers. By offering discount vouchers to be won, the Drive-to-Web operation generated traffic on the site and increased sales.

4. Improve customer loyalty through more targeted communication

Unlike one-off offers, a game builds long-term loyalty by integrating a dimension of pleasure and reward. It strengthens the connection with the brand and encourages frequent returns to its website or app. By facilitating campaign segmentation and targeted communication. Gamified Drive-to-Web campaigns can be integrated into loyalty programs to encourage ongoing, omnichannel engagement with the brand.

Example: Leroy Merlin’s “Renovation” campaign led to the creation of new customer accounts. Each user was qualified using the Swiper, this enabled the brand to send personalized offers, perfectly tailored to the needs of each participant. The brand was thus able to send personalized offers, perfectly adapted to the needs of each participant.

Here are 3 tips to maximize the impact of a gamified drive-to-web campaign.

1. Choosing the right game mechanics for the right purpose. The type of game must be in line with the brand’s expectations and marketing objectives. An instant win will be ideal for generating leads, whereas a personality test will facilitate customer data collection.
2. Optimize distribution to boost reach. The campaign must be designed to facilitate the redirection of physical leads into digital customers. Paid advertising (social ads and retargeting) will be essential to target audiences and follow up prospects who have interacted with the brand without completing their conversion process.
3. Simplify the user journey to maximize post-game conversion. An effective game must be a springboard to conversion. It’s important to reduce the number of steps and focus on immediate rewards, which speed up the conversion process.
   

Conclusion

A successful Drive-to-Web gamified campaign relies on a strategic choice of format, well thought-out distribution and a fluid user experience. Gaming thus becomes a powerful lever to turn every interaction with your prospects into an opportunity to engage, convert and build loyalty. For powerful interactive campaigns, choose from our marketing game mechanics!