Every SMM specialist knows that gaining subscribers to a VKontakte group is only the beginning of a long journey.
What's the use of 10+ thousand community members if there are 2-3 likes on posts and there is a noticeable decline in the audience regularly? These are symptoms of a “disease” called “low subscriber engagement”!
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We need to do something urgently. How do others solve this issue, you ask?
Standard set of events:
- improving the quality of content;
- organization of competitions, events, promotions;
- effective traffic generation (targeted advertising, moderation of subscribers).
But everyone does this, and it is important for us not only to increase engagement, but also to differentiate ourselves from competitors. Therefore, a fresh solution is needed. And it is there.
Gamification is the introduction of game elements in education, business, marketing and other areas. Yes, adults are grown-up children. We enjoy playing games, especially if we are properly motivated to take part.
We will talk about how to implement gamification and make games for subscribers in the VKontakte group in the article. You will find 5 examples of games in communities and a description of the stages of organizing/carrying out such events.
What is gamification
Gamification, as a tool in promoting communities, is used specifically to engage users. However, you can design the game in such a way that it will attract new subscribers and increase sales.
We can safely say that today games are a trend in SMM. But their popularity is only gaining momentum. Therefore, it is important to get ahead of your competitors and use this technique right now.
In general terms: subscribers are offered certain rules of the game for a reward.
What is the difference from a competition/challenge? The fact is that the game has a unique plot - circumstances offered to subscribers that differ from reality. It’s one thing to post a photo with a hashtag (this is a competition, a task), and another thing to feel like the hero of “The Tale of the Golden Fish” or play “Cities” (this is already a game).
The game can be implemented using either internal VKontakte functionality or third-party services, applications specially developed for the event, or customized bots.
This is interesting: 10 best services for promoting a group on VK
How to prank a pen pal?
Just like games, there can be many jokes and practical jokes. Your imagination will help you. I will just mention the most popular pranks among VK users.
Replacing element code
This method requires certain skills and abilities to work with code. But if you want, you can quickly learn this. The main thing is to understand the essence.
The gist of the joke is this. You change any element visible on the page. It is important to understand that changes only remain in your browser until the page is refreshed. But this time will be enough to take a screenshot and send it to a friend via PM.
By replacing the element code, you can change anything (the text of a message from a friend, personal information in his profile, etc.).
For example, replace the text in his last message as if he wrote something offensive to you. Take a screenshot and send it to him with your complaints.
Communicating on behalf of another person
To implement this giveaway, you will need to create a new page with the first and last name of another person (for example, a celebrity or a girl a friend is in love with, etc.). Also add a photo of this person.
Then you need to subscribe to your friend’s profile so that he subscribes back, and then you can start communicating with him. An unsuspecting friend will think that the girl he likes or the celebrity herself wrote to him.
Examples of games for VKontakte community subscribers
Let's look at 5 examples of games for the VKontakte group.
Sea battle
Sea battle is a game familiar from childhood. Marketing agency PDBA in its community “SmartCover”, dedicated specifically to gamification, decided to entertain subscribers on February 23rd.
Goal of the game : increase engagement, attract new audiences.
Implementation : VKontakte interface - comments; comment bot.
Conditions:
- A subscriber writes to messages from the “yasaper” group to take part in the game. In the comments under the post with the game, the participant writes the letter and cell number (for example, a1).
- The bot reports the result in a reply comment.
- You can “strike” once per hour (2 attempts). If a participant reposts the game to his page, he can go every 20 minutes (the profile must be open).
- Those who manage to defuse the “mine” receive prizes.
Results : the post in which the game took place collected more than 3 thousand views (50% more than usual) and became the absolute leader in the number of comments (100+ comments compared to the usual 5-15).
Case analysis
The online school of SMM specialists and targetologists “NextMedia Education” invited subscribers to analyze SMM cases in a playful way. This event differed from the usual quiz in that the clients for SMM services in the cases represented Hogwarts School of Wizardry, The Beatles, and Albert Einstein.
Goal of the game: increase engagement and sales.
Implementation : VKontakte interface - polls, comments; Open access Google spreadsheet.
Conditions:
- Subscribers take tests in the form of surveys and score points for their answers: 1 point for a correct answer, 2 points for a detailed correct answer. Multiple comments do not add up.
- The scores are compiled into a Google spreadsheet with open access.
- The winner (3 participants with the most points) receives prizes.
Results : an increase in the coverage of posts by 3 times (on average, posts with a game gained a coverage of 3000 instead of 1000). Posts with the game were eagerly commented on. On average, per post, against the usual 4.
Instrument game
Household appliances manufacturer Midea in the spring of 2021 launched an interactive for subscribers of its VKontakte community on the wave of hype about the start of the final season of the Game of Thrones series.
Goal of the game : increase engagement and sales.
Implementation : VKontakte interface - likes, comments; script commentator; dynamic group cover; a specially designed application for tracking results.
Conditions:
- Subscribers must choose the House to which they pledge allegiance by writing its motto in the comments to the post with the game.
- The script notifies the participant about the successful oath in a response comment.
- The battle with other houses begins. Participants should like and write comments under posts in the group as much as possible. Points are awarded for all actions.
- You can follow the overall success of the battle on a dynamic cover, and the rating of participants in a special application. Based on the highest number of points, the winning House and participants who receive prizes are determined.
Results : the post received more than 1 million views (previously on average), and also received 4 times more comments (800+ comments versus 200 usual).
Horror quest
An online education project to prepare for the Unified State Exam played on the feeling of fear that teenagers feel before taking an exam, and offered to complete a chain of puzzles, logic problems and other tests in exchange for prizes.
Goal of the game : increase engagement and sales.
Implementation : VKontakte interface - personal messages; chatbot.
Conditions:
- The subscriber writes to the chatbot that he wants to participate in the game.
- The chatbot introduces the participant to the game, talks about how to control the on-screen keyboard, offers to select a character and start.
- The participant is immersed in the horror plot atmosphere.
- Assignments related to the topics of the Unified State Exam are offered.
- The final task of the quest ends with a message of victory. The group administration then contacts the winner and presents the prize.
Results: high involvement in the game itself was noted: 75% of those who signed up for the chatbot with the game completed the quest to the end. The online school noted a 2-fold increase in sales of educational webinars.
Prize Roulette
No one expected that “Roulette” in the community of the small Chelyabinsk iPhone repair service center “HotFix” would add 9500+ comments to the post with the game in just 3 days. After all, advertising for the event was launched to a small audience within a radius of 8 km from the office.
Goal of the game : increase engagement, attract new audiences.
Implementation : VKontakte interface - comments; comment bot.
Conditions:
- The subscriber “spins the roulette” - leaves a comment under the “hotfix” post.
- The bot responds with a random location of 3 slots. If the slots match, the bot reports that the participant receives a prize.
- Each participant has 3 attempts, which are updated every 10 hours.
- Subscribing to the community gives 2 additional attempts.
- Reposting a competition entry — 3 more attempts, which are updated every 5 hours while the repost is hanging on the participant’s wall.
- The bot gives each participant a promotional code for inviting friends and gives 2 additional attempts for each invitation.
Results : in just 3 days: 9500+ comments on the post with the game, 290 people joined the group.
At the same time, almost every member of the community was spinning roulette: 1,506 players for 1,800 subscribers.
Crocodile
Crocodile is a modern version of the old parlor game of charades, which in the Russian tradition is a language riddle game.
The players are divided into two teams. One of the teams (the guesser) confers and guesses a word or phrase (usually no more than two words).
For example:
- burdock
- mess
- ministry of magic
- femme fatale
Then a “victim” is selected from the opposing (guessing) team, and the secret word is given to them.
The task of the “victim”, without using objects and words, is to show his team what was planned. The team, accordingly, must guess what was shown and guessed.
Certain signs are permitted:
- the number of words or parts of a word - show on your fingers;
- cut the air with the edge of your palm - the word consists of parts ;
- crossed arms - “wrong” ;
- rub your palms together - “ close, another version .”
The round lasts until the guess is complete, or the guessing team gives up. After this, the teams change places.
The guessing team is not forbidden to put forward humorous proposals for what the “victim” is showing.
Introduction of gamification in VK
Let's say we are introducing a game to engage subscribers in a VKontakte group. What needs to be done?
Step 1:
Adaptation of the game for the VKontakte group
Choose a genre and plot based on the lifestyle, thinking, and pain of your target audience.
Think over the mechanics of the game so that it is not difficult for the participants, but also does not seem too easy to them.
Don’t forget to fill the game with something useful and educational for subscribers.
The organizers of the horror quest took the issue of adaptation seriously. For the audience of graduates, a feeling of fear is relevant before the Unified State Exam (failing the exam means not having a good future life). Plus, the horror genre is very popular among this age category. For the same reason, the “quest” mechanic was chosen - a popular game format among young people. The quest script is adapted to the theme of the Unified State Exam and contains educational tasks.
Step 2:
Design preparation
Don't forget about the visual component of the content. Illustrate the event according to the genre and plot. You can't engage your audience without capturing their attention. And the best assistant for this is a successful design.
For example, the brand of bakery products and pastries “Aladushkin | Darnitsa” conducted a fabulous quest for Easter. A unified thematic design of posts, dynamic covers, and images in chatbot messages was thought out.
Step 3:
Description of game mechanics for subscribers
Prepare a description of the rules and conditions (can be in the form of a guide/flowchart/algorithm). Design it in a way that is more familiar to your audience. Let’s say there is noticeable activity in the group in “Discussions”. Place the guide there, and in the post with the game, provide a link to it.
This is exactly what the creators of Prize Roulette did.
Step 4:
Prizes
Consider the prize fund. It's better if there are a lot of prizes. Then winning will seem more likely to the participants.
Worth o. The organizers interested subscribers by the fact that not only the leaders, but also each of the participants has a chance to receive a gift:
- Winning house: Midea mini oven for the most active participant, second place - coffee maker, third place - kettle. Two random players will receive a 30% discount on the purchase of Midea equipment.
- House that will take 2nd place: induction hob for the most active player, 15% discount for one random participant.
- Houses that will take 3rd and 4th places: benders for the most active participants and a 15% discount for random players from each house.
Step 5:
Conducting and tracking the game
Follow the progress of the game. This is useful for the subsequent stage of evaluation, positive feedback from participants on the outcome and for prompt response in case of force majeure.
Most likely risks:
- Participants who try to be cunning and circumvent the rules. Solution: it is necessary to identify through moderation and take action (warning, ban).
- Participants who violate the rules of the game due to an incorrect understanding of the conditions. Solution: identify misunderstanding comments, provide advice, make clarifying changes to the rules guide.
- Technical failures on VKontakte. For example, due to a sharp increase in activity, the community may be blocked. Solution: react to the situation, if possible warn and reassure subscribers, contact VKontakte support.
The community of the Rainbow Smile store had to deal with a VKontakte glitch when playing a game in a group. They warned subscribers about this in time, which saved themselves from negative comments on this incident.
Step 6:
Result evaluation
Remember the purpose of introducing gamification. In our case, increasing audience engagement. Answer the questions:
- Were you able to achieve your goal? You can find out audience engagement by calculating the ratio of the total number of subscribers to likes/comments/reposts of publications.
- How did other community indicators change after the game? Evaluate what has happened to the number of subscribers in general, whether audience loyalty and sales have changed.
In particular, the result of the “Prize Roulette” is clearly visible from the statistics of community subscribers. In 3 days from September 20 to 22, 2018, 290 people joined the group. Receiving almost 10 thousand comments under the game post significantly increased reach and engagement.
Nonsense
Number of players: from 5.
Purpose of the game: have fun.
What you will need: paper and pens.
Rules of the game: Players sit in a circle, each taking paper and pen. Then they answer in writing the question asked by the leader, wrap up a sheet of paper so that their notes are not visible, and pass the sheet to the neighbor on the right.
At the end of the game, the sheets are unfolded and read aloud.
Questions are asked in such a way that the result is a grammatically correct sentence:
- Who?
- With whom?
- Where?
- How?
- What they were doing?
Example of a game: (who?) Harry Potter (with whom?) with Nancy Drew (where?) on Bald Mountain (how?) sadly (what were they doing?) peeling an orange.
