Working with clients across the U.S. and Canada, nventive delivers dynamic solutions that increase engagement and enhance the user experience for a brand’s customers. The core of nventive’s work centers on developing custom web and mobile applications, and within the loyalty sector, the company frequently works with coalition programs.
As part of the Loyalty Expo Speaker Preview Series, Loyalty360 interviews presenters who will lead informative sessions at this year’s Loyalty Expo in Orlando, Florida, from June 4–6.
Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with David Hamel, VP Strategy CX & Design, Mobile & Web, and Stephanie Mercier, CX and Digital Strategist, at nventive. Their session will discuss increasing interactivity in gamification and implementing re-engagement loops.
In your planned workshop, The Underestimated Asset, you’ll help attendees better understand how a mobile app can be pivotal in fostering customer interactions and increasing engagement. How can elements of gamification be leveraged in a customer loyalty program to enhance engagement, increase loyalty, and demonstrate overall value?
Hamel: Most loyalty programs are already gamified with point status, tier level, and reward structures. However, they can go a bit further. More interactive experiences—like those found in games—can be built. This can foster re-engagement and can be accomplished through accelerators. Brands could connect with a more diverse audience, specifically through micro rewards.
The issue we often find when working with loyalty programs is that goals take too much time to attain, and people lose interest. What you see in games is many micro rewards along the way that keep them re-engaging with the game.
This is the parallel we want to draw during the workshop. We’ll do it using a very well-known game—Candy Crush. We’ll show how Candy Crush re-engages with its user base and allows people to win at different skill levels. We believe the loyalty sector can be inspired to improve programs and increase customer retention through this example.
Who would most benefit from attending nventive’s session at the 2024 Loyalty Expo?
Mercier: Anyone in the organization who has a stake in the product vision, but we’re mostly hoping to inspire business leaders who are the deciding factor in what goes into the product. We know that the marketing team and loyalty program managers are important in crafting that vision, but business leaders are the ones who make the investment and determine if the app is going to be a success.
What are a few key takeaways attendees can expect to learn by attending this session?
Hamel: We want this session to be highly interactive. Through that interaction, we want attendees to be able to quickly assess their current loyalty app performance—perhaps not the program itself, but whether the app can leverage the program to provide a good experience and better engage and retain customers.
A few takeaways include:
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How to optimize the mobile app, leverage gamification, and learn how to implement re-engagement loops.
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Designing for various user levels and not skills, but interest or intent. We’re not just designing for power users. We want to cater to a bigger crowd.
We also want attendees to set strategic directions for their teams or their coworkers. Those are the key aspects we’re driving for in the workshop.
Mercier: The motivational factors are also very important—finding different strategies with the app and applying ways to get more users, engage them, and keep them interacting with the program. That’s what we’ll be sharing with the audience.
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For more information on this year ’s Loyalty Expo, including the event agenda and registration options, please visit LoyaltyExpo.com.