Primary vs. Secondary Users: The Power Behind Developing for not 1, but 2 Target User-bases

Marketing media have been evolving digitally for decades; with numerous companies jumping on the mobile bandwagon in the past 3 years, apps are an essential delivery method for tailored mobile experiences however, it is important to realize that amidst the excitement and melee that ensues with initial conceptualization, a well-defined target user-base should be at the forefront of development intentions.

Building an app around specific concepts and functionality but without substantial thought to a target demographic inevitably leads to an unfocused and unsuccessful app. Remember, apps do not have to solve all of the word’s problems. The most successful apps do one thing really well thereby providing a definitive asset to anyone who uses them. Businesses can only drive usage with a primary base that finds value in the app and a secondary base that has the potential to apply and influence said value.

In the early stages of ideation, don’t simply generalize audience analysis. Determine a sharp, clear-cut definition of who your users are. Perhaps you want to launch a user-centric app for self-proclaimed foodies. Here, your primary consumer target consists of involved, cuisine-aficionados across various communities.Involvement from these key individuals mobilize restaurants (secondary base) with incentive to comply with the app’s ranking system. To appease the “buy-local” movement, perhaps these restaurants work with local suppliers, thereby stimulating a foundation for new business development as well. This sort of targeted engagement allows for primary and secondary targets to organically evolve and expand your overall user-base.

Concept. Target. Evolve. Develop.

Infographic on Enterprise Mobility- Apps, Platforms and Devices.

The enterprises are witnessing a transformation led by smartphones and Tablets. Mobility is slowly becoming a critical part of IT strategy. As employees and business processes go mobile, we, at [x]cube LABS, tried to decode enterprise mobility, crunch numbers to present before you an informative infographic detailing out the technology used in enterprise mobility, industry verticals that are at the forefront of mobilizing its operations and why enterprises are adopting mobility solutions. Our enterprise mobility infographic also takes a look at the state of enterprise applications, the smartphone deployment approach by industries and how big brands are increasingly deploying apps.

To view the complete infographic and for a high resolution image click here.  Re-tweets and Feedback will be highly appreciated!

Our other infographics-

The Android Story

The evolution of mobile operating systems

Smartphone and Mobile App Usage

The smartphone app-o-graphic

Mobilizing Gamification: Why and How?

After a brief introduction to Gamification and learning Game-mechanics and Game-dynamics, we will now move on to the importance of mobilizing the Gamification endeavour and then progress towards creating a killer Gamification strategy that will help you boost user-engagement with your brand and achieve desired business objectives.

Why mobilize Gamification?

Gamification, in most cases, is deployed on websites but mobilizing it could open endless opportunities for you to keep your consumers engaged and loyal with your brands. With mobility becoming a disruptive force and mobile devices becoming ubiquitous, it is highly essential for decision makers to mobilize their Gamification efforts so as to leverage from the advantages offered by mobile devices.  Mobilizing the Gamification interface will allow your users to interact with it from anywhere and anytime and for you to target a huge user-base.

Mobile devices have four intrinsic characteristics that makes them an excellent medium for Gamification-

• Mobile devices are personal in nature which makes for higher potential impact with customers thereby resulting in more engagement.
• Anytime, anywhere devices which could result in constant engagement with the Gamified interface.
• Easy and intuitive interaction improves the success rate of Gamification.
• Easy to measure and monitor.

Once you are convinced with the idea of mobilizing the Gamification drive, the next step is to come-up with a powerful Gamification strategy.

What makes for a successful Gamification strategy?

A Gamification strategy is more than selecting the point system or the design of badges. Gamification is a process that requires resources, takes time to deliver results and hence should be implemented with a well-thought out plan so that your users get a unique experience, be motivated to engage with your interface and you are able to boost your brand image. Here are a few tips that will help you in drawing an engaging and powerful Gamification strategy-

• Know your users, sync it with desired actions- Every marketing activity involves understanding the needs, wants and behaviour of the customers. So, it is with Gamification. Understanding your customers will help you know the emotions that will drive them to engage with your brands. And, your Gamification efforts should revolve around these emotions and should be successfully able to tap it. The game-mechanics employed in Gamifying your interface should be in sync with the desired actions you want your users to take. So, a successful strategy should be able to blend your user’s deeper motivations with the desired actions.

• It needs to be fun, interesting and challenging- The gamified interface should be intrinsically enjoyable for the users. Then only they will be motivated to do the desired activity and repeat it over and over again. A fun-filled game experience should be the core of any Gamification effort. To ensure that you gain long-term, sustained customer-loyalty, focus on making your interface interesting and more interesting for the users. Add levels to it so that it also remains challenging. Make your game tough but not impossible to achieve.

• Monitor it- How many users are hitting your interface? How much time they are spending on it? What are the access points to your interface? You need to know it all. Tracking the statistics is essential. It will reveal interesting and significant user behaviour which will aid you in reading the mind of your target audience. Further, it will also help you tweak your Gamification strategy as per your set objectives.

• Socialize it- In the age of social networking sites; it would be a sin not to make your gamified interface social. Including social media tools in your Gamification interface will help you create a community. But more than that it will also help you cater to the social appetites of your users. Allow your users to share, discuss and display their achievements.

To sum it up, mobilizing the Gamification effort will act as a force multiplier to your endeavour and will help you immensely benefit from ubiquitous nature of the mobile devices. Also, it’s absolute necessary for you to keep your target audience in mind when you brainstorm for a killer Gamification strategy. Think about your users- What will they like? What will motivate them? How would they interact with your gamified interface? Get answers to these questions, develop a game revolving around it and you have the blueprint ready for the success.

Game Dynamics- Satisfy the innate desires of your consumers.

After an introduction to Gamification and discussing game-mechanics, we now move onto another key element of Gamification known as game dynamics.

Game dynamics can be defined as needs and desires innate in every human being and can be satisfied using game-mechanics. Game dynamics include human motivations such as reward, status, achievement etc. In other words, game dynamics relate to the psychological aspect of the consumer and how other elements of gamification must work towards satisfying their emotional urge. By gamifying your online property, and by intelligent use of game-mechanics, you can create an environment and drive user engagement and experience by satisfying his one or more intrinsic desires.

Lets’ explore in detail some popular game dynamics employed in gamification-

Reward- One of the greatest motivators for a human being is the feeling of being rewarded. Offer your users or visitors to the gamified interface something of value in return and you will be satisfying his key desire which will make it meaningful for him to do the desired action and repeat it, again and again. Earning points for an action and then redeeming it for tangible and intangible goods can be a good example of gamification. GasBuddy is a mobile app which uses rewards to gamify. The app helps users to locate gas stations nearby and see the current gas prices. The app also allows users to report current gas prices and earn points towards prize give-away of $250 gas gift card every week.

Status- We all have a need for status. We all pursue social status, something which will earns as respect of others. A gamified interface to be successful must target and satisfy status as a desire, of the users. Examples of targeting and satisfying status as a desire can be badges, platinum or gold memberships, exclusive privileges etc. Foursquare, a social media company involved in driving consumers to merchants built a mobile application, wherein users can “check in” to various merchants, know about and gain discounts and special deals.  Further, users could also earn points and badges for frequently checking-in to the app, following friends and visiting the merchants.

Achievement- Many people feel a constant need to achieve. The feeling of accomplishment is a key motivator in them. To some, accomplishing difficult things provide a new high. A gamified interface must also cater to this human desire. Give your users some goals-easy, moderate and difficult- and let them revel in accomplishing something. The official Starbucks mobile app can be a good example where users earn stars for various activities and those who earn a particular number of stars gets a free drink.

Self-expression- The urge of the people to express themselves and showcase their style, taste and personality can also be used for gamification. Virtual goods can be a good way to provide an opportunity and satisfy the desire of self-expression. Virtual goods are also an excellent way to monetize your gamified interface and earn some revenue out of it. The best example of monetizing an interface and tapping self-expression of the users is Farmville.

Competition- A competitive environment goes a long way in motivating consumers towards a desired action and repeat it frequently. Most of us love to perform and compare our performance against others. So, allow users of your gamified interface to compete against others and display their performances. Those at the top will enjoy while those at the bottom will remain motivated to occupy the top slot. Leaderboard in popular mobile game Fruit Ninja is a good example of creating a competitive environment.

While the above mentioned game dynamics are popular and widely used in gamification, it is not an end in itself. As gamification goes mainstream, many novel experiments and innovations with the gamification concept have also targeted several other inherent human motivators such as altruism, gifting, blissful productivity, community collaboration, ownership etc. However, the underlying principle remains the same- target and satisfy the inner desires of your consumers and get the desired action. Overall, an intelligent mix of game dynamics with smart and innovative game mechanics is the underpinning formula behind the success of gamification.

Game-mechanics: Key to Gamification.

In our last article, Gamification: An Introduction, we defined Gamification, in business context, as a technique that employs game-mechanics such as points, levels, virtual or real goods and game dynamics like reward, status, competition and achievement etc.,  into non-gaming activities like website, social media and other marketing campaigns so as to encourage user participation and engagement.

There are two important tools to the process of gamification, game-mechanics and game-dynamics. In this article, we will discuss game-mechanics.

Let’s discuss in detail some of the popular and widely used elements of Game-mechanics-

• Points and Credits – One of the popularly used game-mechanics element is giving points or credits for an activity. Points for visiting a website, credits for referring it to friends and so on. The popularity of points/credits in gamification and its success reveals that people get a new high and pleasure even if there is nothing valuable associated with the point system. However, when points are allowed to be redeemed against some real goods or services then it becomes more rewarding for the user, ignites the will to win and makes his engagement worthy.

• Levels-
So many games consists of levels. You have to clear one level before you get access to other and so on. A users clears one level, move into the next one and he/she become different from the rest. Add sharing and status display and you will find users hooked to your gamified interface.

• Challenges – Challenges like earning a badge, winning a trophy etc., provides a sense of accomplishment to the user. Now, allow him to share or display his achievement and you provide a most-desired- sense of achievement and pleasure of a winner. Challenges sets a goal for a user, keeps him/her going and investing time and efforts to win the coveted.

• Virtual Goods – A gamified interface or platform becomes more interesting and engaging by adding buying or gaining virtual goods or currency. The gaming history is replete with games wherein users have happily bought virtual goods for real currencies so that they can use it in their games. It also provides the business an excellent opportunity to monetize its platform and earn revenue.

• Leaderboards –
Leaderboards target the competitive spirit innate in an individual and motivates him to emerge the best. Build a system where your user base has to compete against each other and maintain a score sheet or a performance chart. The user earns name, fame and you earn his loyalty.

While the above mentioned elements of game-mechanics are the most popularly used in Gamification, there are many different variations based on these concepts which are employed by businesses to gamify their platforms. Organizations who want to employ gamification as a strategy to engage and reward their customers will have to mix-n-match various elements of the game mechanics to make the interface relatively more enjoyable and competitive so as to hit the right emotions of its targeted consumer base and get desired actions from them. In future, as gamification gets wider space in marketing strategies of businesses, more and more experiments and innovations in the game-mechanics is expected. With such huge potential, sky is only the limit!

The article is a part of Gamification series. In the next post, we will discuss another key element of gamification- the game dynamics. Stay tuned!

Gamification: An Introduction.

The word “gamification” is fast catching the imagination of marketers and decision makers in organizations and being termed as the next ‘big thing’ in web and mobile world. As organizations gravitate towards the concept and embrace it, we found it fit to introduce our readers with the Gamification concept, discuss its business value, and understand its various elements and its applicability. In the first part of the Gamification series, we will get introduced to the concept-

Gamification is a technique where gaming mechanics are utilized in non-gaming activities to engage and influence consumer behavior and earn customer loyalty. However, Gamification as a concept is not new. In the real-world, businesses especially the hospitality industry, for some time, has been using a similar version of the concept to boost customer loyalty. Frequent flyer programs, earning and redeeming points in credit and debit card transactions etc., have become a popular way to make customer use products or services again and again. In the online world, the concept is in its nascent stage but, is expected to throw up a world of possibilities for organizations to reach out to their target audience, engage them with their brands and ultimately realize the desired goal. And, with everything going mobile, mobile phones are expected to become a potent medium for application of gamification.

What is Gamification?

Gamification, in business context, can be defined as a technique that employs game mechanics such as points, levels, virtual or real goods and game dynamics like reward, status, competition and achievement etc.,  into non-gaming activities like website, social media and other marketing campaigns so as to encourage user participation and engagement.

Gamifying brands-

Many leading brands are gamifying the customer experience so as to drive customer participation. Some good examples are:

• Starbucks Badge- Visitors who checked into to multiple locations of Starbucks were rewarded with Barista badges. Users had to search on Foursquare for “starbucks” and visit five of the locations provided in order to get the badge.
• Nike- Buyers of Nike products can set up an account and start saving their runs, setting goals, and challenging friends. You can also see how others in your country and across the globe are performing.

Gamification vs. Loyalty Programs-

While gamification and loyalty programs are similar in concept, loyalty programs whereas reward people with what Gabe Zichermann, the author of Game-Based Marketing, calls “stuff-based benefits” like discounts and goodies, gamification rewards people with status, access and power. He explains that people value status, access and power above stuff. So, gamification is more than putting people into a competitive grid and rewarding. It’s about making them feel good and boost his/her image in the social circle.

To sum up, Gamification comes across as a potent tool for businesses to engage their existing and prospective customers and impact fundamental business objectives. It promotes fun among customers and adds flare to marketing. With organizations, which have deployed gamification, tasting early success, we are sure to see a wider acceptance of the concept in future.

The article is a part of Gamification series. In the next post, we will discuss on the various elements of gamification. Stay tuned!

Did Google Make Changes to Android Market Ranking Algorithm Once Again?

Google has always been more sophisticated than Apple when it comes to app store ranking algorithms and they did a major change towards the end of March when a lot of apps lost their rankings and some apps jumped on to the top spots overnight. A quick analysis of those movements showed that the Android Market ranking algorithm was rewarding apps with higher user engagement compared to the ones that had huge volume of downloads but poor user retention and engagement. In fact a “sticky factor” was generating a lot of buzz among Android developers which was calculated as a ratio of daily active users to monthly active users.

While developers were just settling to that it seem Google might be rolling out another major updated to the ranking algorithm, especially for keyword searches in Android market.

Two of our client’s apps for which we offer app marketing seem to have gone through extraordinary ranking changes for their targeted keyword searches in the Android Market. For some of the keywords where these apps were ranked in top 5 has now slipped to positions between 11 to 21. The biggest move however, has been one of the keywords that was in position 12 and now slipped to 120. We also saw some positive movement where another keyword moved from position 78 to position 17.

At this point we have just observed the changes and the nature of the changes tell us that this is not one of those regular ups and downs but probably a new Android Market ranking algorithm that we will now have to figure. We would need a lot more data to substantiate the assumption and have a better understanding of what these changes might be.

While this updates are targeted towards improving the overall experience in the Android Market and rewarding truly good apps it will make life difficult for app marketers and also developers who have utility apps that are not required so often or cater to a very small niche.

Mobile App Industry Trends [INFOGRAPHIC]

The first mobile application store-Apple App Store- was launched on 10th July, 2008. Nearly 3 years after the launch of the first app store, and with app market or store for every major platform and several third party stores, the app ecosystem has steadily grown to become a world in its own. ‘The smartphone App-o-graphic’ intends to showcase the current state of the app ecosystem and also attempts to look into the future to measure the smartphone app store growth trajectory.

For complete infographic and high resolution image click here.