5 Best Christmas Gamification Ideas to Boost Engagement 2023

It’s that time of year!! Yay! During Christmas, we all become a bunch of big kids, enjoying the holiday season, unwrapping gifts, and happiness! It’s also the best time for shopping, right? The 2022 holiday season saw a whopping $1.14 trillion in sales online. This status proves just how much people love Christmas shopping and gifting. People are wide-eyed, looking out for those irresistible offers, hunting for the best deals. With all your competitors trying out various methods in their sales for Christmas campaigns, how do you stand out from the crowd?

Well, the answer is Gamification. Yes! This is a fun and interactive way to capture attention and drive conversions through branded messaging in your mobile app or website. Why Gamification?

Who doesn’t love games? Gamified campaigns provide the opportunity for users to win rewards or discounts and are the best way to keep up the excitement. In fact, 60% of consumers said they would be more likely to buy from a brand if they enjoyed playing a game with it. The key is to have quick, enjoyable games that won’t bore people, ideally tailored for your target audience. With gamified Christmas campaigns, make your website or app a festive playground, taking users down on a nostalgic train and giving them that extra dose of merriment!

The Best Christmas Gamification Ideas for 2023

Here are our top Christmas gamification ideas to set your campaigns the best ever!

Pre-holiday Sales Campaign

There’s no better way to wish Merry Christmas to your customers than a holiday-themed sale with big savings! A good Christmas campaign is not just about the products, sales, and discounts, it’s more about how you use a story to create value among your audience. Before the launch, let your visitors know about the big sale coming up for Christmas with popups or notifications. This creates hype, generating interest among your audience. You can also use a countdown timer or number of days left to increase the urgency and FOMO, which will keep the users on the hook.

Example:

LNER announced a ticket sale for customers traveling between 21st Dec 2022 and 6th Jan 2023. Eliminating booking fees, providing live journey alerts, selecting a preferred seat, and a special festive menu ran all through December. The brand also changed the logo and banners on all social media handles to showcase the festive spirit of the Christmas season.

Christmas Themed Leaderboard

A Christmas-themed leaderboard would be a great way to encourage users to participate more to get ranked on the leaderboard. Create a leaderboard where the ranks of people can be displayed based on the maximum number of purchases, people who won the games, or challenges. You could even crown the top scorer with a title like “Holiday Hero” or “Player of the Month”. This drives the users to keep revisiting the site and to complete more challenges or purchases to secure their position on the leaderboard.

Example:

ASTCA is a telecommunications company offering Internet and mobile network services. As Christmas approaches, the company invites its customers to take part in a series of engaging activities and challenges. At the heart of this festive engagement, it releases the leaderboard that receives daily updates. It becomes a real-time reflection of the community's participation and festive spirit of individuals.

Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune is probably the most popular game, thanks to its logic of “everything wins,” everyone wants to take part in it. Celebrate the spirit of the season with the Christmas Wheel of Fortune, which adds a dash of excitement to your site. It lets users spin a virtual wheel and win prizes or discounts. Incorporate a Christmas theme with vibrant holiday-themed graphics, offering exclusive holiday-season deals. Also, consider incorporating a grand prize or limited-time offers to increase excitement.

Example

SPAR UK embraced the festive spirit by utilizing the Wheel of Fortune game in their Christmas campaigns under the name SPAR Spinner Winner. Participants can spin the virtual wheel to win a lot of amazing goodies from December 7, 2023, until January 1, 2024. The chance to win instant prizes heightened the excitement of the campaign.

Christmas Daily Quiz

Create a buzz around this festive season with the Daily Quiz. Treat your visitors to a delightful dose of festive trivia with questions related to Christmas themes, movies, traditions, and more. With a new set of questions every day, this gamification keeps the excitement alive and the audience hooked. With cheerful graphics and sound effects, this could be entertaining for users of all ages. Because every correct answer adds an extra sprinkle of excitement, enticing users to test their knowledge even more!

Example:

Coco Village created a fun Christmas quiz campaign and offered gift recommendations along with a $10 bonus for the Christmas season.

Scratch and Win

Who doesn’t like the opportunity to win a prize with a simple swipe? Scratch Cards are more familiar among users. All they need to do is simply swipe their finger across the phone screen to reveal the prize. Upon scratching, you could offer a varied range of prizes, ranging from discounts to promo codes or free gifts. A mix of small, medium, and large prizes keeps the excitement fire high! The simplicity and accessibility of this game are addictive, making it an excellent marketing gamification strategy for the Christmas campaigns on your app or website.

Example

Circle K, Ireland’s leading forecourt and retailer, launched the Scratch and Win contest - a free game with 250,000 daily prizes, including anything from coffee, fuel, vouchers, car washes, and more. Players are supposed to scratch 3 matching products on the virtual card and can win that product as a prize from its physical stores.

Benefits of Christmas Gamification

From Black Friday through Christmas Eve, you have 30 days of commercial whirlwind! It’s a prime opportunity for businesses to leverage the magic of gamification in their Christmas campaigns. Here are the myriad of benefits it offers:

• Drives engagement: Engagement during festive seasons will be high, making Christmas campaigns more interactive and driving a lot of visitors.

• Evokes emotions: Christmas games kindle nostalgia, creating a deeper positive connection between brands and customers.

• Increase website traffic: The curiosity and anticipation generated by these games encourage users to return to the website to check their rankings, new deals, or new challenges.

• Increased social sharing: Christmas Gamification campaigns encourage participants to share their experiences on Social media, which directly amplifies your brand’s visibility.

• Creates a fun experience: The playful elements evoke a lighthearted atmosphere that resonates with the joyous spirit, making it rewarding and memorable.
  

Ultimately, these advantages make Christmas gamification a win-win for both the users and brands that let your brand stand out in this festive rush.

It’s time to gamify

Gamification need not be a long-term program or one that requires months of investment. Short-gamification campaigns are perfect for seasonal festivities to drive engagement and sales. As you get started with the holiday campaigns, consider the gamification ideas that resonate with your audience. The sureness of seasonal challenges, rewards, and friendly competition not only spreads holiday cheer but also keeps your audience returning for the delightful surprises, fostering a long-term connection with your brand. With Flyy's plug & play solution, create your Christmas Gamification campaigns in a jiffy! Jump on-board. It’s time to prepare for Christmas!