I find myself repeatedly drawn to how important continual learning is to the survival and growth of businesses today. In keeping with my theme of ‘selling’ gamification to the CEO, this post is about the value of companies learning from for their digital ecosystem of ‘Users’.
In his recent book entitled “Users; Not Customers,” Aaron Shapiro the CEO of Huge, explains why “today’s most powerful growth engine” is — not Customers — but “the people who interact with your company through digital media and technology, even if they have never spent a dime” – your Users. Who are these Users and how does your company connect to, and engage with them?
As defined by Mr. Shapiro, Users include customers, employees, job candidates, business prospects and partners, brand fans, members of media and other influencers. This is quite a diverse group with different interests and needs related to your product or service category and your brand. In addition to their diversity, Users want the option to engage with your brand through a mix of channels that include your Website, Intranet, Mobile Apps and Social Media. Tapping into this complex “growth engine” requires a strategy that values the power of engaging with, and learning from your Users.
The Learning Mindset Starts at the Top
Today’s typical CEO might still be reserved about investing in a technology platform to facilitate two-way conversations and openness with customers, employees, and business partners; however, CEO attitudes are changing at a fast pace.
According to a recent IBM global study of 1,709 CEOs, social media will jump from last to the #2 spot in the hierarchy of preferred customer interaction methods within the next three-to-five years. Interestingly, the study also highlighted that 57% of the companies among the top 20% in terms of revenue and growth “have access to and draw insights from data” and can “translate their insights into action”. According to one CEO participant; “increasingly you have to be open to data, and you have to be able to access it”. Finally, the study revealed that coinciding with the trend of CEOs placing greater importance on data learning is the “push toward prioritizing more measurable communications channels with customers”.
As CEO and business development specialist, my attraction to gamification has always been about learning from the data; very rich data. Regardless of the User participant, game mechanics with motivational drivers like rewards, status, self-expression and so on, generates greater depth and richness of behavioral data through progressive User engagement. Compared to web analytics, gamification captures User behavioral data that is more relevant and dynamic, not static. Businesses need an enterprise level platform to collect, integrate, and aggregate behavioral data from multiple digital channels to tap into “today’s most powerful growth engine” – their Users.
Based on the IBM Global CEO survey, as well as a growing volume of academic and business publications, CEOs and their executive leadership teams are placing higher value on access to (User) data. I think a key to gaining greater adoption of gamification is to focus the conversation with the CEO on learning from very rich behavioral data. With the right strategic planning, starting at the top, gamification across the enterprise will grow in acceptance because it will help generate new insights, define and refine strategies, stimulate innovation and guide short-term adjustments to capitalize on opportunity and stay ahead of the competition.