“Rewards for actions!” That’s all you need to emphasize if you want to catch someone’s attention. Humans are conditioned by positive reinforcement, and it’s no different if you want to condition your customers to stick around.

In gamification, the concept of “rewards for actions” is the driving force. Think about the last time you were addicted to a game. Every little action that you did “right,” you were rewarded in some way. Maybe you had access to new levels or even were given some fake in-game currency. Maybe you just had your name on a scoreboard.

Silly little rewards work frighteningly well. The human mind is built to eat these up.

Even the “real world” is run by a system that rewards people periodically for serving society’s wants and needs. By nature, humans demand recognition and crave status symbols, so that’s often the currency society will use to shape people’s behavior. These are often more powerful than money.

In real life, we have corner offices, thrones and crowns, badges and the like. In the digital world, these recognitions are points, avatars, scoreboards, levels, rewards, quests, and social graphs.

The purpose of gamification for direct selling companies is to use these digital recognitions and symbols to increase audience retention and engagement.

Direct selling companies that can successfully engage with their market get about 55% higher share of revenue. And one of the best ways to invoke customer retention, particularly when it comes to millennials, is through gamification.

Make Them Remember the Brand

Use games that reward them for playing—and doing business—with you.

By providing rewards as players achieve milestones within the game, you make them remember your brand, product or service. They become committed to your brand when it’s a game, and they constantly want to revisit the experience.

Competition is likewise a dominant driving force to increase brand retention. The need to be on top of the scoreboard will make them remember to prioritize your brand. If they already have status with your company, they’re also less likely to jump ship after investing so much into it.

There are several ways gamification for direct selling companies can boost customer retention and drive engagement. Here are some surefire techniques you can put into action:

• Reel in new customers and direct sellers with games, giveaways, and rewards.

To attract new customers and direct sellers, hold a contest or sweepstakes that requires participants to either try a new product or be a part of your direct line. You can offer a first-time buyer reward or a 10% discount after they’ve achieved a game milestone.

• Use the games to give information to your customers and educate your direct sellers.

Rather than creating traditional ads that talk about how your direct selling company is different from the competition, design an online game that highlights the difference. To foster customer retention, inject branded messages or relevant advice at every stage of the game.

The point of this is to let your customers and sellers participate in the process itself. People remember your message much better when they’re part of it.

• Reward customers by giving them new ways to earn “loyalty points.”

Instead of the conventional loyalty-points system to retain old customers, use a new game to make it more fun for them to continue patronizing your service.

You can create a scavenger hunt or hidden object game where members earn points when they find the “deal of the day.” This leverages human psychology to make them value the points they get a lot more, and it also makes it more fun.

You may also reward them with new points if they buy products more than once a month. The same applies to direct sellers. You can reward them with extra points if they exceed their monthly quota way before the deadline.  Every time new customers and sellers do something you want, give them a small reward!

Gamification for direct selling companies is a fun, innovative way of ensuring your target market—and direct sellers—will have your brand at the top of their minds.