Online wheel spinner: A marketing staple for CX and EX
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The spin the wheel game has a lot of names. Wheel spinner, picker wheel, random wheel, wheel of prizes, and so on and so forth. Whatever you know them as, they’re all basically segmented wheels which are spun, with one segment – be it a winning or a losing segment – landing on an arrow or picker to decide a result.
But where did we get them from, and how did they get to be so popular? Be they digital wheel spinners or physical wheel spinners, it’s such a ubiquitous concept, you may never have questioned where they came from, why they’re so popular, and how they came to be such a staple of customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) campaigns.
How we re-invented the wheel (spinner): A brief history
The wheel is believed to have been invented in (or close to, depending on your source) the fourth millennium BC, and it’s one of the most important inventions in human history.
Its earliest uses were for transportation and the mechanisation of agriculture, but the basic concept of a spinning disc has allowed for so much more to follow.
Early uses of spin the wheel games
The concept of a wheel of fortune comes from ancient philosophy and religion, with the goddess Fortuna spinning a random wheel with different people attached, changing their positions to deliver blows of great misfortune, or sudden windfalls.
In the medieval and renaissance periods, the concept of a wheel of fate was used almost as a theoretical model in a lot of literature to teach humility before God to the ruling classes. That even great Kings and conquerors could be lowered by a spin of the wheel.
The “gaming wheel” was then invented in 1720, and contributed to the creation of roulette and many variations of this game. This was the early precedent from which early American game shows adopted the spinning wheel format, and from the small screen, this simple and undeniable concept became a commonplace prize distribution mechanism in classrooms, at events, and in marketing.
With the rapid advance of powerful mobile technology in the early 2000s, it was only a matter of time before the spin the wheel format became digital – and wheel spinner generators as part of gamification platforms made them an accessible engagement tool for businesses of all sizes.
The psychology of wheel spinners and prize wheels
But why?
Why are we as a species so transfixed by a segmented, spinning wheel?
The answer is in its history. Literature, religion, philosophy, academia – our collective memory across cultures – is all based on the idea of chance versus merit. Being in the right place at the right time for fortune to smile upon you, or marrying your attributes to the right set of circumstances to succeed. The wheel makes the whole thing tangible and immediately understandable. It’s the fable, gamified.
Couple this with the idea of winning prizes and potentially improving your station (if only by a free meal or a one night only experience), and all put together in a visually compelling package, and you’ve got an irresistibly engaging concept.
While we’re a lot more complex, the perfect analogy lies in why a cat will chase a red dot. The cat wants to hunt, and humans want good odds.
Spin to win: A game changer for marketing and customer experience
The random prize spinner wheel is universally compelling, can be used to connect with pretty much any audience, and is now available digitally to pretty much all businesses through prize wheel generators on gamification platforms. It’s no wonder they’re such a hit with modern, more discerning audiences.
In the Mad Men days a slogan targeting a persona might have been enough, but social media and a crowded internet has changed all that.
Getting a customer’s attention has to be an invitation to interact with your brand, and be it in a B2C or a B2B campaign, a branded spin the wheel game can cut through the noise.
It could be a short mobile video on social media that quickly stops people scrolling by saying something like: “You could win X massive prize – today!” Then it shows a video of the branded prize wheel, lists some of the secondary prizes on offer, and invites viewers to click on the link in their bio (or in the post depending on which social media site it’s using) to play the game.
The game itself is then a well-designed, visually compelling experience that could – through an enterprise-grade prize wheel builder like Drimify’s – be preceded by a promotional video or other pop-up content to further educate/ influence the target audience, and include an optimised data collection form to collect email addresses and gather pertinent customer data.
A spin the wheel built on Drimify can be distributed easily through marketing emails with the right subject line, through QR codes on signage with appropriate visuals and text to encourage scanning, or integrated into loyalty programmes or loyalty app to reward qualified audiences.
Optimise your prize wheel to your goals
If you’re looking to drive conversion, set your prize wheel to 100% instant win and distribute unique or generic promotional codes to drive up sales. If you’re specifically looking to get newsletter opt-ins, include the opt-in field in your data collection form and have one massive grand prize you can afford to give away a couple of to get maximum participation.
How wheel spinners add to employee experience programmes
EX is a funny thing really. Jump in a time machine and speak to a 1960s factory foreman about employee experience and they’ll likely send you on your way. Head back to the middle ages and ask a knight about it and he’d likely give you a lecture on serfdom if he doesn’t introduce you to the sharp side of his broadsword.
It’s only really this century that business has started to truly consider and cater to the employee experience – that they’re people first, workers second.
So what is “employee experience?”
At some point, enough people started to look at the relationship between their working life, their family life, and what they enjoyed doing in a more holistic way, and that’s caused a culture shift.
The “work yourself to the bone and sleep when you’re dead” attitude of corporations-past are like the crocs and gators that survived the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs – they exist, but nobody likes them, and people only interact with them as a last resort.
People value more than just money now, they want to belong, and develop, and enjoy a work-life balance, and businesses understand that this is now a key driver for attracting and retaining talent.
How the spinning prize wheels factor in
Spin the wheel games in a digital format are very much part of gamification, and gamification (pre-coining of the term) was going on in some progressive offices back in the last century – applying the principles of sports teams to corporate departments and sales divisions to get the best out of people.
The spinning wheel is more on the inclusivity and rewards end of gamification, but here are the ways customised spin the wheel games can contribute to modern employee experience campaigns:
- Distribute corporate prizes in a fair way
- As individual components of a bigger EX experience
- As a spin the wheel that randomly educates employees on corporate social responsibility initiatives
- As a way to distribute partner brand perks to employees (such as money off vouchers)
What separates successful wheel spinners from unsuccessful wheel spinners?
When we think back on Fortuna’s wheel of fate, it’s something of an absolute. And when you think of roulette wheels again, it’s kind of like a vending machine – it exists – people will play it.
Digital spin the wheels are organised competitions – they’re different. They’re a business tool, and we measure their success through the engagement rate – how many people who load the start screen go on to play the game and spin the wheel.
Digital spinning wheels depend on promotion and graphic design
Digital wheel spinners exist online, on browsers, distributed by QR codes, direct links, and integrations. For them to really catch on and be successful, they need to be advertised and promoted appropriately (where the target audience will be exposed to them), and they need to be designed well.
When you create your prize wheel, whatever its purpose, make sure it has a compelling visual design, and utilises colours, graphic assets, and an optimised amount of text to make an impact with your audience.
This is your brand’s advert or message turned into a game, so make sure it represents your brand and message to a high standard and in a premium light. The visual appearance and design is the second biggest contributor to success after promotion.
Getting started with your first spin the wheel campaign
Already have an idea of how you can use a digital spinning wheel for your EX or CX campaigns? Wondering how to set the wheels in motion on its creation?
The first step is to create a free account on a suitable gamification platform which has an enterprise-grade spin the wheel builder. Then you can create your game for free, and even test how it integrates with your app or in your different business tools through a free trial if your chosen platform offers one.
Then it’s a case of testing and optimising your prize wheel spinner until you’re ready to launch. It really is that easy and simple these days.
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