Email marketing thrives on engagement. It’s all about those metrics we love to see—open rates, click rates, responses. But even the most exciting brands can face the challenge of an unresponsive audience. If you’re anything like most marketers, you’ve probably faced that frustrating moment when a once-curious audience goes quiet, and nothing seems to bring them back to life.

 

For Kanka, a dynamic, community-driven platform tailored to worldbuilders and RPG campaign creators, that challenge came in the form of their “unengaged” audience segment. While Kanka’s core audience was highly engaged—with open rates reaching 80% and click rates at 5%—there was a significant group that wasn’t showing any activity. This segment was comprised of creative worldbuilders, game masters, and storytellers, who once showed promise but seemed to have drifted away from interacting with the brand.

 

Why was re-engagement important? For one, a low engagement rate can impact overall deliverability, which means fewer emails getting into inboxes. Secondly, an unengaged segment can affect brand reputation; when people stop interacting with your emails, it may signal to email platforms that your content isn’t valuable. And for Kanka, it was crucial to retain this segment of creative thinkers who might come back with the right nudge.

 

The Big Question was clear: How do we make our emails stand out to this quiet audience and reignite their interest in Kanka?

 

Identifying the Core Issue: Why Weren’t They Engaging?

 

Before diving into re-engagement, we had to understand why these subscribers had gone silent. So, we started with some possible reasons:

1. Content Relevance: Perhaps the content in previous campaigns didn’t fully align with this segment’s needs. As creative individuals, they might have expected unique, inspiration-driven content that speaks directly to their worldbuilding passions.
2. Email Frequency: Sometimes, audiences become disengaged when they feel they’re receiving too many emails or when the emails lack variety. We wondered if a fresh, unique approach could help break the monotony.
3. Personalization and Value: Had we offered them something that felt genuinely valuable? For a creative, game-oriented audience, value means inspiration, ideas, and tools that help them bring their visions to life. If past emails didn’t deliver that, they may have lost interest.

After taking these factors into account, we decided on a strategy that would address all three issues—by blending creativity, value, and an engaging game-like structure.

 

Solution: A Gamified Email Experience

 

We decided to turn the email into a game—yes, you read that right! Gamification was the perfect fit to appeal to Kanka’s audience of RPG enthusiasts and storytellers. In simple terms, gamification applies game mechanics to non-game scenarios (like emails) to make them more engaging. For this campaign, we wanted to create an experience that was interactive, valuable, and most of all, fun.

 

Here’s the strategy we developed:

1. Create a Character: We introduced Kanka’s Worldsmith, a wise and mystical figure who had “secrets” to share with subscribers. This character was intended to add an element of storytelling to the campaign, engaging subscribers in a way that felt authentic to Kanka’s brand.
2. Interactive Scrolls: In the email, subscribers encountered three scrolls, each promising a unique tip from the Worldsmith to help in their worldbuilding adventures. Clicking on a scroll led them to a landing page that prompted them to check their inbox for a special tip.
3. Follow-Up Tip Emails: Each time a subscriber clicked a scroll, they would receive a follow-up email containing a worldbuilding tip. The trick? A subtle P.S. message at the bottom of each email encouraged them to go back and click the other scrolls if they wanted to collect all three tips.
4. Progressive Engagement: This approach allowed subscribers to engage with the same email multiple times. Many subscribers returned to click on all three scrolls, driven by curiosity and the subtle nudge from the Worldsmith.

By bringing the gamified Worldsmith character into the inbox, we were creating a journey that felt rewarding and fun—a bit like an RPG quest within their inbox.

                 

How the Gamified Campaign Worked

 

1. The Gamified Email: We designed a visually compelling email featuring the Worldsmith and three scrolls. Each scroll had a mysterious description, inviting the subscriber to “unlock” a special tip by clicking. The email itself felt like an invitation to an adventure, which resonated with Kanka’s worldbuilding audience.
2. Landing Pages for Each Scroll: When subscribers clicked on a scroll, they landed on a unique page that confirmed their choice and prompted them to check their inbox for the Worldsmith’s tip.
3. Personalized Follow-Up Emails: An automated follow-up email would be triggered for each scroll click, revealing the Worldsmith’s tip. Each follow-up email was crafted with storytelling elements that kept the reader engaged and excited for more.

 

Results: Bringing the Quiet Segment Back to Life

• Increase in click rates: Among previously unengaged subscribers, click rates skyrocketed from 0.74% to more than 6%. This was a major increase and indicated that the gamified approach had successfully captured their interest.
• Multiple Interactions: The unique scroll-clicking approach led many subscribers to revisit their inbox multiple times. We saw a significant portion of subscribers clicking on all three scrolls, indicating a high level of engagement and curiosity.
• Segment Conversion: By tracking engagement, we identified a substantial portion of the unengaged audience who interacted with the Worldsmith’s tips. We then transitioned these subscribers into our “engaged” segment, with weekly newsletters, setting them up for continued re-engagement in future campaigns.

Creativity is the heart of re-engagement. Re-engaging an unresponsive audience is about offering something different, something that feels worth opening, reading, and acting on. Re-engagement is a journey. Once you capture interest, it’s essential to keep providing valuable content to maintain that connection. 

 

With Kanka, we were able to use gamification as a creative way to re-establish a connection with an audience who had almost drifted away. Creativity and a deep understanding of your audience’s interests can make all the difference. 

 

Here’s some advice. Don’t be afraid to experiment, to bring in new ideas, and to surprise your audience in ways that make them feel seen and valued. Just go for it. 

 

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