Everything You Need to Know About Digital Passport Incentives
Boost Visitor Engagement with Digital Passport Incentives
We all have that unforgettable prize we’ve won – the hot air balloon ride, free tickets to a favorite attraction, the Green Day concert tickets. The experience becomes a core memory. We remember where we were, how we won the prize, and the thrill of redeeming it. It's a story we share for a lifetime.
Creating incentives that connect with your niche audience is an art and an incredibly valuable destination marketing tool. Digital passports offer a way to gamify visitors' engagement, and there are multiple ways to incentivize them through digital badges and prizes ranging from swag to gift cards to amazing experiences like the ones mentioned above.
Not only do visitors have an amazing time participating in a digital passport, but if they win one of these core memory-worthy prizes, they’ll be talking about your destination forever. Even the thought of winning a prize that aligns with their interests and values can motivate them to engage more deeply with your destination.
Digital passports provide opportunities to offer incentives throughout the visitor journey. In this post, we’re going to explore the different types of incentives, how to select prizes that will motivate your audience, examples of effective prizes, and how this strategy benefits destination marketing organizations (DMOs).
What exactly is a digital passport?
Digital passports, also known as tourism trails or check-in challenges, are gamified digital experiences and are part of experiential marketing strategies. They guide participants through a destination like Utah Valley or an experience like the Maine Wine Trail, offering incentives as you check in at various spots. With each check-in, participants can unlock badges, move up the leaderboard, and earn promotions and raffle entries for those core memory-level prizes.
Digital passports are often integrated into Visitor Experience Platforms like Explore and are commonly used by tourism boards, event organizers, museums, and historical associations to create engaging and memorable experiences for their audiences.
Types of Digital Passport Incentives
Participants can earn various incentives while engaging in a digital passport. While not all incentives are on the same level as a hot air balloon ride, they all play important roles in getting visitors to progress towards the grand prize and have fun while doing it.
The primary types of incentives that can be leveraged to drive participation are digital badges, leaderboard rankings, physical prizes, experiential prizes, raffles, and promotions. These incentives are designed to engage visitors at every stage of their journey, encouraging them to discover more locations, complete more activities, and remain connected even after their involvement with the digital passport is done.
Let's dive into each type of incentives, best practices for using them, and how participants can earn them.
Digital Badges
What are digital badges?
Digital badges are virtual rewards that participants can earn by completing specific tasks or reaching certain milestones. They are designed to be visually appealing, informative, and deepen brand loyalty with the destination. Digital badges also provide bragging rights and are easy to share on social media.
What makes a great digital badge?
A great digital badge should be visually attractive and fun. Badges should clearly communicate the achievement while aligning with your brand's aesthetics. It should be legible at small scales, such as on mobile screens, and use consistent colors, fonts, and language to align with your brand. They should be easy to share across social channels and encourage participants to showcase their accomplishments, further spreading awareness of your digital passport program.
How do visitors earn digital badges?
Visitors can earn digital badges by checking in at designated locations, completing activities, or achieving specific milestones within the digital passport. For example, a badge might be awarded for visiting three museums, checking in at two food booths, or completing a designated number of outdoor activities.
Leaderboard Rankings
What is a leaderboard?
Leaderboard rankings are competitive lists that show participants how they compare to others based on their activities and achievements within the digital passport.
What makes a great leaderboard?
An effective leaderboard is dynamic, easy to read, and updates in real time. It should motivate participants by showcasing top performers and fostering a sense of friendly competition. Additionally, it should allow participants to easily find their own rank and receive notifications when their ranking changes.
How do visitors rank on a leaderboard?
Visitors can climb the leaderboard by accumulating points or completing activities within the digital passport. Progress should be transparent and reward engagement, encouraging participants to visit more locations and complete more activities.
Physical Prizes
What are physical prizes?
Physical prizes are tangible rewards such as branded merchandise like stickers, patches, glassware, clothing, or bikes. These prizes are designed to be easily attainable and offer immediate gratification for participants.
What makes a great physical prize?
A great physical prize should be fun, desirable, relevant to the audience, and reflective of your brand. It should be unique and trendy, making people desire it.
How do visitors earn physical prizes?
Visitors can earn physical prizes by reaching specific milestones, such as completing their first check-in, achieving a certain number of check-ins, or earning a digital badge. An added benefit of physical prizes is that you can instruct participants to pick them up in person, increasing foot traffic to strategic areas, such as visitor centers.
Experiential Prizes
What are experiential prizes?
Experiential prizes offer unique and memorable experiences, such as concert tickets, hot air balloon rides, or complimentary accommodations. These prizes are designed to be highly desirable and create lasting memories.
What makes a great experiential prize?
A highly effective experiential prize should align with the interests of the audience, for instance, free passes to a family-friendly attraction for an audience of young families. It should create a memorable and unique experience for the recipient.
How do visitors earn experiential prizes?
Visitors can earn experiential prizes in similar ways to physical prizes. High-value experiential prizes, such as vacation packages, are often reserved for the top of the leaderboard or earned through raffles. Raffle entries can be obtained through consistent engagement with the digital passport, providing further incentives for participants to engage deeply with the digital passport experience.
Raffles
What are raffles?
Raffles are randomized drawings where participants can win prizes based on their engagement with the digital passport. Raffles are often used to reward high-value, buzz-worthy prizes, with winners selected from a smaller pool of recipients.
What makes a great raffle?
An effective raffle should offer exciting and desirable prizes, have clear rules, and provide equal chances for all participants. It should be well-promoted to maximize participation.
How do visitors get entered?
Visitors can earn raffle entries by participating in the digital passport, such as checking in at locations or completing activities. You can align raffle entries with unlocking badges or for each check-in, providing further incentive for participants to engage more with the digital passport program.
Promotions
What are promotions?
Promotions are special offers or discounts provided to participants as incentives for engaging with the digital passport. Partnering businesses can offer tailored promotions to entice more foot traffic to their establishments, benefiting both the participants and the local economy.
What makes a great promotion?
A great promotion should provide real value, be easy to redeem, and be relevant to the participant's interests. It should also align with your marketing goals and enhance the visitor experience.
How do visitors earn promotions?
Visitors can earn promotions by simply checking in at the participating businesses' locations, or completing specific activities. Promotions can be distributed through promo codes included and accessible within the digital passport.
How to Select Incentives That Will Motivate Your Audience to Participate
Selecting the right incentives is crucial for motivating participants to engage with your digital passport. When creating a digital passport, we encourage including incentives from each type listed above to maximize engagement. Here are some tips to help you choose the best incentives:
Know Your Audience: Understand what your target audience values. Prizes should be desirable and relevant to their interests.
Offer Variety and Value: Implement a range of incentives to cater to different levels of participation. Include both small, easily attainable rewards and larger, more valuable incentives to maintain excitement and encourage ongoing engagement.
Ensure Brand Alignment: Ensure the incentives reflect your brand's image and values. Branded merchandise, exclusive experiences, or promotional offerings can enhance brand loyalty and recognition.
Leveraging Incentives for Effective Destination Marketing
Incentives are more than just rewards; they are powerful marketing tools. Here's how digital passport incentives can help you achieve your destination marketing goals:
Increase Brand Awareness
Use prizes like bumper stickers, t-shirts, and bucket hats featuring your destination's logo. As participants display these prizes, they spread awareness of your brand, creating visibility and recognition.
Drive Traffic to Key Locations
Require participants to collect their prizes at specific businesses or attractions, such as your visitor center or partnering businesses. This strategy increases foot traffic, provides more face time with visitors, and allows you to gather direct feedback.
Engage with Visitors Year-Round
Email participants announcing the winners of your digital passport and add relevant content about your destination, such as upcoming events and new digital passports. This approach helps combat seasonality by promoting summer adventures, spring events, winter activities, and fall experiences, keeping visitors engaged and encouraging repeat visits.
Expand Your Reach
Use a photo check-in platform, such as Explore, and collect user-generated photos to increase the “fun factor” of your passport. Participants have fun while destinations collect valuable assets that can be used across your marketing channels.
User-generated content (UGC) helps tell your destination's story, connects visitors to the content, and can expand your reach across various platforms. This increases your online presence and authenticity, making your marketing efforts more impactful.
Grow Your Email List
Be sure participants sign up with their email addresses as part of your digital passport program, organically growing your destination’s mailing list. An engaged email list enables more direct communication and personalized marketing efforts.
Examples of Digital Passport Incentives That Work
Visit Stockton Flavor Fest
Visit Stockton's Flavor Fest created a digital passport program as an event activation to engage festival-goers and enhance their event experience. Participants earned digital badges by exploring local food vendors and attractions, with physical prizes carefully chosen to appeal to a diverse audience.
By offering rewards like branded merchandise and beach cruisers, they not only incentivized participation but also promoted their event and sponsors. The prizes were designed to resonate with visitors of all ages, aligning with the festival's inclusive and community-focused brand.
Digital Badges
Participants unlocked badges by visiting specific festival locations. Badge categories included:
Art Aficionado Badge: Check-in at 2 art locations
Family Fun Badge: Check-in at 2 family-friendly spots
Foodie Badge: Check-in at 2 food and drink locations
Music Maven Badge: Check-in at 2 music venues
Stockton Pride Badge: Check-in at 2 locations showcasing Stockton Pride
Prizes
Participants who unlocked 3 badges received a Flavor Fest Bucket Hat, Tote Bag, or Water Bottle. Unlocking all badges entered them into a grand prize raffle for one of five beach cruisers displayed at the event.
Utah Valley Summer Bucket List
The Utah Valley Summer Bucket List Challenge targeted young families with free and affordable check-in spots, custom digital badges, fun physical prizes, and a raffle to engage participants.
Digital Badges
Participants unlocked badges by completing various activities. Badge levels included:
Adventure Seeker Badge: Unlock with 5 check-ins; prizes include candy and a small souvenir.
Explorer Badge: Unlock with 10 check-ins; prizes include tickets to local attractions.
Trailblazer Badge: Unlock with 25 check-ins; the prize for the participant at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the Challenge is a Grand Prize Staycation package.
Prizes + Raffle
Participants could earn prizes such as candy, souvenirs, and tickets to local attractions. The top prize, a Grand Prize Staycation package, was awarded to the participant at the top of the leaderboard and a randomly selected raffle winner. Prizes were collected in person at the visitor center in Provo, driving foot traffic and providing valuable feedback.
Why Digital Passports are Key for Destination Marketing
Digital passports are a key element in destination marketing strategies, enhancing visitor experiences through gamification and providing valuable insights into visitor behavior.
Effective digital passport incentives make these tools even more powerful, driving greater engagement and participation.
By integrating well-designed incentives into your digital passport programs, you can create memorable experiences that encourage repeat visits and positive word-of-mouth referrals, ultimately making your marketing campaigns more successful.
Ready to launch your digital passport?
Increase visitor engagement and boost marketing efforts by leveraging the power of digital passports. Explore, a destination marketing platform, provides the most powerful digital passport technology available to launch immersive experiences in minutes that drive lasting results. Book a demo today.
