Dawn Wolfe, Sr. Digital Marketing Manager, Autodesk
Categories
  • Data to Decisions
  • Next Generation Customer Experience
The Project

Due to the power and complexity of Autodesk’s software, a single user license can be a significant investment, which makes software trials a critical component in a customer’s purchasing decision. In fact, data showed that prospects were twice as likely to purchase Autodesk® products if they had used the software at least three times during a 30-day trial period. We incorporated Badgeville’s Game Mechanics into our 3ds Max® software trial experience to provide our prospects with a guided, more engaging experience through the full benefits and key differentiators of our products.
 

The Technology

Badgeville

Metrics Matter

By incorporating Badgeville’s Game Mechanics into the 3ds Max tutorial, we saw the following lift in engagement during the 30-day software trial:

  • 10% more trial downloads
  • 40% increase in trial usage
Disruptive Factor

Once we solidified the concepts and circulated the initial idea, the project caught fire within the Autodesk organization. In fact, a number of people whom I had never met began to email me asking for more information on gamification, wanting to piggyback on what we were doing. With all this buzz around gamification in the marketing community, other executives wanted to see whether the fundamentals of gamification could really drive customer behavior.

Shining Moment

In the process of developing the 3ds Max gamification program, our company actually discovered an even better use for gamification: a separate project that is currently under development aimed to enhance the trial experiences of our different software suites which are tailored for different industries. Our entire organization, including management, recognized that gamification and the approach we’ve taken in our current program will lend itself to this initiative to broaden the market’s understanding of our different product suites. 

The 3ds Max gamification program for trial marketing is the first innovation in this area, but certainly not the last within Autodesk. 

 

ABOUT Autodesk 

Autodesk, Inc., is a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Customers across the manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, and media and entertainment industries -- including the last 17 Academy Award winners for Best Visual Effects -- use Autodesk software to design, visualize and simulate their ideas. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop a broad portfolio of state-of-the-art software for global markets. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.