7 Elements of a Great Achievement Badge Program

Did You Know? 87% of users who earn achievement badges self-report higher levels of engagement as a result of earning those badges. (Source)

You only know me as the dependable, dedicated, entertaining author of this daily newsletter, but there’s more to me than just exploring data-rich marketing subjects and scouring the furthest reaches of the web in search of the perfect GIF to pair with whatever dry point I’m trying to make.

I’m also a person with hobbies and interests!

When I’m not curating fascinating and impactful data points you never knew you needed, there’s a good chance I’m wasting time trying to earn achievements in one of my favorite games, Football GM.

It’s a simplified, browser-only version of the typical “manage a sports franchise” concept you see in games like “Madden NFL.”

You draft fake players, manage a roster of fake players, pit them against other fake teams of fake players, and rack up fake stats, all in the pursuit of fake glory.

I’ve played this game for years. Completing a single season takes about 15-20 minutes, and I’ve played literally countless seasons since I first became obsessed with it. If I had to guess, I’d say I’ve completed about 2,000 fake seasons. 😂😐

One of the primary reasons I love this game so much is because of its built-in achievements trackers. As my individual players or collective team accomplish meaningless feats, I unlock—you guessed it—meaningless achievements.

This week, I finally achieved something I hadn’t been able to do during any stretch of those previous 2,000-odd seasons:

My fake football team won 13 fake championships in a fake 20-year span. 🎉

I even have the badge to prove it.

And let’s be real. By achievement badge design standards, Football GM is lacking. Doesn’t matter. I still earned it. You can’t take that away from me.

Beyond the team-level achievements tracked in the screenshot above, the game also tracks player-level achievements. My dominant 20-year run that finally earned me the coveted “Dynasty 4” badge was helmed predominantly by one man (one god?) who orchestrated 11 of those 13 league titles.

That man? Roosevelt Boston.

• Hall-of-Famer

• 11x Champion

• 10x League MVP (bonkers)

• 14x All-Star

• 13x All-League

Tom Brady ain’t got nothing on Roosevelt Boston.

Truthfully, I wouldn’t have played this game nearly as long as I have if there weren’t some form of achievement tracking.

What’s the point of simulating thousands of repetitive seasons if you can’t get recognition for your efforts or the enjoyment of trying to beat your personal bests?

(Or, more accurately, what’s the point of doing any of this at all?)

While Football GM is a game, which obviously lends itself to gamified elements like achievement trackers and badges, games aren’t the only places we see gamification.

We talked about gamification in marketing two weeks ago, but we approached the subject from a more global “here’s the effectiveness of gamification in general and here are a bunch of types” perspective.

Today, I want to drill down on achievement badges specifically and discuss key elements of effective achievement badge marketing programs.

First, let’s highlight a couple great examples.

2 examples of effective achievement badge programs

Achievement badge programs aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution. The interests, goals, and personalities of users vary by industry, brand, etc., and achievement badge programs should be tailored to the audience earning those badges.

Consider these two examples of achievement badge implementations.

LinkedIn & professional certification badges

Badges are a great way to quickly show others your professional achievements.

LinkedIn offers skills tests where finishers in the top 30% earn a digital badge they can display proudly on their profile, like this badge for passing the Adobe Illustrator skills test:

That image comes from Reddit, where the person who earned it uploaded a screenshot to share.

ENGAGEMENT! BRAND VISIBILITY!

LinkedIn also lets you upload badges from other certification courses. This is a key distinction between LinkedIn and many other achievement badge implementations.

While LinkedIn does offer their own badges through the aforementioned skills tests, their program is less about users wanting to complete all of LinkedIn’s skills tests to “win”—that would be an impressive individual, though less impressive than Roosevelt Boston—and more about providing a platform where people can aggregate all of their badges while offering their own branded certifications to flex their status as arbiters of professional skills evaluation.

Duolingo achievement badges

Duolingo, the popular language learning app, awards their users achievement badges for completing tasks of all sorts:

• Daily login streaks

• Course completions

• Leaderboard results

• And more!

The image below shows one user’s trophy case, which includes a badge in the bottom-left corner earned for completing 200 lessons after 10:00 pm. That’s proof you can turn anything into an achievement badge.

By the way, this image comes from a Reddit post with the title “All achievements completed !! #duolingo #goldenprofile” which got 249 upvotes.

ENGAGEMENT! BRAND VISIBILITY!

Contrast Duolingo’s implementation with LinkedIn’s.

• Duolingo’s badges all have a unique design whereas LinkedIn’s are the same trophy graphic.

• Duolingo’s form more of a trophy case whereas LinkedIn’s feel more like a resume (for obvious reasons).

• Duolingo’s have creative names like “Scholar” for learning 2,000 new words in a single course whereas LinkedIn’s are just the name of the skill achieved to be clear about what the badge means.

If you’re implementing a new achievement badge program or evaluating an existing one, here are some things to keep in mind.

7 elements to consider when creating your achievement badge program

Consider your brand identity and your target audience as you think about these elements for your achievement badge program.

1. Visual design

Should your badges be flashy and visually stunning or more toned down and professional? Are graphics needed at all, like that Football GM game I can’t stop playing? Should your badges be monochromatic like Duolingo’s or visually diverse and eye-catching?

Consider why people want to earn your badges and what they’ll do with them once they earn them.

2. Titles and descriptions

Badge titles and descriptions are great places to infuse your achievement badge program with some of your brand’s unique personality and voice.

Do you want to be clever like Duolingo or more straightforward like LinkedIn (or somewhere in the middle)? Should your title and description immediately make the achievement clear, or is ambiguity acceptable or even encouraged?

3. Reward and recognition

Most people collect badges to show them off as evidence of their skills and prowess. In online communities, they often become symbols of status within that community.

How will your users show off the badges they earn? Will you have a trophy case? Where does that trophy case reside on a user’s profile? Can users view other people’s badges? Do they need to be “friends” on your platform to do that or can anyone see them?

4. Shareability

Is it important for your users to be able to quickly share their achievement badges on social media? Does your brand’s website or app have a feed or community area where users easily can share their accomplishments?

5. Progress tracking

Progress tracking is critical for badges that take time to earn, such as the “200 lessons completed after 10:00 pm” badge Duolingo offers. Humans crave completion, so displaying progress toward a goal keeps users from losing interest and imparts a sense of “well, I’ve come this far, so I might as well keep going,” otherwise known as the sunk cost fallacy.

I really tried to find a gif of the scene above from Harold & Kumar, but holy shit, that was 20 years ago. 😭

6. Relevance to user goals

Make sure your badges reward achievements that are relevant for the user, keep them engaged routinely at different stages of the process, and present varying degrees of difficulty to provide both quick wins and aspirational achievements.

Put yourself in your users shoes. “If I keep playing or keep staying engaged, maybe I can be one of the 0.5% who get the Super Duper Special Badge!”

7. Integration with overall brand strategy

Badges for the sake of badges is mostly pointless, and I’d argue it even hurts your brand’s reputation. They should be part of a larger brand strategy, reinforcing your brand’s values, messaging, and customer engagement goals.

Everyone say, “Hi!” to Amanda H 👋

Question: Would you rather be able to talk to animals (but they all complain about their day) or be able to speak every language (but only be able to talk about the weather)?

Amanda H’s Answer: “I live in the woods and the wildlife is loud enough already. I definitely do not want to hear them add complaining to the mix.“

ChatGPT-Generated Joke of the Day 🤣

What do you call a snowman with a carrot in his nose?

Really cool!

Editor’s note (from me, Bryan): Does anyone understand this joke? I seriously don’t get it. Please reply and explain. I beg you.

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