From developing engaging content and continuously meeting evolving participant needs, to developing an effective marketing pipeline, EdTech companies need a robust suite of tools to stay relevant and competitive. And this suite of EdTech tools should include an easy way to incentivize and maintain engagement.
Specifically, courseware providers need a simple option to integrate awards into their educational app. With the right software integrations, they can then offer real-time rewards like digital gift cards and prepaid cards—without their students ever having to leave their platform.
One company doing just that is also making big waves in the financial literacy world.
Zogo is a financial education platform with a popular standalone mobile app that users love.
And there’s a reason why Zogo enjoys a 4.8 rating with over 48k reviews in the Apple App Store: they’ve paired their innovative educational products with a fun reward system for their learners.
We sat down with Zogo’s Head of Operations Jenna Adrian to learn more about how the right reward structure helps them drive engagement and keep retention high.
“It's very intuitive,” she says of partnering with Giftbit. “It's complex enough that it fits all of our needs, but it's also simplified enough that we get very few questions about it.”
Keep reading to learn how Zogo’s team is able to spend less time spinning those plates, and more time sustaining a dynamic, interactive educational journey. We’ll also include step-by-step instructions so you can implement the same tools that Zogo has, as well as more ideas and strategies for EdTech companies.
Zogo’s flagship product is a standalone mobile app with over 800+ lessons on financial topics. And—critically—they offer embedded rewards as one of their key selling points.
Namely, Zogo users earn virtual ‘Pineapples’ when they engage with the app and complete courses. The platform will even host fun ‘Pineapple Parties’ where users can earn more rewards to boost their balance.
These Pineapples can then be exchanged for gift cards, prepaid cards (like prepaid Visa® and MastercardⓇ®), and charity donations—all of which are powered by Giftbit.
Between top-notch educational content and top-notch digital rewards, it’s clear to see why with Zogo, ‘never before has education been so rewarding.’
Of course, Zogo isn’t the first online academy to turn to gamification. But they’re at the forefront of pairing the right rewards with the right content to power their mission and serve their community better.
Interactive content is great, but Zogo’s main mission is to democratize financial literacy—not to make a fun app. The fun app is simply a byproduct of using modern tools to drive engagement.
“Zogo's mission overall is improving people's lives through financial education,” says Jenna. “And Giftbit allows us to entice users and keep them on the app to do that.”
The way Jenna sees it, even when students are primarily motivated by Pineapples, “the knowledge that they are receiving and the lessons they have to learn in order to get there are invaluable.”
Educational services of all kinds are turning to rewards and incentives for many reasons, not the least of which is to boost their enrollment numbers.
“When we look at financial literacy, there is a component of being rewarded with the knowledge that you're receiving,” says Jenna. Having gift cards made available through Giftbit allows them to “to take that first leap.”
In other words, knowing there’s actual rewards attached to an app is certainly a great reason to sign up.
That said, where Zogo really sees the most benefits of their Pineapples is when it comes to engagement. Having rewards that their users actually want is one of their key selling features.
“Once you get into the platform and the product of Zogo itself, you see more of that ROI,” says Jenna. “It keeps it fresh.”
So it’s no surprise that Zogo users like Tara regularly provide feedback like, “I love this app. I get to learn and get paid while doing it. Couldn’t ask for more!”
Likewise, Zogo user Shatimah M. says “such a nice and simple app, yet rich in info on what matters. And it even rewards for learning!”
Retaining your students is one of the most critical things you can do for the long term success of your online course, and here, too, digital incentives have a role to play.
Ultimately, even when you’re excited to learn, we all know that feeling of wanting to slack off and take the easy road. Meanwhile, offering incentives on your training portal will make it even more exciting to learn, and even more likely for your users to stick around.
“It keeps people coming back to know that there's also a monetary reward at the end of that tunnel,” says Jenna. “Everybody is happy to have something to work towards.”
When evaluating EdTech tools, look for software that works for your needs but that will also be able to grow with you. You don’t just want a reward and incentive provider, but a partner, too.
“We’re constantly looking for ways to diversify rewards, whether that is different gift card offerings or how we're allowing users to redeem those Pineapples,” says Jenna. “Giftbit allows us to continue to grow and build in all these other areas, knowing that it's a constant and it works really well. It contributes to our user retention and it allows us to expand on that in other ways, knowing that we’ll still always have it.”
To maximize your EdTech platform and make your programs more engaging, you need a simple way to embed rewards and incentives. For most use cases, the best way to accomplish this will be with rewards and incentive software that is easy to integrate with your existing app.
Look for a tool that makes this process as easy as possible for you and your students. They’re coming to your platform to learn new skills—but their existing digital literacy skills should be sufficient to navigate your courses and rewards.
For example, Jenna reports that Zogo users find it very easy to claim their rewards, citing this as a big driver behind their high retention rates.
Partnering with the right incentives also ensures you’ll be taking care of your students’ data security and privacy (one less plate to keep spinning!).
You’ll also want to offer an extensive selection of rewards that people actually want. Increasingly, that means you need to offer digital gift cards to popular brands (like Amazon, Starbucks, Apple, Google, Nike, and Xbox), along with charity options, and, ideally, prepaid cards. Providing your audience with a diverse selection of rewards ensures there’s something for everyone.
“The experience has been great and the diversification of rewards is great,” Jenna says about working with Giftbit.
So primarily, you want an easy way to offer the right rewards, with a great rewards catalog.
From there, choosing the right incentive software for your educational platform often comes down to two factors: easy API integration, and easy and reliable reporting.
Giftbit works so well within Zogo’s educational app for one main reason: seamless API integration. Our gift card API is what allows other companies and platforms to embed our straightforward rewards system directly into their app’s framework.