Drive the Engagement You Want for Your Content
The concept of interactive content isn’t new; nor is it losing traction as an effective way to capture customer attention.
Interactive content has taken on almost a whole new identity as next-gen tools and technology have made more diverse types of user engagement possible.
More traditional types of interactive content include calculators, quizzes, animated infographics or live chats–to name a few. But marketers are expanding their interactive content marketing playbook to include gamified video, augmented reality, 360-degree video experiences, audio content on smart speakers, and live streaming on different apps.
It’s an exciting time for interactive content to be sure, and brands are looking to add a whole repertoire of interactivity to their content strategies to help them stand out amongst their competition and capture the attention of prospective customers. But, as with any content, it’s not enough to just create it, put it out there, and call it a day.
Interactive Content and the Buyer Journey
We need to be careful not to forget that our customers are people–not just idealized personas in a buyer funnel. Marketers run the risk falling into the trap of throwing the “next big thing” at prospects and expecting it to magically capture their attention and turn them into paying customers.
Interactive content has been one of those “next big things”–and while it undoubtedly helps brands stand out and get users’ attention, simply making content interactive doesn’t automatically make it better. You can make a quiz, but if it doesn’t carry the right message or experience for your audience, the uniqueness of the experience will be lost.
When done right, interactive content has far-reaching benefits for your brand’s relationship with your customers–at every stage of their journey.
Marketing and Sales? Meet Your Customer.
Marketers want to deeply understand their target audience. Sales teams want to know as much about their prospects as possible so they can have an effective conversation. Interactive content allows both teams to gain better insight into their customers to support those conversations.
50% of marketers use interactive content to increase conversions, while 33% use it for sales and sales enablement.
(Content Marketing Institute)
Assessments and quizzes, for example, are a great way for marketing teams to collect valuable information about potential customers and pass quality leads on to sales. Simply asking prospects a short series of questions, and providing an enticing supplemental piece of interactive content as the hook (such as an E-book), uncovers data about their pain points, readiness to buy and barriers to purchase that can vastly improve their experience with your brand at the most critical touchpoints.
First, They Know You. Then, They Love You.
An ideal customer experience is one that results in evangelism for your brand. Interactive content has thrown the doors wide open for this type of brand-consumer relationship as it allows users to take some kind of real action–answering questions, experiencing scenarios, and choosing their own path through the information you have to offer. It’s the difference between reading a summary of an event or watching it unfold in real time.
77% of marketers agree that interactive content can have reusable value, resulting in repeat visitors and multiple exposures.
(Content Marketing Institute)
And when your customers take an active role in your brand rather than a passive one, they will come back for more and, ideally, share the experience with others.
So THAT’S What They Did!
What we love about interactive content–and especially content marketing platforms like Uberflip that make it easy to use–is how measurable it is. You might put out a piece of static content, like a white paper, but once the user downloads that content, you only know it’s been downloaded. You don’t know if they read it, what they found most interesting, how much they engaged with it, etc.
93% of marketers find interactive content is effective in educating their buyers.
(INC)
Interactive content allows you to fully track a user’s consumption of your content. What parts of the infographic did they click on? What topics in your white paper did they find most interesting? Did they make it through your entire quiz? Why did they stop? This type of data is invaluable for learning more about your prospects and how they consume your content.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Because interactive content is so measurable, it provides insight not just into your audience’s consumption behavior, but into the overall effectiveness of your content. If you consistently see users drop out of your quiz or assessment after 5-7 questions, it’s a good indication you need to make it shorter.
51% of marketers agree that interactive content was helpful when tackling business challenges.
(Demand Gen Report)
Content platforms like Uberflip make it simple to not only gain and manage these insights, but quickly and easily make the necessary adjustments to your content without having to create or re-upload new files. You can also A/B test headlines, or select different audiences to view your content. When you know what works best, your content strategy pretty much writes itself.
The ROI of Interactive Content Marketing
A recent Demand Gen Report found that 45% of buyers surveyed said interactive content is one of their top three preferred content types.
Creating interactive content doesn’t have to carry a sense of tedium, either. Uberflip and other content marketing platforms have made it easy to create and manage interactive content, and the deeper insights and actionable data you can gain from this type of content will streamline your entire content marketing effort.
If you’re looking to invest in interactive content in 2019, we suggest you experiment at a level of time and budget commitment that you can manage; once you’ve seen the data and insights, consider increasing the effort.
Interactive content falls far more in line with what consumers expect out of a content experience today. New tools and technology will continue pushing the envelope of content strategy, and if you use them to better connect with your audience, it will pay dividends in the form of high-quality lead gen and marketing ROI.
Want help integrating interactive content into your company’s content strategy? Contact us today!
