Can you remember the last quiz you took on a social media platform?
Yes, I’m talking about the kind of quiz that lets you know which Avenger is the love of your life based on your favorite ice cream flavor.
As absurd as that particular example sounds, it’s on trend: 91 percent of buyers prefer to consume interactive content, such as quizzes, rather than static content, such as a written article. But, of course, not every piece of interactive content has to be superficial. It can educate, generate new and valuable ideas or simply make technical information more digestible for your brand to communicate.
As you have probably seen on social media, the use of interactive content is growing exponentially in popularity. Its main goal is to allow for a conversation between the brand and the customer. In this dialogue, brands communicate their product ideas while customers provide their feedback to the company.
Today, this kind of content is growing mainly because customers want to be more active, rather than just sitting and listening to a monologue; they want to actively participate.
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Passiveness is exactly the problem with static content: i’s a one-way street. While the business is effectively talking at its consumers, the customers themselves have no chance to get involved.
With this in mind, startups need to get up-to-speed when it comes to interactive content and invest in more effective and unique campaigns.
There’s no doubt, interactive content is better
Content that invites consumers to interact generates up to five times more page views than static content. And it’s easy to understand why when you put yourself in your client’s shoes.
Think about what type of content you like as a consumer, and when words like “fun,” “interesting” and “engaging” come to mind. This is exactly what interactive content is about: replacing the boring with the intriguing.
Take the example of Buzzfeed: 96 percent of users who start BuzzFeed quizzes finish them, which is quite an admirable engagement rate.
Entertaining content is key to getting more views and conversions. In fact, after analyzing content marketing problems, a study conducted by Demand Frontier concluded that interactive content “enjoys a quality perception advantage, produces better engagement as it’s designed to do, is perceived as more interesting and is better at generating attention than passive content.”
And along with engaged consumers come boosted sales.
This kind of content can generate twice the amount of conversions as passive content, driving potential customers to your website and heightening the possibility of those all-important sales.
Furthermore, investing time in creating original interactive content not only encourages people to share it, but also makes you stand out from the competition.
In this context, creativity is infinite and it allows companies to create real value for their brands. Consider, for example, starting with something you’re already an expert in, and creating content that educates your consumer on the differentials of your company.
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Interactive content options
Even if the options are infinite when it comes to creating interactive content, there are some types of content that have proven to be successful.
Take these into consideration as you build your audience:
Interactive infographics
This kind of content aims to explain facts or data in a more fun and comprehensive way, as infographics adapt or link to another website when the user interacts with them. They can be used in media publications, social media or marketing content like reports or white papers.
Quizzes and polls
You can use this tool to educate your customers on important information about your brand or industry sector. It’s a great way to access important data on who your customers are and what they are interested in to better understand them.
For example, a baked goods company could issue a poll to understand what new donut flavor would be most popular amongst its customers.
Video Q&As
Streaming video sessions allow brands to chat with their customers by answering live questions during a webinar or video stream. Opening up a dialogue is also a great way of building brand loyalty.
Social media
You’ve likely seen tons of interactive content, some maybe more elaborate than others. As mentioned, creativity in this context can be infinite, but if you are just starting your business, you can use tools that allow you to customize your content without having to invest a whole lot.
Social networks like Facebook have pre-design templates that can be used creatively by any entrepreneur.
For example, you can customize carousel ads and link them to your e-commerce site or add questionnaires to videos and lead forms that allow you to improve your conversion rates and, at the same time, better understand your customer.
Once your company has some content marketing experience under its belt and you have feedback on who your target customer is and what content works better for your marketing goals, you can create interactive content from scratch.
With the feedback you already have from the first content marketing phase, you can create original content that will truly stand out from your competition. But, remember, there is no need to rush; it’s probably best to start off by using some existing content marketing tools and get a feel for the types of interactive content that’s best for your brand before making this investment.
There is no doubt that interactive content in the marketing field is only becoming more and more advanced. It doesn’t just improve engagement and conversion rates, but also provides constant feedback from your consumers.
Not to mention the other advantages: It can improve your website design, boost brand loyalty and generate more traffic.
In other words, interactive content is already ruling the content marketing space. It is no longer a future development. What are you waiting for?
Related: Interactive Content: How to Keep Your Audience Engaged
Originally published Aug. 27, 2019.
