Creating engaging content is often listed as the primary challenge for B2B content marketers. One of the best ways to engage with an audience is to get their attention and this can be done by creating interactive content.

B2B content marketers often shy away from interactivity fearing it is too simplistic. However, the key is to make your audience feel as though they are in control. When they feel in control, they are more likely to engage with you. Interactive marketing is a customer-focused marketing strategy that centers around customer preferences and behavior.

Types of interactive marketing

The primary objective of interactive marketing is for your content to be relevant and engaging. This can be done in a variety of ways.

For example, storytelling takes audiences on a journey while two-way interactions such as quizzes create a memorable experience. Personalized content makes people more inclined to engage and share something specifically tailored to them as an individual.

Self-determination theory, first proposed in the mid-1980s, has seen significant growth in recent years, as businesses compete for our attention. The theory claims that people pay more attention to activities they enjoy. Essentially, when an audience finds a task enjoyable, or a piece of content interesting, they are likely to put more effort into it, therefore they will get more from it.

Research from Salesforce found that nearly eight in ten (79%) customers are willing to share relevant information about themselves in exchange for contextualized engagement. In addition to this, 88% are willing to share details for personalized offers.

Elements to consider

From a B2B content marketing perspective, interactive content must be relevant. Nobody wants to waste their time on something they get nothing from. Furthermore, keeping content as fun as possible, through gamification or visually pleasing infographics will help hold the audience’s attention.

In addition to this, using mixed media, for example, a video inserted into a blog post, allows audiences to consume information in multiple ways, some of which may be more practical depending on situational consumption.

Through using advanced technology (such as Turtl), you can gain detailed customer insights. As a result, you can use that information to further personalize your content, enabling more meaningful experiences for your audience.

Implementing methods of following up with the most engaged members of your audience, into your marketing strategy, is where plain content creation becomes interactive content marketing.

So, now that you understand what to consider when creating interactive content, let’s look at which interactive marketing tactics could work for you and how you can embed them into your marketing strategy.

Quizzes and contests

We have all seen those obscure quizzes, maybe we have even taken a test or two. You know the ones, the sorts that delve into what sort of pizza topping you are, what ocean you should live near or, what color is your personality?

Why do these quizzes seem so familiar to us? It’s because they are so engaging. Quizzes like this, albeit a little more relevant to your content, are great ways of incorporating a fun element into your content. You can try Turtl’s content personality quiz here.

Quizzes are quick to create and user results are easily tracked, meaning you get results fast. A quiz can also encourage competition as they are often highly shareable and can lead to much deeper connections.

Contests work in similar ways to quizzes. People are naturally curious and competitive by nature. They want to be the best. This is even more evident if they stand to gain a reward for being the best.

Admit it, you are wondering what sort of pizza you are now.

Polls

Similar to quizzes but even faster, polls provide immediate results. People are often curious to see what others are thinking. This means that they are likely to click on one option in a poll, if for no other reason than their own satisfaction.

Results from polls can be used to create a range of material from targeted lead generation content to in-depth ebooks and case studies. Polls are also a great way to let audiences know that you care what they think.

Calculators

If you are providing a service to people who need to know a rough outcome, a calculator tool works well.

Something simple and easy to navigate will work best. Data can be entered into the tool and the results can be gated or ungated. The data collected here, allows you to get a sense of the quality of your leads and an understanding of who/where to target in the future.

Videos

The ultimate form of interactive storytelling, videos can also provide a visual breakup of text. The videos you use do not need to be Spielberg productions. They can be super simple creations. Lo-fi video content is a growing trend and adds an extra level of relatability, which results in increased engagement.

Infographics

Another form of interactive storytelling, static content works well to grab audience attention. Infographics show information clearly. They are designed to share (think social media) and do a good job of getting directly to the point.

In its most simplistic format, if you have a lot of statistics to share, displaying this information in a chart of graphics would be easier to consume than several paragraphs of numbers and analysis.

Interactive emails

One of the most tried and tested interactive marketing methods, the humble email is a cost-effective way to engage your audience. For example, newsletters can promote what your business finds most important that day/week/month.

Emails are easy to skim-read and perfectly designed to be clickable, with lots of space for clickable images and hyperlinked text. You can even reward people for clicking on your email with a call to action encouraging people to click for more details.

How can Turtl help?

From increased conversion to improved customer satisfaction, interactive content is essential to maximize engagement. However, one of the biggest challenges in creating quality, interactive marketing content is access to customer data.

That is where Turtl can help. With Turtl, you can gain insight into what has been working (and what hasn’t). As a result, you will be able to create more personalized, relevant content, casting a more targeted net.

For more on the intricacies of psychology and how you can use it in your interactive content marketing, check out our guide.

Click to read Demystifying the psychology of attention | Turtl