Why interactive content boosts user engagement (with examples)

Interactive content is the marketing trend that cuts through the “noise” and gets content noticed.  It is an ever-evolving resource that allows for up-to-date marketing and ways to stay ahead of the curve. Our deep dive into interactive content will be your handbook on the what’s, why’s and how’s of your interactive content marketing strategy.

What is interactive content?

Interactive content is a content experience. It takes the user from passive consumption to active engagement. Think of it like a conversation. Your target audience goes from reading to interaction and  your content becomes an active part of  someone’s day. If you think about all the information you receive online daily, and how much you actually remember, you quickly see how interactive content stands out.

Marketing strategist, author and entrepreneur Seth Godin writes

Why create interactive content?

Interactivity makes content immersive, informative and engaging – all vital elements of content that’s successful at inbound lead generation. Creating content is a key part of any marketing campaign, but interactive content can elevate your content from the competition.

Think of a BuzzFeed quiz. You can do anything from seeing how well you know 1950s  musicals to discovering what kind of potato you are. According to Digiday, 96% of people who start a BuzzFeed quiz will finish it. These quizzes can be accessed on phones, on tablets, on laptops and can be done quickly by yourself or in a group of people looking to socialize through them (BuzzFeed Quiz Party anyone?)

Using an interactive content platform allows the reader to engage with the brand on a human level. Audiences feel involved in your brand, which creates an emotional connection. Your content can create a rapport with your audience without you directly speaking to them. They feel connected to you, your product, and your brand.

In short, the answer is yes. Interactive content provides readers with a reason to remember you. How often do you scroll through media that is spattered with static information? It is likely you do this every day, but you will recollect very little of this. Writer and entrepreneur Aza Raskin estimates that the infinite scrolling we are prone to wastes over 200,000 human lifetimes daily. That is a lot of “noise” to sift through to stand out to your target audience.

This is where the value of interactive content is key. A 2012 study on interactivity and learning reported that “social interaction plays an important role in learning.” Being able to engage with content provides your audience with the ability to recall your brand and information. Whether they are actively seeking your product, or finding you on a social feed, their interaction with your brand will mean when it comes to decision-making, you will be at the forefront of their mind.

As an example of this, Turtl Doc readers have a more accurate memory of key messages, with over 75% of readers being able to recall important information from interactive documents in comparison to just over 70% from a PDF, whilst the same people recalled more red herrings than when looking at interactive content:

Thus boasting a better user experience and a better takeaway from each content creation.

Interactive content provides you with the means to get up-to-date analytics on your target audience. Polls, webinars, and quizzes taken, show you how you are perceived and shared – as well as give you relevant information about your audience. The poll you create doesn’t have to link inextricably to your brand. You could release a poll asking for feedback on a product, or you may want to release a poll with topical questions.

Take this poll written by Andrew Seaman and posted on LinkedIn:

The poll isn’t brand specific, but it is still an engaging and memorable reason to interact with someone which at the same time provides insightful opinions from your audience.

Turtl has followed the same idea here. Even though the post features on the brand LinkedIn, they are asking questions specific to the marketing industry not to their product.

Interactive content is shareable and enticing and leads to brand loyalty and engagement. You can easily establish an emotional connection with your target audience that encourages further interaction with your product.

Attraction, action, interaction, and customer traction

A practical way of looking at this is by analyzing the awareness funnel.

At the top of the funnel is where the audience becomes aware of your brand. At this point, people may know a bit about your company and your product, but they have limited information or reasons to interact with you. This is where your marketing campaigns will be working to get brand recognition and build a customer base. What better way to do that than through interactive creative content? You can engage, receive customer feedback, and establish yourself in your audience’s memory. This is where your audience will have their first impression of your brand, so making yourself sound human and approachable through interactive and engaging content can massively increase your attraction.

In the middle of the funnel is the interest and consideration stage. Here is where you show value to your audience. Why should they choose you over your competitors? Interactive content can create an emotional connection that makes you stand out. Someone who has felt heard, engaged, and appreciated by your content is more likely to choose you.

SiriusDecision reports that 67% of a buyer’s journey is digital. Using interactive content at digital marketing touchpoints, you can shape your buyer’s journey into a better online experience.

At the bottom of the funnel, you have the purchasing of your product or conversion stage, and also the loyalty and retention of your clients to consider. Creative interactive content can be shared by your current customers in order to grow your reach and recycle positive feedback across multiple platforms.

Now you know why you should create interactive content, the next step is to actually do it.

STEP 1

As with starting anything, you need to identify your needs and goals. Ask yourself what this content is going to accomplish. How can the content fit into your wider marketing strategy and business goals?

We show you how to plan a coherent B2B content marketing strategy that waterfalls down from overarching goals to deliver the most relevant interactive content.

STEP 2

Tune into your industry landscape and social media channels. Use social listening and monitoring tactics to explore what people are posting and note any gaps that your brand and product can fill.

STEP 3

Any tools? Making interactive content can be a lot easier when you have the right tools at your disposal. This is something that will depend on your budget, but it will be a massive benefit to your marketing campaign. Some tools have interactivity and engagement analytics already built in. Finding interactive content creation software that suits your needs can be an absolute must in your marketing strategy.

STEP 4

Now is the time to get creative. This is the fun part. You get to put together everything you know and create engaging and informative content for your audience to love.

Learn how to create digital content.

Here are 6 tips to elevate your content creation process.

STEP 5

Post, post, post. Develop a posting schedule and organize when your interactive content marketing campaign should be launched. Make sure you post at regular intervals and you don’t repeat the same content on all channels, but tailor fresh content for each. Utilize everything you have learned to ensure you are releasing the best interactive content.

Some of the most popular and useful types of interactive content are:

• Videos
• Digital magazines
• Blogs
• Quizzes
• Games
• Virtual tours
• Webinars
• Surveys and polls
• GIFs and infographics

Great interactive content marketing examples

It is always helpful to listen to the market you are working in and check engagement analytics. You can see what your competitors are posting, but you’ll find the most value and inspiration from your audience’s data. Some excellent content creations out there are:

Your mantra for creating and posting interactive content should simply be: ‘Draft, refine, re-design, re-align.’

Whatever you create, ensure you are creating it for your audience.

Interactive content builds an emotional connection with your target audience.

Allowing for quick responses, quick sharing, and reasons to engage with your brand, interactivity encourages loyalty and warm leads.

Turtl Analytics shows that interactivity boosts reader retention, engagement, and experience.  With less than three seconds to make an impression, marketers can use interactive content to seize attention and raise interest in their brand, fast.

Click to read Lumen Research | PDF vs Turtl: Which content format is most engaging? | Turtl