Interactive Content

What does interactive content mean?

The concept of interactive content can be summed up as any user experience which has dynamic content that engages the consumer to delve deeper into the content. Any content will do. Interactive elements such as demos, games, videos, calculators, quizzes, ebooks, etc., enhance your website visitors’ shopping experience, collect information, generate leads, and increase sales.

A simple example of interactive marketing is fashion companies that offer 20% off coupons upon signing up to the email list. You visit the site, fill out a bit of information, and bam, you got a coupon for your next purchase. And you’re bound to use that coupon because who doesn’t like 20% off anything?
Below we will explore the benefits of interactive marketing and why your content plan and overall business strategy should include it.

Importance of interactive content

We can all agree that unlike static content, which may fail, interactive content improves key business metrics for content programs at all levels of the sales funnel. It is more effective due to the fact that modern-day consumers engage with immersive content more often and spend longer interacting with experiences that reward them. In return for their involvement, potential customers will spend more time with businesses that include immersive interactive content in their marketing efforts.

Interactive content marketing does not only provide a more valuable experience for the customer, it can also give your company crucial data which can be used to optimize your buyer persona. Data such as motivations, financial status, demographics, goals, or behavior patterns. This type of data can be collected by using surveys, quizzes, tests, or assessments to name a few. LiveAgent’s feedback widget is a perfect example. With this feature, you can find out more about your customers at any time during their buyer journey. Having an accurately calculated buyer persona gives you a one up on your competitors as you can better tailor your content to your particular target audience and not waste precious time and money on non-potential customers.

The buyer journey should be important to every business, especially in regards to marketing strategies. People like to have fun and interactive content is very effective in facilitating that fun. When potential customers have fun while looking at your site, they are more likely to make a conversion. That is “buy something”. Conversion rates are what we want when we advertise. Anything that will get the customer closer to spending their money is great for your business.

As you collect data through the immersive experience, you gain a better understanding of your audience, which can help you create more content that resonates with them. The method of targeted content helps you establish yourself as an expert in the eyes of consumers. And the more they trust you, the more loyal they are, and the more they’ll share your brand with others. If you know where you stand among your competition, then you can work towards becoming the best version of yourself online.

The best part is that if done correctly, you don’t even need to pay much for it! Thus, maximizing the ROI of your interactive content platform.

Benefits of interactive content

There are many reasons why immersive content is so beneficial to your business:

1. Engagement – Interactivity allows users to interact with your brand through various means. People love to share what they like. If your interactive content marketing strategy is good enough, they will share content via social media platforms, comment on a blog post, look through an interesting interactive infographic, play games, watch videos, browse interactive maps, etc. These interactions allow brands to connect with loyal customers and prospective customers alike and build relationships.

2. Lead Generation – Content creators must create opportunities to generate leads from people who would otherwise never reach out to you. By offering free trials, demos, giveaways, contests, etc., companies can increase the likelihood of getting contacted by potential customers. Once these contacts become prospects, they’re then able to receive personalized emails and other forms of communication that further develop into conversions.

3. Optimization – Since user engagement is directly linked to revenue generation, optimizing your website based on visitor interaction becomes extremely valuable. We can always believe that we know our customers, however, there is never an accurate customer profile because it changes like a flowing river. Just like a river flows and morphs, so does the customer profile. For instance, you may notice that visitors tend to spend less time on certain pages than others. You can use heatmaps to identify areas of concern and fix issues accordingly. Another way you could optimize your content is by including calls to action or CTAs for short. This will encourage users to take action right away.

4. Brand Awareness – As mentioned before, having an engaged community around your company increases awareness. More exposure equals higher recognition. In fact, most B2C and B2B marketers agree that increased brand visibility results in sales growth. Therefore, creating interactive experiences for your audience is a smart move because it helps spread the word about your products/services without costing you anything extra.

5. Increased average session time – A study conducted at Stanford University revealed that websites with rich types of content received 34 percent longer visits compared to sites with passive content. That’s huge! It doesn’t matter how good or bad your product is; if customers aren’t engaging with what you have to offer, no one will buy. So make sure all of your content has some form of interaction. Otherwise, it won’t be effective.

6. Better SEO Performance – When search engines see that your site contains links back to relevant pages within your own domain, this signals to Google and Bing that there’s value in returning those specific pages when someone searches for related terms.

7. Higher Credibility – According to studies, 94% of internet users trust reviews posted by fellow consumers over any paid advertising campaign. People love reading positive feedback, especially since it confirms that they’ve made a wise decision. LiveAgent’s feedback widget feature is a good example. Modern-day consumers also like seeing recommendations from friends, family members, colleagues, co-workers, acquaintances, etc.

8. Lower Bounce Rate – An article published by KissMetrics stated that most web traffic comes from two sources: organic search results and direct navigation. However, only 9.9% of website traffic was attributed to organic search while 90.1% came from direct navigation. What does this mean? Well, it shows how important it is to ensure that every piece of content on your website encourages a natural flow from page to page.

What are some rules for interactive content?

Here are my top five suggestions for writing great content:

Rule 1:

Provide value first and ask questions later. When developing new ideas, a content marketer should first write down everything they want to say. Once you have completed your outline, begin asking questions that prompt answers to the following types of topics: what/why/how, problem/opportunity/constraint, solution/alternative/opposite, and comparison/contrast. Asking yourself why certain solutions would be effective in helping your business to determine whether or not they really solve problems and meet customer needs. It is also helpful to ask yourself what kind of obstacles stand between your ideal scenario and reality. Knowing these details provides valuable insight for your marketing strategy and how you might improve upon it.

Rule 2:

Use visual content. Images help convey information more effectively than words ever could. Don’t underestimate the power of visuals. Make sure images accompany all written material so that viewers always understand what exactly they should do once clicking through. Also, keep track of which parts of your blog posts get shared the most via social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, YouTube, etc. These statistics will assist you in determining which visual elements work best and which ones need improvement.

Rule 3:

Include calls to action. The biggest mistake businesses make online is not providing calls to actions in their content marketing strategies. If people don’t know where to click next after reading your post, then chances are they’ll bounce out of your webpage as soon as possible. Keep your readers in mind when crafting each section of text so that it includes clear calls to action throughout the entire document.

Rule 4:

Add interactivity whenever possible. No one likes to sit around waiting for websites to load while trying to complete tasks. The idea behind this rule is simple — add interactive features whenever possible! This includes embedding polls, surveys, games, quizzes, live chat rooms, audio players, and more. If people aren’t able to interact with your website directly, then they won’t return again.

Rule 5:

Use social media strategically to build relationships with potential clients. Posting updates on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter doesn’t require any special skills; it takes only a few minutes per day. While posting regularly may seem tedious at times, there are ways to make each update count by including links to important pages within your site and encouraging others to share their thoughts as well. Even if no one responds, remember that every interaction counts. By having meaningful conversations online, you build relationships that lead to increased traffic from referrals later on.

As you start implementing some of these rules now, you’ll see results almost immediately. Just don’t expect instant success. Building authority and credibility requires time and consistent effort over many years. Nobody can achieve overnight success. But, by consistently applying the principles outlined above, you can become recognized as an expert in your niche.

Rule 6:

Use all the tools at your disposal to promote your content. As we’ve already discussed, having engaging content your customers can interact with is a key step toward conversions. However, all the effort you’ve put into it is wasted if your clients can’t find it. That is why you need to optimize your content for search engines.

Use link-building strategies to promote your content, so visitors can stumble upon it organically while browsing the web. Link building can help you reach even broader audiences by providing a platform to generate backlinks, which are vital elements of any successful off-page SEO strategy. Link building refers to the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites and directing them back to your own.

Creating value through content that can be shared across multiple sources, as well as actively engaging with potential customers and industry influencers, can help you grow brand awareness. Tools for link building can make the task of link acquisition easier for you by analyzing backlink profiles and identifying potential targets more quickly. Once you start with link building, you can be sure that visitors won’t miss out on all the great content you’ve created.

Types of interactive content?

There are interactive tools which can be used to engage audiences online, but not everyone knows them all. To get started, here are some easy ideas on how to create more engaging content.

1. Interactive quizzes – Quiz visitors about what they already know or learn new information. To attract and compel users to partake, you should start with choosing the right quiz idea and a catchy title. Ask simple questions that generate profound answers about prospective customers. It’s also fun because it gives users something interesting to do before continuing along with other parts of your business page. You could even include prizes for those who answer correctly. There are many intuitive tools to choose from, including the WordPress quiz plugin, which will help you to create your quizzes quickly and easily.

2. Polls – Similar to questionnaires, polls let audiences vote on topics they care about. Ask questions about relevant content related to your product/service, audience demographics, culture, values, personal preferences… anything really. You can even ask for their email address at the end where they are more willing to respond again and again. Your customers want answers to their questions, and since poll responses stay up indefinitely and are often shared publicly, they’re great tools to keep user engagement high. For example, when Apple releases new products, Google Trends will show users what percentage of searches have been made related to iPhone X. This kind of data helps companies gain insight into consumer sentiment and predict trends before they happen. In addition to creating real-time insights, polls also give brands a chance to connect directly with consumers. You might find this interesting: When Nike released its latest line of sneakers called Air Max 1 Day, they created a poll asking customers whether they would prefer black or white color schemes. As soon as the product launched, sales spiked because fans were excited to buy the shoes based on the popularity of the poll.

3. Surveys – A survey is another type of interactive tool used to gather feedback from audiences. Unlike polls, surveys only provide quantitative responses. Allow your clients to give feedback about various aspects of your brand, products, services, etc., anonymously. Artificial intelligence these days can give you information regarding click rate, and some preferences, a survey can help you to better adjust to your ever changing consumers. There are some interactive content platforms which offer free plans for small-scale campaigns, but paid options exist too. For example, if a customer has seen ads for a particular brand, but didn’t purchase it, then a company may ask them to fill out a brief questionnaire regarding their experience. By doing so, audience members get rewarded points and content marketers can modify their marketing strategy according to the data gathered from the survey. Brands can also create custom surveys using Google Forms, or Qualaroo, among others.

4. Live Chat – Have real-time discussions between potential buyers and sellers. They’re especially useful for B2B companies looking to close sales right away instead of sending emails back and forth first. While subsequently increasing average session time, a live chat feature heightens the entire shopping experience. It provides another channel for communicating without leaving your website. This increases conversion rates and closes the gap between stages in the sales funnel. LiveAgent has such a feature, also known as live chat software. It is an online communication tool that allows you to chat with your website visitors in real-time. Instead of calling or emailing your business, website visitors can chat with your customer support agents on your website.

5. Augmented reality – Similar to augmented reality games like Pokémon Go, this is yet another form of interaction between businesses and their target market. Companies can utilize various tools to build this kind of app, which allows customers to explore the inside of a store, learn more about certain items, and even play mini versions of popular video games. Once again, this kind of technology is here to stay, so now’s the time to figure out how to implement it effectively.

6. Interactive games – Let visitors play mini games, participate in contests, check stats, take courses, find deals, buy tickets… whatever they’d like. Any interactive content format will suffice. Just make sure to offer plenty of incentives for participation, otherwise nobody will bother completing your game/challenge. Game mechanics vary based on the type of activity, but most involve points, levels, badges, leaderboards, challenges, rewards, achievements, and more.

7. Interactive calculators – A great example of an interactive calculator is an ROI calculator. The main question on many modern-day consumer’s minds is how much is this going to cost me and what are the financial risks. An ROI calculator can ease your customers’ minds from the get go. This will make things easier for people browsing your site versus clicking around trying to figure out math formulas themselves. And it looks nice!

8. Interactive videos – Do you remember watching videos where hosts had live chats with fans who asked questions? The same concept applies here except instead of simply answering questions, content marketers ask follow up questions such as “Why did you choose…” or “What do you think is next year’s trend?” These kinds of interactions help audiences feel connected to brands and entertainers alike. They allow both parties to interact with each other naturally through the exchange of knowledge rather than just saying things. LiveAgent and Post Affiliate Pro offer a free demo service, providing prospective customers with their first-hand experience of interacting directly with a pro to call customer service representative.
   
   Interactive videos can be used on social media and dedicated video hosting sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, and Dailymotion to boost viewership. Developing a thoughtful video hosting strategy is important for taking advantage of the benefits of video content marketing, including quicker access to greater availability and better security than other streaming services. Video hosting also tends to be cheaper than streaming since most sites offer free basic packages while higher-end packages come at lower rates, meaning infrastructure costs associated with servers are lessened. Furthermore, interactive videos are more likely to be found in search engine results and easily shared so they can reach a wider audience quickly. With so many advantages, it’s no surprise businesses use interactive videos in their marketing campaigns.

9. Interactive infographics – Most business owners understand that infographics are extremely effective at getting attention from potential clients and increasing conversion rates. However, most still struggle with producing high quality content. There are several reasons why infographics fail to deliver results including: low readability; poor visual design; bad use of fonts/colors; lack of context; poor layout structure; no call-to action; and copy errors. When it comes to designing an infographic, make sure to take every step possible to ensure good quality.

10. Widgets – The last form of interaction mentioned in this section involves adding widgets to pages. Widgets allow content marketers to add interactive elements like buttons, charts, maps, graphs, timelines, and more, right onto any page without having to hire extra staff to build websites. Many widget providers offer free versions of their tools which include features like questionnaires, Live chat, interactive calculators, and more. While some websites require you to add widgets from third-party providers, LiveAgent has many widgets on their website which can be seamlessly integrated to your page to increase overall customer involvement on your page.

There are many marketing strategies for interactive content. At the end of the day, it’s up to you to test the waters and see which method works best for your company.

Andrej Csizmadia

Andy is a translation manager at LiveAgent. He is responsible for a team of 20 translators, reviewing content suggestions and setting up processes. In his free time he likes to go to gym, and is also passionate about gaming and cooking. Recently he started his own YouTube channel, Cooking with A.

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