How do you stand out from the competition and gain the attention of today’s impatient and oversaturated consumer? Many brands are turning to interactive content to solve the problem. Why?
- 91% of buyers prefer more interactive/visual content that can be accessed on demand
- 81% of content marketers agree that interactive content grabs attention more effectively than static content.
- 79% of content marketers agree that interactive content results in repeat visitors and multiple exposures.
- 66% of content marketers say audience engagement has increased in their organization since using interactive content tactics.
If these stats don’t entice you, here are five key reasons that interactive content is the answer to drive engagement, clicks, and ultimately sales.
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Interactive Content Increases Active Engagement
What is the difference between engagement and “active” engagement and why should you care? Studies in the education field show that active learning (participating in the activity) vs passive learning (sitting back and listening) increased test scores by up to 45%. These same principles can be applied to online content and engagement — interactive elements can boost engagement by more than 50%. We used to measure website visits and time on site as important metrics, but now the focus is shifting to the time and effort consumers spend actively engaging with content – getting involved with your brand and participating in their online journey. This means a deeper brand relationship, stronger brand affinity, and increased purchasing. Research has consistently shown that the stronger a buyer’s relationship is with a brand, the more likely they are to be loyal, longterm customers.
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The Data Game
You can’t turn a corner without hearing about Big Data – now is the time to embrace the concept. Most consumers know data collection happens almost all the time, however they expect something in return. They want their content delivered to them personally and for it to be fun and engaging. They want everything to actually relate to them.
An incredible opportunity for all of this data collection is interactive content. Interactive content creates a channel for brands to get to know their customers even better. Ideation tools, interactive visualizers, hotspot images, etc… give your brand direct insights into your consumers. That data can tell you what your customers, want, expect, are looking forward to, and much more. From there you content can continue to get better and better.
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Are You A Friend Or A Sales Person?
Consumers now-a-days are more educated than they ever have been. This means how brands talk to consumers has to change. With the ease of being able to get information a lot of consumers just browse the web to look for ideas or inspiration, not necessarily to buy anything. People don’t like having to be sold on something, until they are already ready to buy.
The Acquity Group found that 94% of B2B buyers perform some kind of online research before ever purchasing a business product. So you don’t want to push potential future buyers away because the only option they have is to buy your product. This is where interactive content comes in handy.
With interactive content you can educate your future buyer on pretty much anything in a fun and engaging way. Helping educate potential buyers on what is best for them and what it is they are looking for allows brands to build trust. Be their friend. Friends help friends make the best decision possible.
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Retargeting
I’m sure you’ve seen this happen to you as you’re online. You look at something on one site and then go to a new website and there is that thing you were just looking at in a little ad off to the side. That is retargeting. Retargeting puts you back in front of someone that has already shown some interest in your business. This helps bring someone one step closer to buying from you, that is if it’s done correctly. Interactive marketing helps to make sure it does.
With the data you collect from your interactive content you know what people are most interested in, what they are usually looking for, and so much more. Using this, you can serve up content that will drive people back to the site but it also makes it more personal to the consumer, which is what everyone wants.
Personalization is key. However privacy is also very important to people, so by gaining these insights from your interactive content you can pretty much know what these people want, are looking for, and are most interested in. Then take that and get consumers even more excited about your brand and buying from you!
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Increased Clicks and Conversions
Clickthroughs and conversions are the holy grail of website performance and interactive content can help increase both of these. Demand Metric found that “interactive content… generated conversions moderately or very well 70% of the time, compared to just 36% for passive content.” To further prove the point, The Content Marketing Institute highlighted three case studies of brands that each saw upwards of 50% click through rates when they used interactive content.
The Benefits of Interactive Content
It’s easy to see why more and more brands are looking to embrace the benefits of interactive content in their sales and marketing programs. These strategies can range from ideation tools, changers and configurators, to virtual and augmented reality solutions. These types of content bring your brand to life, strengthen customer relationships, and improve marketing and sales performance.
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