21 Sep Interactive Content
Content is k… yeah, you know the drill. Content is so deeply ingrained in modern marketing strategy, it seems silly to try and defend an alternative approach. The creation, distribution, and management of content is the foundation of profitability for digital marketing. The importance of content is frankly, a settled matter. What isn’t quite as set in stone is the type of content that works most effectively.
From video to text to infographics, there are hundreds of content styles to utilize in your brand marketing strategy; all with their own unique benefits. But in a sea of endless content, how do you make yours stand out? One way to distinguish your brand’s content is to involve your audience. That means making your content interactive. Interactive Content is a form of content that requires the attention and active participation of the consumer. Encouraging people to complete simple tasks like clicking on a post, answering a question, or participating in a game can increase engagement and help to inform your audience.
Infographics are one of the most popular forms of conventional and interactive content. People love visuals and can take in information literally tens of thousands of times faster when looking at a graphic versus reading plain text. Infographics are easily digestible and allow you to add creative, eye-catching designs that will reach a wider audience. Adding an interactive element to your infographics takes things one step further, giving your audience a reason to pause and really absorb the content in front of them; if only to see the next cool picture or move to the next level of a game. National Geographic has a great interactive infographic showcasing the new, New York skyline. Starting with a detailed rendering of the city, the graphic allows you to click on buildings to learn facts about the new installments, scroll to travel across various parts of midtown Manhattan, and even hover over certain places to see a 3-D view of area. The whole skyline is depicted in the graphic, but new buildings are in color while the old infrastructure is gray. This creative choice makes for a captivating visual while also guiding the audience to interact with specific elements of the graphic.
Interactive content can also come in the form of advertising. Many people watch the bulk of their television online. During a recent marathon of your favorite show, you may have noticed an interesting choice offered between commercial breaks. The viewer could either watch a minute-long conventional ad or participate in a 30-second interactive ad. When you’re eager to get back to your show, the choice is simple. Choosing the interactive ad leads to content that asks you to perform various actions to continue, some even offering the option to use your microphone to speak to the ad. Amazon’s Alexa ad, for example, let’s you click on speech bubbles asking Alexa to complete tasks like turning on the lights or making a pot of coffee. If the viewer is so inclined, you can even turn on your microphone and speak to the ad directly to make the prompted commands yourself. After making the requests, the ad will actually show the task being performed. As with the example above, the lights will be turned on and the coffee will be made. Once you’ve made a few requests, you’ll have the option to visit the Amazon website to view their available devices. Before you know it, your 30 seconds will be up and you can return to your show. But often times, the ad and its interactive elements will compel us to research the product more than we would have after viewing a conventional ad.
With infinite amounts of content at their fingertips, appealing to consumers online is more challenging than ever. Integrating interactive content into your marketing strategy will give your brand a boost in engagement and reach a wider, more proactive audience. Want to start incorporating interactive content into your digital marketing plan? We can help! Contact Idea Associates today.
