Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of the phrase “content is king”. While this form of marketing is currently being valued more than others, it is not easy for brands to constantly churn out content that would provide a unique value to their target audience. With people’s shrinking attention span, the competition among brands is getting stiffer as each one strives to outshine their competitors — especially when social media today is saturated with so much brand content, making it difficult for brands to stand out from the crowd. In order to differentiate themselves from the rest, brands need to reconsider the kind of content they are putting out on their social media pages, and construct a well-knit strategy that would sit well with their audience.
It is time for you to bid farewell to boring static content, and say hello to engaging, interactive content that gets you involved with your target audience.
What is Interactive Content?
The term “interactive content” actually refers to content that is not just dynamic but also layered with valuable information. Instead of passively reading or consuming content, the audience can actively engage with the content and interact more with the brand. While interactive content sounds all fun and exciting, many brands often turn their back on it because they think that it’s challenging and costly to create. Little do they know that such interactive content could well be the missing puzzle piece in their marketing plan.
Why is Interactive Content Important?
1. Captures more relevant data
As we’re living in the data-driven age, the information we collect about our audience is arguably the most valuable statistics for brands. The more accurate and relevant the data you collect, the better you can understand your audience, and the more you can optimise your marketing strategies and campaigns. Creating interactive content can make your audience more inclined to provide relevant data that can help you to create targeted and useful content which speaks to their biggest concerns. This is why from a user’s point of view, interactive content often offers a proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – such as new information or auto-generated results, which creates a value exchange between the brand and consumer. Besides, it feels less risky to share your personal information with a company that has created something valuable and engaging.
2. Higher engagement
Interactive content plays an essential role in capturing the attention of online audiences. People who engage directly with your content tend to derive a higher value from it and become more interested in your brand. Even the most basic types of interactive content can arrest the attention of your followers. According to a research by HubSpot, 45 per cent of B2B buyers mentioned that interactive content is one of their top three preferred content types (Source: HubSpot). With most social platforms having a shareable nature, posting interactive content on your pages may make it easier for your audience to engage with your brand, and share it with their friends.
3. Increases brand loyalty
While static content can make your brand seem ordinary and mundane, interactive content can invite your audience to feel like they are a part of your story. With higher interaction and engagement, consumers’ understanding of your brand will deepen, and this in turn creates a more meaningful shared experience – oft resulting in greater brand loyalty.
Types of Interactive Content
Here are some interactive formats that you can use to make content fun and engaging for your audience.
Polls & Quizzes
How many times have you stumbled upon a poll or quiz about “Find out which is your personality type / character” on social media and thought, “why not”? If you find yourself regularly clicking away at such quizzes after quizzes, you’re not alone. There’s a reason why they are so addictive and compelling: they actively involve the audience and provide immediate (and at times, intriguing) results. Often, it doesn’t really matter whether you share the same personality as your favourite celebrity, but getting the rush of adrenaline when we click “get results” is what’s enough to keep us coming back for more. Polls and quizzes are some of the most common types of interactive content on social media. You can find them on Facebook, websites, and other social channels, and they’re arguably among the most popular content on the web. Not only do polls and quizzes keep users hooked, they also enable marketers to offer more content to the audience, while encouraging them to share their results with others.
Buzzfeed is the perfect testament to how Internet users love taking quizzes – which is one of their main drivers of success. Topics such as “Which Hogwarts House do you belong to” and “What your pizza order says about you” get people talking – they serve as good conversation starters among friends. It turns out that 96 per cent of consumers who start Buzzfeed quizzes actually finish them (Source: Outgrow). Pair these quiz results with the ability to share them on social media and viola! They create a form of personalised, shareable content that can attract more than just leads, but also generate more awareness about the brand.
Just like Buzzfeed, you can also leverage quizzes in your marketing plan by producing shareable content that offers instant gratification and value to your target audience.
Interactive Videos
A report from Wyzowl revealed that interactive video content is on the rise, with 21% of video marketers planning to include interactive videos in their 2020 video marketing strategy (Source: Wzyowl). Merging the much-loved video format with interactive elements makes for an engaging experience. Not only do videos give brands creative freedom in their brand messaging, but they also let them engage consumers in ways that text or static images cannot achieve. According to their research, when a viewer is actively interacting with a video, they become involved and invested as the content holds their attention, resulting in a 591% lift in user activity (Source: Wyzowl).
One such brilliant campaign is the interactive dual-story video by Honda and Wieden + Kennedy London to promote the Civic and its sportier version Civic Type R. Titled “The Other Side”, the video tells a story of a man who leads a double life, showcasing another side of the automotive brand. The result? An intriguing, dual-narrative that enabled viewers to alternate between two different storylines. The first side of the story showcases a father picking up his daughter from school and taking her to a party. However, when viewers tap the ‘R’ key on their device, the video switches to the other side of the story, showcasing the father becoming an undercover agent at night. By letting viewers dictate exactly how the video can be displayed, the user experience immediately switches from a passive to active one, becoming far more engaging as a result.
Another example of a creative, fun and interactive video is Nike’s Air Max Dia styling film in which viewers are able to select their own outfit for a photoshoot featuring the Nike Air Max Dia. In the video, stylist Barbara Malewicz interacts directly with viewers by prompting them to make a choice between two alternatives at every step of the way. She even affirms you with positive comments after every selection is made! Not only did the interactive video give viewers a realistic look of the selected products and their outfits, but it also gave Nike a way to weave in their products as naturally as possible.
Interactive Infographics
Infographics account for the most increase in content usage among brands in recent years – currently at 65 percent (Source: Content Marketing Institute). However, when you’ve got a lot of compelling information to share, a static infographic just won’t do the trick. With the skyrocketing competition, the static infographic has taken a backseat in favour of its more interactive counterpart. While a static infographic might seem like a fine choice, it doesn’t offer as many options for categorising and systematically revealing details since the audience won’t be able to click on and engage with different parts of the design in an interactive way. That’s why an interactive infographic might be the best choice for your content design. Interactive infographics are essentially infographics that highlight specific data that the audience can interact with. Not only do interactive infographics help with recall, but they also involve more of the five senses. Instead of just appealing to the eyes, interactive infographics can include sound and even touch as the audience interacts with it physically, making for a more holistic and value-adding user experience.
“The Bright Future of Car Sharing” is an interactive infographic created by Hyperakt that aims to educate users about car sharing and its impact on the world. As users scroll to the right, they are able to drive a car down the highway of statistics and data visualisation, nestled within a creative backdrop of scenic illustrations. The information conveyed in this infographic is digestible, well-presented, and fun for the audience to explore and learn. Since going live, this infographic has amassed over 4.4k Facebook likes (Source: Future of Car Sharing). Taking notes from Hyperakt’s infographic, brands can explore delivering information in a variety of ways instead of sticking to the conventional method of having texts simply displayed in boxes. This way, you can better capture your audience’s attention and encourage them to interact with your content.
To conclude, interactive content is the future of content – and it is here to stay. The best part about interactive content on social media is that it is exciting and can capture the audience’s attention right there and then. If you’re ready to create such forms of content but need help doing so, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to help!
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Hero image: Yana Nikulina, Unsplash