Every blogger and journalist wants to be the first one to present the readers with fresh and unique content. But the readers are becoming more and more demanding. They do not want to read similar content from different resources. And they are quick to unfollow those that do not give them what they want.
The difficulties grow faster than new approaches for presenting information appear. Yet, it is possible to create content that will attract your readers more than on other platforms. So, instead of “what,” focus on “how” for a second. And give interactive content a try.
What Is Interactive Content?
Interactive content is a type of content that requires the participation of the visitor. Instead of just reading and analyzing content, a visitor needs to complete some action. The top 5 types of interactive content are:
- Assessments
- Calculators
- Contests
- Quizzes
- Interactive infographics
Interactive content is one of the best ways to differentiate from competition and engage with your audience. A recent study by Content Marketing Institute shows that 81% of content marketers say it grabs more attention than static content. And 79% say interactive content increases retention of brand messages and results in repeat visitors.
For more about quizzes read:
How To Create a Quiz That Gets You Leads.
Here’s a graph showing that 3 times as many marketers said interactive content performed “very well” as compared to passive content:
So, how to create the interactive content that will be interesting to your users? If you have no idea, get inspired by the best interactive content pieces you can learn from.
Orbitz' Perfect Match Quiz
Orbitz is a company that helps people with researching and organizing their travels. It is one of the biggest in the US market, yet Orbitz has a great number of competitors. With a lot of options, the customers bounce from one site to another to find the lowest price. That's why Orbitz came up with a way to attract more visitors and make them stay at a website for a longer time.
The company made a quiz called ‘Is your travel partner a perfect match?’. The questions are funny, and the possible variants of answers make you smile.
Quizzes work because everybody loves to get to know about themselves more. And they're a great way to increase visibility and traffic to your site from social media because people often share their quiz results. Also, according to a recent study, Millennials look for travel inspiration from social media. So, traveling sites can even win new customers by using engaging quizzes.
Another clever thing about the Orbitz quiz was that the results became available only after you entered your email. That way the company could continue to communicate with their potential customer directly. Check out some reasons why email lists even beat social media.
The Eachnight Mattress Quiz
Eachnight has created something similar with their mattress quiz. The quiz is designed to help customers find the perfect mattress to match their sleeping needs. It can be done in less than a minute, and then the quiz taker receives a personalized mattress recommendation sent to their inbox.
The questions are straight and to the point, and simply serve to gather more information about the sleeping habits of the quiz taker.
The company has also capitalized on the opportunity gated content provides. Once they collect emails, they can deliver customized and highly targeted messages to their potential customers. This can significantly increase conversion rates.
Attivio's Search Framework Assessment
Attivio one of the leading platforms for text analysis and cataloguing of data. The company came up with an interactive Search Framework Assessment. The goal was to increase customer engagement and give the company information about how users operate the available technologies. Again, this is an example of a quiz used to improve communication with a customer.
Here users need to answer to questions that give the assessment of different aspects connected with running a company. This includes demanding supply-palace, organization process, technologies involved, etc.
The answers are analyzed, and the result is sent to the visitor’s email. So, a user gets what he needs – the detailed analysis of the framework. And the company increases users' interest in their products and services. Win-win.
Yesler's Marketing Automation Playbook
One of the biggest challenges is to create interactive educational content. However, it’s the most rewarding content type at the same time. A study by Demand Metric found out that 93% of respondents said that interactive content was effective at educating buyers.
When creating educational content, you need to take into account that not all people want to learn something new. So, you need to be careful with timing. Also, CMI found that the effectiveness of different types of interactive content varies in different buying stages:
As you can see, in the awareness stage people are more into contests, games, and quizzes. Educational interactive content (such as ebooks) is more effective in the consideration phase.
Yesler is a famous B2B marketing agency that provides solutions for the biggest brands. Their Marketing Playbook covers the most important marketing benefits and issues. It's perfect for people who consider using the company's services already. Thanks to the playbook's interactive design, it looks more attractive than any other educational site.
Here, you will find multiple responsive elements. When you click on the tabs, more information appears. Also, Yesler inserted links to their other pages and products. So the Playbook increased the overall engagement with their site significantly.
Northstar Travel's Los Cabos Infographic & Quiz
Let's now move on to the interactive content that entertains.
Travel Weekly's NorthStar site also decided to stand out from competition with an ultra interactive site.
Their guide is very well structured and looks tempting.
Northstar’s quiz was a great chance for visitors to check their knowledge. But it also included an opportunity to win a gift card. Offering an award is a great incentive to get even more people to interact with your site.
The company was clever to give their customers a choice: to browse the guide or to take a quiz. Your customers should always have that kind of choice. If you offer only one option, they will either take the single option or leave the page for good.
Navicure's Cash Flow Potential Calculator
Navicure is a provider of account solutions that help increase the profitability of the business. The target audience of the company is always looking for some advanced ways to increase their returns.
Their Cash Flow Calculator is a great example of an interactive utility content. It's a test that helps to determine what kind of cash flow improvement you can expect:
The results of the quiz are given right on the website. But if you want a detailed analysis, you can ask for a full report. Again, you need to enter your email address. Engagement level helps Nacivure determine which customers who really interested in their services and which are just passing by.
Interactive content marketing will give you an edge
Content marketing has reached the stage where it's difficult to surprise your visitors only with fresh information. You need a more effective tool to reach the settled goal. Interactive content is one of those tools.
The creation of interactive content takes more time and efforts than writing a blog post. Moreover, you might need extra help with the implementation of your idea. But the results are definitely worth the effort and money. You will notice that the number of your readers starts to grow, the bounce rate decreases and the duration of sessions become longer.
BIO: Lori Wade is a freelance content writer for Before Writing who is interested in a wide range of spheres from entrepreneurship to online marketing. She is also an aspiring tutor striving to bring education to another level.
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Photo Credit: Visual Hunt