How to Create Interactive Content to Grip Your Audience

What if you approach the new girl in the block with your know-it-all hat on, and start lecturing? You will piss her nerve off.

If you want to impress her, approach her with meaningful conversation and let her talk because, boy, she has got more options!

This girl is your audience.

4.6 billion pieces of content are produced every day. Over 2 Million blog posts are written each day and innumerable social media posts and other forms of content cross your audience’s attention every single day.

 

How do you stand out? How do you catch and hold the fleeting attention of online users?

Interactive content is how you do it. When you let your audience engage with you through your content, you establish a two-way dialogue that builds trust and likeability for your brand.

Remember, all relationships need mutual participation!

Why Interactive Content?

A marketing survey shows that 53% of marketers are already using interactive content. The industry is going gaga about interactive content for a reason, or reasons to be precise.

1. Interactive content engages and entertains your audience leading to more meaningful alliances.
2. It imprints the brand name in users’ mind taking the entire brand recall game several notches up.
3. Interactive content has a longer life.
4. It helps collect more data about your target audience and thus facilitating data-driven marketing.
5. And, yes, it generates leads!

With 91% of buyers looking for more visual and interactive content, there’s no way you can turn a blind eye to this content marketing trend.

Interactive content, for sure is the present and future of content marketing.

How to Create Different Forms of Interactive Content?

Let me first set the expectations right. There is no formula for interactive content. It has to fit the mold of your brand and do justice to your objectives.

Let’s explore some popular forms of interactive content and how can you leverage them in your content marketing efforts.

1.Quizzes

Buzzfeed has dedicated a whole section to Quizzes, such is the popularity of quizzes.

But you ain’t Buzzfeed for sure and creating an entire section is not always feasible (congratulations if it is). So how can you make use of Quizzes?

Platforms like Buzzfeed, Playbuzz and much more allow users to create their own quizzes and promote them. Instead of your next guest post, think about creating a quiz that your target audience can engage with. If you are in the education industry, you can help your target students choose a career for them by answering a few simple questions. You can also make use of quizzes in your corporate blog section. How about a quiz to help your users guess your new launch?

While creating quizzes, make sure your questions are relatable and don’t sound too intimidating to answer. A certain level of uncomplicatedness is important for users to take interest in your quizzes.

Keep your quizzes graphical and visually pleasant. Big fonts usually help attract user attention because it makes the content easier and quicker to read.

2.Surveys, Polls, and Ratings

Instead of stuffing your blog subscribers with information about your product, have you ever considered asking them about what they love and which product are they more inclined towards? Ever tried to proactively ask your consumers about your services and offerings? Now is the time.

Plan your next content as a rating or survey story that lets users put their side of the story too. Do not fear negative remarks; it’s a part of a business. Just learn how to handle them well.

If you are apprehensive about using your blog as a platform, try third-party sites like SurveyMonkey or Zoho. You can even use Google forms and spread it on social media.

 

3.Calculators

Mathematics in school curriculum is not as useless as it seems to be.  Calculators are a great way to engage your audience while helping them derive something they are already looking for.

Look at this cool Income Tax calculator by Smart Asset.

Calculators are a great way to establish trust in your users’ mind and establish yourself as someone who knows better and is willing to help.

Moreover, calculators are a one-time investment and will stay with your website for years to come. You can promote them and even attract leads through calculators.

4.Brackets

Remember March Madness? Brackets are a great way to engage users and get them excited about your campaign. Think of an interesting topic, preferably trending, related to your niche and create brackets for people to vote.

Remember to promote Brackets via other forms of content to generate awareness of your campaign.

5.Interactive Videos:

Surfaced several years ago, interactive videos have really gained popularity amongst an online audience. Creating an interactive video is a sure-shot way to engage and retain your users for a longer period.

Check this extremely interesting interactive video by Delloite

Nearly two-third of consumers says companies that use video know how to reach their customers.

You sure want to be in the good books of this two-third.

Interactive videos might cost you a little higher than your regular content, but the ROI is much greater. If your video goes viral, which is possible if it is good enough, the results would far exceed your investment. Even if it does not go viral, it will create extremely impactful branding, the results of which you will reap for a good amount of time.

The key to making a great interactive video is to gamify it with a certain level of suspense that will keep the user hooked and glued.

 

Over to you:

I may have listed just five forms of interactive content, but the possibilities are endless. Think beyond the boxes and come up ways you can invite your audience to connect with you. Games, contests, and interactive infographics are just some more forms you can deploy based on your marketing budgets.

Interactive content has yet not been explored much and it’s time to jump in the bandwagon. Before space gets too crowded for your online audience to notice you, start implementing interactive content in your content marketing strategy and reap the underlying potential of doing wonders.