Why It’s Time to Try It

Are your brand’s marketing efforts a one-sided conversation?

In an increasingly digital world, there are more opportunities than ever to connect with your leads. More often than not, however, those connections are driven in one direction, without the back-and-forth dialogue that more closely mimics the way we engage with each other in real life.

Fortunately, there’s a better way.

Interactive marketing is a sort of “choose your own adventure” approach to nurturing your leads, with content driven by relevance — not just by chance. And it’s growing rapidly in popularity, with 62 percent of B2B marketers relying at least in part on interactive content to help grow their brand.

So how does it work? To help you get off the ground with interactive marketing, we’ve put together this quick guide to what you need to know, including what interactive marketing is and some tips for putting it into practice. Let’s get to it.

What is Interactive Marketing?

Interactive marketing is a form of content advertising based on lead behaviors and actions instead of being passively marketed to.

We already know that data and personalization are key to moving prospects down the funnel. Interactive marketing takes these essentials and uses them to determine what pieces of content a prospect is presented with and when. Ultimately, this means that leads get more access to the information they need — with less of the stuff they don’t.

The results? Content that’s directly aligned with an individual’s preferences, actions, and experience, and not just the broad scope of where they happen to be in the buyer’s journey. Examples include interactive surveys, quizzes, videos, infographics, and emails, each with its own CTA that triggers a specific brand response.

This offers a few big benefits for your brand. For starters, you end up with more engaged and more informed leads (and the more informed your leads are, the better customers they are down the line). You also offer an elevated experience right from the first touchpoint, ensuring that you stand out from your competitors in all the right ways. It certainly doesn’t hurt that interactive content tends to be inherently more engaging (Buzzfeed quizzes, anyone?).

Interactive Marketing Statistics

It’s not just conjecture to say that interactive marketing can provide a big boost to your efforts. Here are some statistics illustrating just how effective this marketing method can be.

Get Started with Interactive Marketing

If you’re not already using interactive content, there’s no better time than now to start. Here are some creative ways to get the ball rolling.

1. Create a Quiz

In 2015, quizzes accounted for 90 percent of the most shared posts on Facebook and boasted a 31.6 percent lead capture rate. And because they’re inherently interactive, they’re super easy to tailor to individual users.

Whether you opt for something light-hearted or a bit more serious, quizzes are a fantastic way to guide leads toward relevant products or services while also tapping into the natural desire that we all share to learn more about ourselves — even if it’s just in good fun.

2. Host a Poll

Polls are a highly effective way to get your audience’s attention, and they’re super easy to create and promote through social media and email.

Use them at every stage of the buyer’s journey to gauge consumer interest and learn more about what people are looking for. You can also use them as part of designated campaigns, for example, asking leads to cast their vote to help name a new product ahead of launch.

3. Use Hover-Over Imagery

Hover-over imagery — i.e., images where viewers can hover over certain designated areas to learn more about them — is traditionally thought of in relation to selling clothing or other direct-to-consumer goods, but businesses of all varieties can put them to use.

Consider creating a hover-over image that gives leads an inside look at how your product operates. Or how about a hover-over image of one of your solutions, with details about what each different aspect brings to the table? Share your images in your blog, on social, and in your emails, and let your prospects navigate their own way toward more product knowledge.

4. Update Existing Static Content

There’s no need to totally start from scratch with interactive marketing. Look at your existing static content to try and find ways that you can amplify them with interactive elements or build them out into a separate interactive campaign. You’ll get more bang for your buck without having to start from square one.

Time to get started! What interactive marketing method are you going to try first?