5 interactive content ideas to boost audience engagement

As marketers, the ability to create content that captivates fans and followers is a vital goal in order to keep customers coming back to the site and helping in the generation of leads.

A fine way to boost engagement and shake up your posting process is by leveraging the power of interactive content. This kind of content allows your audience to be more involved, increase click-throughs, drive sales as well as giving businesses the opportunity to educate your network in a fun and engaging way.

Though creating interactive content takes more time and effort than more typical content, the time users spend engaging with it and the value they extract from this content, far exceeds that of traditional content.

In fact, 87 percent of marketers agree that interactive content grabs the attention of the reader from more effectively than static content.

So if you’re looking for new ways to superglue your website visitors, consider using the following five interactive content ideas.

1. Quizzes

Quizzes are no longer just the domain of women’s lifestyle magazines and Buzzfeed click bait, but a valuable content strategy which should be present in every marketer’s toolbox.

And we’re not just talking about the “Which pizza topping are you?” kind. Quizzes are a fantastic way to understand where your audience stand, becoming an opportunity to offer your product or service.

Quizzes offer a two-way information flow, meaning that you can both share information with your audience but also capture information from their answers. This information can be utilized to generate leads.

Creating a quiz also allows you to build trust with your audience. Asking useful questions and providing educational results will demonstrate that your business cares about the response of your audience, of which you can use to help solve pain points.

Finally, quizzes are also highly shareable. Upon analyzing the type of content that people like to share on social media, BuzzSumo found that quizzes were the most popular content on Facebook. The share count for quizzes averaged at 51,968 (likes and shares) compared to the average article which had 15,527 total Facebook shares.

2. Contests

Another effective piece of interactive content that your business should consider is the classic contest. Everyone wants to win right? Organizing a contest is a great way promote your brand and pull more traffic to your site.

Contests empower your consumers to do your marketing for you, with the possibility of your campaign being shared across multiple social media platforms.

Facebook has recently started cleaning up its newsfeed by demoting posts by businesses asking people to comment, like, or share a post in return for a reward. But this should not deter your contest-creating efforts. Instagram can be a great platform to run a sweepstake, by simply asking for a follow, getting users to “tag a friend”, or asking your audience to answer a question in the comments section.

Contests are also a rich source of data. Many people are prepared to share information with you in exchange for the chance to win the prize. For instance, you can ask your audience where they heard about your promotion and what their favorite product of yours is.

3. Infographics, Whitepapers and eBooks

Though this content may take a little more out of your budget, it can be a fantastic and fun way for your audience to interact with your brand.

The success of visual content in engaging your audiences is no secret. In fact, research shows that the brain processes visual content 60,000 times faster than it does text.

Interactive infographics are a great way to educate your audience on your product or industry-related content in a visually pleasing and simple way, rather than just words on a page.

Research has found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times more than any other type of content.

Whitebooks and eBooks are also a great way to enhance trust with your customer by providing answers to any questions they may have about your product or service.

4. Interactive videos

Video has been shown to be the most effective content in achieving the most reach and engagement, so if you want to stay relevant, it’s time to get the camera rolling.

According to research, 80 percent of your online visitors will watch a video, while 20 percent will read content .

In order to make your video’s interactive, include click-throughs to landing pages, quizzes, or the option for viewers to choose a certain video clip.

According to MarketingProfs, people are 64 percent more likely to buy a product after first watching a video. But make these videos short; it has been found that videos which are 15 seconds or shorter are shared 37 percent more often than videos that are 30-60 seconds long.

5. Chatbots

Chatbots can be defined as computer programs that mimic conversation with humans through the use of artificial intelligence.

An increasing amount of businesses are incorporating these “virtual assistants” into their websites and within messager apps.

Why? Chatbots are an incredibly effective way of communicating with your customers, issuing fast responses to any customer queries regarding your product.

As well as acting as a 24/7 helping hand for your customers, chatbots can also be used to drive traffic to your website by sending notifications to your audience, alerting them whenever there is a new post, product, or service.

With Gartner predicting that 85 percent of all customer service interactions will be powered by chatbots by 2020, it’s time your brand starts exploring the potential of the tech.