It’s a brand new year, which for many of us means brand new marketing initiatives.
Is interactive content one of the new tools you’re adding for 2016?
If not, it probably should be. Buyers are looking for more engaging, helpful content – and interactive content is some of the most helpful there is.
Consider incorporating one of the following 5 content types into your marketing mix this year. You’ll see improved lead conversion, faster lead qualification, and better profile data to fuel all your marketing programs.
1. Personality Quiz
A personality quiz, also called an assessment, is an interactive questionnaire structured to match people with specific personalities, patterns, or identities based on their responses.
Assessments are appealing because they give users the chance to learn more about ourselves and explain ourselves to others. There’s something powerful about a quiz that confirms something we already know about ourselves – but gives us a way to share that with others.
Quizzes also work because buyers are looking for answers. The modern B2B buyer invests in a huge amount of research during the purchase process. Acquity Group found that 94 percent of B2B buyers report that they conduct some form of online research before purchasing a business product, and 55 percent of B2B buyers conduct online research for at least half of their corporate purchases.
With an assessment, a marketer can guide that researching prospect toward the right answer for them, streamlining the research process.
2. Interactive White Paper
You’re probably planning to produce some long-form written content in 2016 – and you are probably planning for it to be a significant investment in time and resources.
Why not make the most of that investment by turning your long-form content interactive?
An interactive white paper is a dialogue, whereas static long-form content is a monologue. Adding interactivity takes your traditional content and transforms it into a two-way conversation.
Begin with your existing asset. Pare your content down to the most important nuggets of information, then layer on an assessment, survey, calculator, or knowledge test (I usually aim for 20% of the original length). With the right tools, you can go beyond a simple true/false quiz and create a powerful pillar asset that drives new leads into your sales funnel on a regular basis.
Really, it’s a win-win on both sides. The marketer gets to educate and engage their buyer while collecting valuable user data – and the user gets an entertaining, uniquely valuable experience tailored to them and their needs.
3. Trivia Quiz or Knowledge Test
People love to show off how much they know. This is especially true if you’re serving a niche audience with very specialized knowledge.
As a marketer, you should be tapping into your audience’s interests and passions – and if showing off what they know resonates with your audience, a trivia quiz or knowledge test is right up your alley.
It could be as simple as “Test Your Marketing Automation Knowledge” quiz. A quiz like this, apart from being super fun for your audience, helps you determine the level of knowledge among your users so you can segment and deliver laser-focused content pieces as part of a follow-on campaign.
Quizzes are also a great option for light-touch engagement. Let’s say you’re a data backup services provider, but you know your audience loves Top Gun. Why not create an awesome Top Gun trivia game you can share on social?
Some trivia ideas:
- Content-specific Quizzes – “The Hardest Top Gun Quiz You’ll Ever Take” or “Seinfeld Mega Trivia Quiz”
- Topic-specific Quizzes – “How Well Do You Know HTML5?” or “The Academy Award Quiz”
- Best Practice Tests – “Do You Know How To Save A Co-Worker’s Life?” or “How Is Your Search Engine Optimization Knowledge?”
4. Interactive Video
Video is a powerful medium for communicating with and engaging B2B buyers. According to Aberdeen Group research, best-in-class companies use video more frequently than their peers and generate more impressive results.
Interactive video takes the already successful video format and makes it even more engaging. Marketers can now take advantage of all the benefits of interactive content – better engagement rates, higher lead conversion, faster content production – combined with the power of video.
B2C and publishers have long been using interactive videos in a variety of formats – from videos that branch or jump around based on your inputs (“Choose Your Own Adventure”-style experiences) to videos with hotspots that, when clicked, show you where to buy the shirt or shorts you just clicked on.
B2B marketers are rallying around a form of interactive video that incorporates the question and answer functionality of an assessment, quiz, poll, calculator, or survey into the fabric of the video itself.
If you’re planning any video content in 2016, think about making it interactive!
5. Calculator
One of the most common questions a B2B buyer will ask is “How will this solution impact my bottom line?” A marketer could answer this question with a pricing grid or a case study – but these methods lack a certain amount of personalization.
When making major purchases, many buyers want to do their own problem-solving with their own data to find a solution that’s tailor-made for them.
Give the people what they need. Don’t ditch your pricing grid, but do try a calculator. Calculators are the easiest, most transparent way to show your audience the impact a solution will have on their company. They help people make better purchasing decisions and pave the way for a positive experience with your product or service.
Conclusion
Make 2016 the year you try out something new in your content program. With so many content options to choose from, you’re bound to find something that will resonate for your messaging and your audience. Start small, experiment to find the right mix, and invest in tools that make sense for your team and budget.