With an already vast pool of content growing deeper every day, it can be very difficult to reel in your audience for more than a brief few paragraphs; sometimes all it takes is a change in bait.
According to some telling data collected by ChartBeat’s, Joshua Schwartz, most readers only make it to the 60 per cent mark of an article before they lose focus or interest in it.
The task for marketers thus becomes creating content that will capture and hold their audience’s attention, and how do you do that? You make it interactive.
Here are the top four easy ways to create interactive content:
1. Hold a Contest
Contests are one of the oldest and most effective go-tos in the marketing handbook. If you want people to visit your site, read your blog or buy your product, hold a contest and award the winner(s) a prize.
If the first thought that crossed your mind was, “I can’t afford to giveaway a big screen T.V. or a car,” then it will surprise you to hear that prizes don’t have to be spectacular, in fact, your prize can be as simple as recognition.
One of the best contests to hold is one that calls for user-generated content as an entry. Why? Because your audience is interacting with your brand by creating and sharing original content for you, saving you time and money. These contests often reward a small prize (such as a gift card) or broadcasted recognition.
For example, Dove crafted the “Real Beauty Should Be Shared” contest on Facebook, where they asked their audience to identify a friend, share their photo and give two reasons why they epitomize “Real Beauty.” The winners were awarded recognition as the face of Dove. These entrants were not the only winners though; Dove received free content and brand promotion, all at the hands of it’s audience.
2. Create Quizzes
It probably won’t surprise you to hear that people enjoy participating in quizzes more then they enjoy reading articles, keyword being participating. Quizzes are great for engagement because they are entirely interactive; you choose the answers that your results will be based on, you share the results and you observe others results.
Interestingly, a report by OkDork, revealed that eight of the 10 most shared articles in the world in 2013, were quizzes.
Some things to keep in mind when you are crafting your quiz:
- Make sure that your quiz reaches the correct audience or it will not be engaged in
- Keep the quiz short (10-15 questions) or it too will get boring
- Allow readers the opportunity to express who they are
- Results should be instant and include a visual
3. Live-Streaming Video
Live-streaming video is in high demand in the marketing world because of its immediacy and interactivity, with a wide variety of apps at marketer’s disposal. These apps allow you to share content and receive responses in real-time, which helps to build brand loyalty through instant connections.
One app you can use for this is Twitter-owned Periscope, which allows anyone registered on Twitter to live-stream video, with the assistance of a hashtag for promotion. With this app you can receive real-time comments from consumers and hearts. You are also able to see the number of people watching your live-stream, which informs you whether your content is engaging consumers or not.
You can use live-stream video to:
- Host Q & A’s with customers
- Broadcast live speeches and events
- Give behind-the-scenes access
- Unveil new Products
(For more a more in-depth article on live-streaming video apps and Periscope, click here)
4. Interactive Infographics
Infographics have long been a tool used by marketers to get pertinent information across in a simple way, and much like other marketing tools, they have under gone evolution.
Today it is common to see interactive infographics which are constructed not only of words but also moving images. These infographics can contain animations, specific Youtube videos, audio files and even GIF’s, allowing brands to share their information in an entertaining and engaging way.
Here is an example of an interactive infographic from CarSharing:
If you don’t have the budget or the skills to create this kind of infographic, you can use free websites, such as Prezi, to create and embed one into your blog.
Other articles you might find useful:
How to Create Content Your Customers Will Share on Social Media
How to Use Instagram for Content Marketing
Tips On Using Vine For Content Marketing
Creative Advertising: How to use Hydrophobic spray
