In 2015, Time magazine reported that the average person loses concentration after 8 seconds. As a brand, how you deliver your content determines how users engage with your website and how long for. We know that good content can form B2C and B2B relationships, it can also bolster sales, but average content just does not cut it anymore. If your content cannot hook site visitors within 8 seconds, chances are they will lose interest. This is where interactive content comes into play, by changing the way that users interact with business websites, businesses are seeing more engagement levels than ever before.
What is Interactive Content?
Interactive content is what it says on the tin, put simply, it’s content that users can interact with. But it does more than that, interactive content drives the engagement between the content creator and the user, putting the user in charge of their journey on your website. Interactive content does not only serve to benefit the user, however, the outcomes of harnessing interactive content are just as important for growing your business, as they are functional and in some features, fun.
Before we get into the why, we want to talk about the how. If you get to the end of this article and think, “You know, I would really like to have a go at this!” then we advise ensuring that your website hosting is up to the task. Good interactive content can only be good if your website can manage the storage space and bandwidth required to ensure users get the maximum out of your creations. We recommend Dreamhost or Hostgator. MangoMatter Media wrote this comparison so you can see which host works best for you and your website.
Three ways you can implement interactive content on your website
Calculators
Calculators are a great example of interactive content that can generate leads and in-turn increase sales. Calculators are mostly used where website users are looking for specific information. Chances are you’ve probably even used one. Calculators are mostly numerical and supported by data points that indicate points in the calculator, the best examples of this are, quotes (if a potential client is looking for a quote for a specific service) this could be a service like insurance. You can use calculators for users to build their own budgets. Not only are they useful for users but the data input feeds back to you. Giving you valuable lead data which can be followed up.
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Quizzes/Polls
Another great example of lead generation is quizzes and polls, though their uses can vary greatly, in the end, the result is the same: more leads. Some brands use quizzes to attract site users parting with their information by fun quizzes, e.g. What Kind of Animal Are You? Take our quiz to find out. Users are then asked to enter their information to receive their results. However, you can tailor quizzes to garner feedback from users. For example, if you are an online interior store, you could create a quiz to see what kinds of styles your users like, with this data you can then create targeted campaigns. Brands may also use polls to receive feedback from users, this can be important data, like, How did you hear about us? or Do you like our website? Quiz, easy and simple for users to interact with.
Interactive eBooks/Reports
If your business regularly publishes papers, books or reports on your website, the bog-standard PDF has become a tired approach for users to engage with your work. Though there are some key differences between the above, one thing they have in common is sharing information, often users disengage quickly with content that takes a lot of time to read, regardless of how well written your content is. With features like scrolling pages and audio links, interactive eBooks and papers can allow users to digest information in segments that are more likely to keep them engaged.
Why is it important?
Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the benefits of interactive engagement and why it’s important more than ever in web design. Here are our top three reasons:
Engagement
Lead generation, link building, and increased website traffic. Without engagement, you can’t capture data, without data it’s harder to build those customer relationships.
Engagement should be your first priority when thinking about incorporating interactive design into your website. That said, even the most basic of interactive content will attract more engagement, why? Because interactive content gives the user more value, increasing the likelihood of them providing you with their data.
Data Capture
If content is king then data must be queen. Interactive content like the ones we mentioned above can provide you with valuable and relevant data on your website visitors. With quizzes, polls, and calculators you can capture instant feedback which can be used to create targeted campaigns, building your relationships with customers and creating brand loyalty.
User Experience = Loyalty
Not only does data provide the opportunity for brand loyalty, but so does user experience. Overall, the greater the user experience is, the more likely it is that they will come back to your website.
