Maximizing Engagement Through Interactive Content

By Andra Veness - CHARLENE & CO. EDITORIAL TEAM

Interactive content receives 52.6% more engagement than static content. Whether it is a poll or a quiz, interactive content engagement converts to sales 70% of the time, versus just 36% of the time for static content. You can’t beat that.

Brands are constantly competing for attention. While there isn’t solid evidence to prove that humans have a shorter attention span than a goldfish, there is certainly more information vying for our attention: around 402.74 million terabytes of data are created each day. Interactive content is made to be memorable. By incorporating movement and critical thinking, users become active participants. Here we discuss ways to implement videos, animations, polls, quizzes, calculators, and more to achieve increased engagement.

Understanding Interactive Content

Interactive content creates more meaningful interactions than static content because it demands much more from audiences. These demands could be visual attention or active participation in a poll. This might sound counterintuitive, but longer active interaction times are memorable. Consider the appeal of reading an academic paper versus watching an animated, narrated video. Very different, right?

Static content is typically just words, images, and infographics—it’s great for conveying information, but not so memorable. Interactive content uses innovation to convert static content into something engaging, whether that’s a video, a poll, or something else. Here are some examples:

Quizzes

Quizzes test a user on their knowledge, but they are also used to provide users with a diagnostic: 

Buzzfeed has found immense success with Quiz Party by quizzing people on things like, “What Kind of Cat Are You?”

Games

Games are an obvious choice because users are drawn in by enjoyment and the possibility of winning.

Wordle and Connections are the top two games produced by The New York Times. They are huge hits that draw attention to their publication.

Polls

Polls allow users to vote or state their preferences. They demonstrate a brand’s commitment to understanding and considering its audience. 

HelloFresh uses polls to determine meal plan preferences.

Videos

Interactive video content typically incorporates questions, animation, and more. This is very appealing to visual learners.

Crash Course has revolutionized education using videos.

Infographics

Visualizing information for users appeals to those pesky attention spans. Done well, infographics present information in an immediately digestible format.

In Nike’s featured article “Never Done Challenging Convention,” they feature looping animated infographics and videos. Their interactive content leaves viewers with the campaign's overarching message: Legends are never done.

Calculator

Calculators are a more practical tool. They calculate anything from rent affordability to tax brackets, providing users with useful information.

Zillow offers a rent affordability calculator that is incredibly useful to users.

Benefits of Interactive Content

Users enjoy engaging with interesting and stimulating content. But interactive content has benefits for brands too. By encouraging active participation, users have an improved experience, and brands can collect data on their audience’s preferences.

By recording user interactions, you can gather their preferences and click traffic. Another way to track user interactions is with site traffic tools like Hotjar Limited and Google Analytics. These tools allow brands to make custom-fit content for their audiences.

Interactive content garners much more engagement. Thus, there is a possibility that it will go viral. Buzzfeed quizzes are a good example of this; their quizzes are often shared on an immense scale. 

The New York Times also found popularity by addressing a desire for games with Wordle and Connections. It’s just a word game, but it changes every day, and that gets users into a routine of making site visits. 

So, how do brands create this interactive content?

Best Practices for Creating Interactive Content

When creating your brand’s content, consider what is relevant to you. For fashion brands, providing personalized clothes recommendations would be appropriate. The Farmer’s Dog uses quizzes to recommend an ideal dog food plan, and then they use customer information to pursue email marketing. For any brand, seamlessly integrating content depends on your niche. 

Interactive content can be as simple as integrating popups that allow users to rate products, rate their experience, or sign up for an email list. It can also be as complicated as a fully animated video lesson like what Crash Course specializes in.

But remember that creating interactive content is more than having a good idea. It must also be visually appealing, professional, and consonant with your brand. And if you don’t want to make the content yourself, many qualified freelancers specialize in creating content with visual appeal and clear calls to action.

Implementing Interactive Content in Your Strategy

Luckily, creating content is more accessible than ever. With an established brand, you can use existing themes—or even existing content—and convert it into interactive content. Tools like Canva, Typeform, and Outgrow can generate quizzes, polls, infographics, and more. Professional video editing options are Adobe Premiere Pro and Canva. But CapCut is another popular option because it allows you to create social media videos that can be shared on any platform.

Using social media can promote interaction as well. After all, social media is built around individual interaction through likes, shares, comments, DMs, and more. Videos might perform better on Instagram, whereas animated infographics would serve a website better. Tracking your engagement, site traffic, and metrics is a good way to find what works for you.

You can track the reach of your content using analytic tools like Hotjar Limited and Google Analytics. These analytics tools are behind a paywall, but it is a worthy investment. For those who would rather start small, social media business accounts on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube offer account insights for free.

Conclusion

Interactive content is incredibly valuable in promoting growth and user interaction. When implementing interactive content into your marketing strategy, the most important thing is understanding your audience and what they would interact with. 

Readers for The New York Times enjoy word games, Buzzfeed users enjoy silly little quizzes, and The Farmer’s Dog users want to know what food is best for their pets. For lifestyle brands, consider what services and products are offered. A personalized service recommendation could be the way to go. As long as the content is somewhat unique, visually appealing, and includes a call to action, then you have the basics down!

To make it all easier, there are content integration tools: Canva, Typeform, Outgrow, ThingLink, and so much more. Engaging content allows customers to take control and guide their own experience with a brand. Experiment with what content works for you, because every lifestyle brand is different. Just like how brands customize their content, allow customers to shape their own custom experience.