The Ultimate Guide to Interactive Content Marketing for Enterprises

Interactive content has always captivated internet users. This week, I spent a pleasant hour using Zenni’s Virtual Try-On feature to see what I looked like wearing different glasses. And who can forget the irresistible allure of BuzzFeed Quizzes? In the website’s heyday, I could easily spend hours answering quizzes like “What Twilight character are you?” and “Can we accurately guess your type?”

Enterprises can capture the fun and engagement of these experiences with interactive content marketing. This approach invites users to actively participate in the content instead of passively absorbing messages. For instance, they might enter their information into an interactive calculator or click through an animated infographic. Interactive content marketing can make a lasting impression on your target audience and improve engagement.

This guide covers everything you need to know about interactive content marketing for enterprises, including: 

• The benefits of this strategy
• Popular interactive formats
• Top platforms for interactive content creation
• Best practices to help you use this marketing approach successfully

What Is Interactive Content Marketing?

Interactive content marketing uses digital tools to encourage audience participation. The content often adapts to the user’s input, personalizing the experience. Enterprises use interactive content to empower customers and learn about their preferences. 

For example, the interactive Nike By You Builder lets users develop custom athletic shoes. Additionally, the Nike .SWOOSH challenge invited the audience to compete to design the best visual storyboard. The winners received cash prizes and collaborated with Nike designers to create new sneakers. 

Nike’s interactive marketing campaigns empower users to design the products they want to see. Customers who use the Nike By You Builder may feel more satisfied than people who buy standard shoes. Design competitions also build community and inspire creativity while promoting the brand. 

Interactive content marketing is the opposite of static content marketing. This term refers to traditional marketing materials that don’t require audience interaction. Examples of static content marketing include billboards, blog posts, and press releases. Many enterprises use both types of content to reach audiences. 

Benefits of Interactive Marketing Content for Enterprises

Interactive digital marketing offers many advantages for enterprises, including: 

• Deeper engagement: According to a 2022 Mediafly survey, customers viewed B2B interactive content 28% more frequently than static content. Business-to-business buyers also spent 56% more time consuming interactive content. These findings suggest that interactive marketing strategies can grab the audience’s attention and boost interactions more effectively than traditional methods. 
• Higher return on investment (ROI): Interactive content often has a higher ROI than traditional static content. Many platforms allow companies to create interactive content affordably. For instance, Riddle lets users produce unlimited interactive quizzes for as little as $59 a month. Additionally, interactive marketing campaigns may have higher conversion rates than traditional campaigns because they deliver engaging, personalized experiences. These factors can make interactive marketing a highly cost-effective and profitable approach. 
• Improved personalization: A 2021 McKinsey survey found that 71% of customers expect brands to provide personalized experiences. Interactive content helps meet this demand by adapting to user behavior and inputs. For example, Hulu viewers can choose which advertisements they want to watch during commercial breaks. This feature gives users more control over their streaming experience and allows them to explore products of interest. 
• Increased brand awareness: Customers tend to remember brands that deliver enjoyable and unique experiences. Creating interactive content will help your enterprise make a positive impression and stand out from competitors. If clients share your fun marketing materials with their friends, it can lead to more word-of-mouth recommendations. 
• More opportunities for data collection: Interactive content allows enterprises to gain deeper insights into their customers’ behavior and interests. Suppose, for instance, a fashion company creates an interactive quiz that recommends outfits based on user responses. As users answer the questions, the website can gather information about their demographics, shopping behaviors, and style habits. The company can use this data to develop more relevant products and tailor their marketing to customer interests. 
• Stronger customer loyalty: Content interaction can strengthen your relationships with customers. After engaging with your marketing initiatives, they’ll feel a deeper connection to your brand. They may also feel more valued if you use interactive content to collect their feedback and deliver meaningful experiences. This approach increases customer satisfaction and can help you build long-term relationships. 

Common Types of Interactive Formats

Enterprises use a broad range of content to promote interactive engagement. Here are some popular interactive marketing examples to inspire your next campaign. 

Highly Interactive Infographics and White Papers

Companies often create educational marketing materials to inform their target audience. By incorporating interactive features, you can make learning more compelling and memorable. 

Interactive infographics let users actively explore data and gain meaningful insights. These graphics include interactive features, such as animations triggered by user behavior, filters, and hover effects. 

For example, the publisher Penguin created Lit in Color to highlight the need for more diverse books in the English curriculum. The background of the infographic changes colors, and illustrations appear as the reader scrolls down the webpage. These features improve readability and divide sections clearly.

Additionally, enterprises can use interactive white papers to share research and spotlight industry trends.  For instance, Absolute Software’s “The Future of Work” enables users to investigate changes in the workforce. The white paper includes illustrations readers can hover over to reveal statistics and buttons to toggle between the benefits and drawbacks of working in an office. 

Quizzes and Surveys

Many enterprises use quizzes and surveys to gather customer input. These marketing materials improve the user experience by allowing customers to express their opinions. Additionally, companies often use this content to offer personalized product recommendations or tips. 

For example, Spotify for Pets uses a quiz to develop a personalized playlist for the user’s pet. The quiz asks the customer about their pet’s energy levels, personality, and species. It also invites the user to upload a photo of their pet and share its name. The streaming platform generates a customized pet playlist based on these responses and the user’s listening habits.

Interactive quizzes and surveys offer many benefits. They let enterprises collect data they can use to tailor their products and services for their audience. They also tap into many people’s natural curiosity and love of games, making the experience fun and engaging. This gamification can strengthen brand loyalty and leave customers eager to participate in your next marketing campaign. 

Interactive Photo Galleries and Videos

Visual content is pivotal for modern marketing campaigns. You can take your images and videos to the next level by integrating interactive elements. 

Interactive photo galleries let users manipulate the images with their cursor or touchscreen. The galleries may feature animations, hyperlinks, popups with annotations, scrollbars, and more. These elements increase immersion, allowing the user to linger on images that intrigue them — and skip past ones that don't resonate.

Enterprises also use interactive videos to engage customers. This content lets the viewer interact with the story and make decisions that influence the outcome. For instance, they might choose the main character’s path or decide between two dialogue options. This interactivity can motivate the audience to replay the video and make different choices to see how the ending changes. 

Honda’s “The Other Side” commercial is one of the most memorable examples of an interactive video. This commercial featured a two-sided story of a father driving his children to school and an art heist. Viewers could press the “R” button to toggle between the two storylines, just like drivers of the Honda Type R can press the race button to switch between driving modes. This video had exceptionally high engagement levels and doubled traffic to the Honda Civic website. 

Advanced Imaging Techniques Like Augmented and Virtual Reality

Emerging technologies can add a new layer of interactivity to digital marketing. Many companies use virtual and augmented reality to develop immersive experiences and overlay their products in the real world. 

For example, the Sephora mobile app uses augmented reality to let customers try on makeup virtually. Users look into their front-facing smartphone camera to see what different lipsticks, eyeshadows, and other products look like on their faces. This tool allows customers to find their ideal makeup shades and experiment with various products before buying them, improving satisfaction. 

Useful Calculators

Interactive calculators invite customers to insert their data to get a personalized result. Enterprises can use these tools to estimate costs, give tailored advice, or recommend products. 

thredUP’s Fashion Footprint Calculator measures the environmental impact of fashion choices. The calculator asks users about their shopping and laundry habits to calculate their carbon footprint. It also suggests sustainable practices, such as buying secondhand clothing from thredUP. This tool can benefit the environment while promoting the brand. 

Interactive eBooks

Interactive ebooks combine text with audio, gifs, hyperlinks, quizzes, videos, and other interactive features. Enterprises can use this format to present educational materials in an engaging manner. Adding multimodal elements can also help audiences understand and remember complex concepts.

Argo Group shared its 2022 Environmental, Social & Governance report in an interactive ebook format. Users can watch videos, reveal information by clicking drop-down menus, and click hyperlinks to navigate to different parts of the company website.

Timelines and Map Overlays

Interactive timelines and map overlays represent temporal and geographic information using visual elements. This content engages customers by allowing them to actively explore data and observe trends. 

For example, you could create a timeline showcasing your company's history, achievements, and significant product launches. This content enables you to share your brand’s story in a compelling manner and build trust with your audience. 

You could also create an interactive map that lets customers discover store locations. Make sure they can customize the results by filtering the locations based on available products or services, operating hours, and other characteristics.

Interactive Content Platforms To Streamline Content Creation

Developing interactive content can seem intimidating, especially if you’re not a programming expert. But don’t worry.  These interactive content creation tools will streamline your marketing campaigns: 

• Flourish: Transform data into interactive maps, timelines, and other data visualizations. Flourish lets you customize the graphics with your brand colors, logos, and other visual elements.  
• Involve.me: Use this artificial intelligence (AI) powered platform to develop interactive calculators, quizzes, and surveys. Involve.me has customizable templates and a drag-and-drop interface for speedy content creation.
• Spott: This platform allows companies to create interactive advertisements, images, videos, and other content. Spott also offers a template library to jumpstart your projects.
• Turtl: Turn your PDFs into interactive ebooks with Turtl. This tool provides content performance analytics to measure your success. 

Best Practices To Launch an Interactive Marketing Campaign

Interactive marketing campaigns require different approaches than static ones. Follow these best practices to create interactive content that delights potential customers and boosts conversion rates: 

• Optimize interactive content for different devices. Customers access content from various devices, including computers, laptops, and tablets. Use mobile-optimized templates to create interactive content that adapts to different browsers, device orientations, and screen sizes. 
• Prioritize accessibility and inclusivity. Effective interactive content accommodates customers of all abilities. Follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to create the most accessible user experiences. 
• Don’t forget your core message. Interactive elements should support your message, not drown it out. Focus on adding a few multimodal features that enhance the content’s meaning without distracting from it. 
• Get assistance from expert content creators. You don’t have to design an entire interactive marketing campaign in-house. Consider partnering with a content agency to create compelling and insightful marketing materials. For example, Compose.ly’s expert writers can produce informative ebooks and white papers tailored to your audience. We’ll also recommend strategies to incorporate interactive elements based on your marketing goals. 

Reap the Benefits of Interactive Marketing Content for Your Enterprise

Elevate your next marketing campaign with interactive content. These digital materials tap into customers’ natural curiosity and desire to engage with content. They’ll help you provide more memorable and meaningful experiences that boost engagement and improve personalization. 

Experiment by adding interactive content to your existing materials. For instance, you can transform static whitepapers into interactive ebooks. As you gain experience, consider trying more advanced technologies, such as augmented reality, to help your brand stand out.