6 simple interactive content ideas you can use

As a content marketer or a business owner, you always look for new content ideas. One type of content you should look at is interactive content. Interactive content is excellent for engaging visitors and getting them to stick around longer.

But what exactly is interactive content?

Interactive content allows users to engage with it in some way. In other words, these are the types of content that people may click on, navigate through, respond to, or play with. Ultimately, these interactive content types may help you provide a positive user experience. They help you improve click-throughs, improve SEO, and are valuable tools for getting user feedback and collecting data about your target audience.

In this post, we’ll share six simple interactive content ideas you can use. 

1. Interactive quizzes

Quizzes are a fun and easy way to get people involved with your brand. You can use them to teach new ideas, test knowledge, or get user feedback while ensuring your audience has fun.

When creating a quiz, it’s essential to understand your audience. What are their interests? What kinds of questions would they find challenging? Think about the best way to format your quiz, too, so it’s easy to provide interactive experiences.

For example, the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has website personality quizzes that match individuals to therapy dogs depending on their personality. The hospital then gathers users’ email addresses so it can send them their quiz results. That’s an opportunity the hospital uses to send updates about the medical institution via email as well.

You can use interactive quizzes on social media for branding, generating leads, and building relationships with your audience. To get the most out of your quizzes, follow these tips:

• Keep them short and sweet. No one wants to take a quiz for hours.
• Stick to a single topic. A quiz with too many topics will confuse and frustrate your audience. Choose one area and stick to it.
• Use images and videos. Quizzes are more engaging when they’re visually appealing. Adding pictures and interactive video content will help people stay interested in what you have to say.
• Offer a prize. Everyone loves a good incentive, so offering a prize for correctly answering all the questions in your quiz is a great way to get people motivated.
• Make it shareable. Include social sharing buttons on your quiz, so people can easily share it with friends and followers.

You can embed your interactive quiz into your content. You can use a quiz maker like Jotform to help you turn your questions into an interactive quiz.

2. Polls and surveys

Polls and surveys are great ways to collect data from your audience. You can get user feedback, track trends, or get to know your audience better. In other words, you can gather valuable insights to help you make better decisions for your business or organization.

For example, in this poll, Northeastern University asks blog visitors to determine their preferred content format. That helps the university improve its content marketing strategies.

To create an interactive survey or poll, decide what information you want to collect in the first place. Once you have this, format your question based on that goal, so it’s easy to understand.

Make sure you promote your poll or survey so that people will see it and have a chance to participate. You can distribute your interactive content using various methods: via social media through organic posts or ads, via email by using mail merge in Gmail, or via your website on your homepage, for example.

3. User-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) is any content created by users of a company’s products or services. It gives you feedback and insight from your users that you can use to improve those products or services in the first place. UGC can take the form of reviews, blog posts, comments, images, videos, and more.

For instance, watch brand CLUSE includes client photographs on its online store website. In the LookBook section, visitors can look through photos sent in by customers to get a sense of how the product shows on real people.

You will see the product and the customer’s Instagram profile when you click on the images.

This is an excellent way for businesses to enhance the content experience and engage with consumers more interactively. With UGC, you can encourage visitors to click on your links and share your interactive content. UGC can also help boost conversions.

Gathering UGC is as simple as asking your customers or fans to submit reviews, photos, or videos of themselves using your product or service. You can also host contests that encourage users to submit their creations.

4. Interactive videos

Interactive video content allows viewers to perform specific actions on the video itself. So, customers can click, tap on the video or even make voice commands that will yield a specific result. You use this type of interactive content for marketing to help increase engagement and conversions and, ultimately, scale your business. Also, you can use them for educational purposes.

Eko, for example, creates interactive original shows ranging from cartoon comedies to technical thrillers. Eko makes it possible to interact with its interactive films by allowing users to pick options from the video.

There are a few things to consider when using interactive videos:

• Make your interactive film helpful and relevant to your audience and topic. 
• You must ensure that the interactive elements are integrated into the video in a way that makes sense.
• Use storytelling, appealing visuals, and audio to help guide your audience.
• Keep the interaction short and sweet – too much interactive content can be overwhelming.
• Make sure you have a clear call to action so your audience knows what to do.

It is easy to create interactive videos with the right interactive content tools. There are several platform options at your disposal. Some examples are Spott, Eko, Adventr, Smartzer, Thinglink, and Wirewax. Once you have your interactive video, you can share it with your audience via social media, email, or your website.

5. Chatbots

Chatbots are computer programs that simulate human conversation. They are commonly used in online customer service to answer simple customer questions or provide essential information. You can use chatbots for more complex tasks, such as giving personalized recommendations or booking appointments.

Chatbots can help keep your audience engaged with your content. At the same time, they can collect data about your audience’s preferences and interests. This data can then help improve your content marketing strategies. It can help you produce more targeted content that is more likely to resonate with your audience. That increases your chances of turning them into paying customers.

For example, Impulse Creative uses a chatbot to give potential customers a personalized experience. This chatbot makes it easier for visitors to browse the website and find what they’re searching for. All customers need to do is select an option that corresponds to their interests.

When using chatbots to engage your audience, ensure your chatbot is responsive. People expect a quick response when they use a chatbot. Also, your chatbot should be easy to use and understand. It should be able to handle common, simple questions and requests without getting confused.

As you continue to use your chatbot, you will likely find ways to improve it. Make sure to keep your chatbot updated with the latest information and features.

6. Calculators

Since calculators are helpful, they are perfect for engaging people. For example, people can use calculators to figure out how much money they can save by investing in a specific stock. They can also use these tools to calculate their average daily commute cost.

Interactive calculators can be embedded into websites or apps. They can also be standalone tools. Either way, ensure your calculator is easy to use and provides a personalized experience.

Wise’s calculator, for example, has a user-friendly interface for calculating how much you will spend in USD, EUR, GBP, or any other currency when sending or receiving in different currencies. Additionally, it is comprehensive and provides accurate insights. The calculator can help you make the right business decisions so you can save a substantial amount of time and money.

You can include a calculator in your blog post. Just make sure it’s relevant to your post in the first place. For example, if you’re creating content about conversion rates, you might want to include a calculator that converts US dollars to another local currency, for example. 

Get creative

Interactive content marketing is a strategy that helps you get ahead of your rivals. With this marketing strategy, you use content that requires active engagement from users. 

There are many types of interactive content you can use. Interactive quizzes, polls, surveys, and chatbots, for example, are perfect for engaging consumers and, at the same time, for gathering actionable information. Interactive videos, user-generated content, and calculators are worth exploring, too.

Don’t just stick to one type of interactive content. You may want to experiment with two or more forms. There are other interactive content types you may want to consider, too, such as interactive infographics, maps, and emails, among others. The sky’s the limit when it comes to interactive content marketing. Just always bear in mind your audience in creating your content, and you’ll do just fine.

Good luck!