Marketers are very aware of the value of content marketing. Consumers are looking for value and substance from organizations and a relevant, robust content marketing strategy can deliver just that. But just like any other trend in marketing, once everyone is doing it, you’re now faced with the challenge of standing out from the crowd. Enter interactive content.

What interactive content is

Interactive content is anything that requires the participants’ active engagement – more than simply reading or watching the content. In return for that engagement, participants receive real-time, hyper-relevant results they care about. (Source: SnapApp)

Interactive content delivers a unique experience to your members and potential members that sets you apart and makes you more memorable. In fact, SnapApp reports that marketers are achieving 30% click rates on their content, over 85% content completion rates and 45% lead form conversions using interactive content.

Marketers are achieving 30% click rates on their content, over 85% content completion rates and 45% lead form conversions using interactive content.

Beyond engaging the consumer, interactive content presents a unique opportunity to gather distinct behavioral data on your members. Each way they interact with the content will tell you something about them — from what kind of content they like best to their individual responses on a specific topic. Gathering that insight and acting on it with highly personalized messages is the real golden nugget that will set you apart and yield exponential returns.

What interactive content is not

Interactive content does not replace your message or existing content. It instead, should be an enhancement of the message. If it doesn’t align with your overall brand strategies and goals, then it won’t make sense to your members either. For example, don’t give your audience a quiz about finding their best Hollywood Hottie match just because it’s buzzworthy. They’ll remember the quiz, but not your brand because it doesn’t align. And you won’t receive actionable insight relevant to your products and services, making the time and resources spent creating the content a waste.

How to get started

You can spend a lot of time and money on really slick interactive content, but as with anything, you should test it out first to see what your members and potential members choose to engage with. A great place to start is by transforming content you already have. If your financial advisors have a worksheet to help members decide how much home they can afford, put it into an online calculator. Or take that financial literacy flyer and transform it into a quiz to test personal financial savviness.

And you certainly don’t need to hire a developer. There are a lot of easy-to-use online interactive content creation tools out there with free versions so you can test them out as you get started. Give it try – I think you’ll be amazed by the results!

Article published in the November-December 2016 issue of The Federal Credit Union magazine from NAFCU.