Digital media has evolved, and with it, the ability to offer amazing interactive content experiences to clients. And yet, it seems that all too often branded content has remained stuck. Articles, blogs, white papers—these often don’t change all that much as they make the leap from print to web.
One thing Content Marketing World made clear this year is that customers increasingly want to interact online with brands in novel ways. This could mean posting a selfie to a brand’s social media, taking a quiz, or engaging in another kind of digital activity that would never have been possible before. As marketers, we can allow our imaginations to run wild—adding audio, video, animation, and gamification to our branded content.
Importantly, this kind of content is proving to be not just interesting, novel and engaging but also effective—improving engagement rates and conversions—all while helping marketers acquire more first-party data too.
But because interactive content is still something of a new frontier, when it’s not approached carefully, things can go off the rails. Here are some guidelines for creating content experiences that will be successful, effective elements of any marketing campaign inspired by my learnings from Content Marketing World 2021.