7 Interactive Content Marketing Ideas to Attract New Customers
Sep 03 2018 | 10:45 PM | 9 Mins Read | Level - Intermediate | Read ModeScott Gifis President, AdRoll
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As President of AdRoll, Scott Gifis is responsible for moving the company towards their mission of empowering ambitious brands to grow their business, regardless of budget, resources, or marketing experience. Gifis has a proven track record of outperforming aggressive business growth expectations, often in hyper-competitive or uncertain markets, and a passion for building and leading world-class teams. As an industry veteran, Gifis has worked in tech/adtech for nearly 20 years. Prior to joining AdRoll, he served as Senior Vice President, Global Sales & Business Development at OpinionLab. Before OpinionLab, he was Vice President, Mid-Markets and Publisher Marketplace at Criteo where under his leadership, he launched and scaled Criteo's North American Mid-Market business. Gifis serves as a board member for several early and mid-stage technology companies as well as several education non-profits. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and three daughters.
Scott Gifis, President, AdRoll, shares seven easy steps on how to get your interactive content marketing strategy started
Being a marketer today is no easy feat. We’re constantly thinking about creative and timely ways to catch the attention of our customers, keep them engaged, and stay long enough to make a purchase. All while simultaneously fighting the daily distractions of channels, devices and competitors who are bombarding the same person 24/7. A few things that have led many brands and eRetailers to victory during this battle are smart insights, automation and interactive content marketing.
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DownloadInteractive content marketing strategies have helped many brands and retailers, such as Pret A Manger, Amazon and Echo House Club attract and grow a thriving customer base. What these brands have in common are the strategies and tactics they put in place to better reach and engage with their target audiences, even as they travel across all platforms.
While this level of engagement might feel elusive, it isn’t magic. Here are seven best practices to consider when getting your interactive content marketing strategy started.
1. Make Killer Content: This one is a no-brainer, but it's probably one of the hardest things to do. One of the simplest ways to do this is by starting an interactive blog. Blogs force you to continually think about what content you are developing next. Blog content needs to be timely and to the point, and it’s an easy way to track and measure what’s attracting viewers. Studies show that brands and retailers who have a blog receive 55 percent more visitors to their website. The rigor of maintaining a blog helps you build out your content marketing chops, which you can put to use across other channels as well.
2. Hit the Headlines: Remember when Amazon’s Alexa lost her voice during the Super Bowl this year? This creative and humorous move is a great example of a marketing campaign that went viral enough to make headlines in national publications and even some air-time on TV. While playing up the defect of the popular voice assistant was a risky move, it resulted in a clever and inexpensive way to spin a new line of electronics from Amazon, not to mention a huge bump in social awareness.
3. Hop on a Hashtag: From #ThrowbackThursday to #TuesdayThoughts, using popular hashtags on social media and even embedded in digital content helps build new connections and increase exposure. Using the hashtag, #echobabe, fashion brand, Echo House Club was able to strike a chord with young women and girls, build their presence on Instagram and create a loyal community of fans. Thinking about implementing a hashtag of your own? Hashtagify.me is a useful source for spotting trending hashtags for future campaign initiatives.
4. Ask for Endorsements: Research shows that 85 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Reviews and testimonials from loyal customers are more than just useful feedback – display them on your website's homepage or put together a testimonial video or interactive campaign to ramp up your business' reputation.
5. Give Away Something Great: Staff at coffee chain Pret A Manger give away a certain number of free drinks as perks to their customers. Everyone loves a freebie. It lets potential customers experience your product or service in a "try before you buy" scenario and builds immediate goodwill. Many of these “winners” go on to post about their good fortune online.
6. Vibe out with Video: Video is popular because it works at every stage of the customer journey. Shoppers are 64 percent more likely to buy a product online after watching a video ad and 80 percent more likely to purchase when a landing page includes a video. By starting to build early learnings—especially with video as part of holistic ad campaigns—you identify where to invest and budget for video to in quarters ahead.
7. Don't Forget the Streams: The live-streaming industry is expected to be worth more than $70 billion by 2021. As it continues to soar in popularity, live video or podcasts is your chance to let new customers see your business in action or learn from your expertise live and direct. Facebook live is a great source for this as well as Instagram and Spotify.
With the right strategies and tactics in place, attracting and retaining new customers through interactive content marketing has never been easier. It’s also that much more effective when you have access to a single view of your customer base and can analyze the performance of each campaign across channels. Now that you have a few tips, go out and try them on for size.