What marketers think about Interactive Content

2. Interactive Content
Interactive content (IC) requires some level of participation from the buyer,
whereas passive content requires no engagement, and it is usually static in the
form of text content or whitepaper requiring no participation from the buyer.
Scott Brinker, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Ion Interactive, noted:
"By its very nature, interactive content engages participants in an activity:
answering questions, making choices, exploring scenarios. It is a great way to
capture attention right from the start. Individuals have to think and respond; they
can't just snooze through it."

3. Interactive content rising in interest
With the rise in the value of IC there is also an increased number of companies
that provide a platform for creation of IC.
• Verse helps create interactive content for companies like Bloomberg and NASA.
• Mindstamp produces Interactive Video content for marketing.
• Dot is another IC creating platform based in Denmark.
Interactive content has seen a rise in interest from marketers because:
• IC allows the visitor to be an actor rather than a passive user as they feel with other type of web
content.
• IC captures attention as individuals have to think and respond.
• Viewers actively participate and effectively contribute to the meaning and value of the content.

4. Business
benefits of
Interactive
Content use
The business benefits of the interaction are
captured in a few important facts:
• IC gives a true two-way dialog between
consumer and provider
• IC increased content sharing over two-
fold
• IC increased competitive differentiation
by 60%
• IC increased conversions by nearly two-
fold

5. Recent studies
exploring the
experiences of
marketers with
the use of
Interactive
Content
In 2016, Ion Interactive sponsored a study with marketers
as subjects. The study was conducted by the Content
Marketing Institute and explored the responses regarding
the use of Interactive Content (IC).
In 2018, Demand Metric conducted another aiming at
understanding the content impact experience and the
buyer’s journey
The following sections summarize the main results
regarding what marketers think about the benefits of
using IC, what their reasons are for using IC, what types of
IC they use, and places where IC is used, and the
effectiveness of IC in the stages of the buyer’s journey

6. Benefits of using
Interactive Content

7. Reasons
marketers use
interactive content

8. Types of interactive
content used by
marketers
The five main types of interactive content
that marketers use are:
• Assessments
• Calculators
• Contests
• Quizes
• Interactive infographics

9. Places where
interactive
content is used
The five main places where
interactive content is used by
marketers are:
• Landing pages
• Social Media Platforms
• Microsites
• Blogs
• eNewsletters

10. The responses from marketers regarding
the effectiveness of IC in the early, middle
and late stages are as follows:
• Awareness/Discover Stage: contests,
games, quizzes, interactive
infographics and assessments
• Consideration Stage: Calculators,
Interactive white papers, interactive
ebooks, interactive lookbooks, and
wizards
• Decision Stage: In the late stage, only
configurators were considered an
effective IC choice.
Stages in the buyer’s journey
when the type of interactive
content is most effective

11. Case
Studies of
IC use by
great
brands
The value of IC is gaining recognition by top brands. Ion Interactive presented nine
case studies of brands that create engaging content. The case studies highlight that
brands are embracing the new era for functional content:
• Fedex uses embedded interactive experiences to make shipping easy and
increase revenue 82%.
• Centermark utilizes IC as a personal way to target leads.
• BASF's microsite finds new ways to engage the audience through IC.
• Key Equipment Finance sees 36% increase in conversions and 21% increase
in site visits with IC.
• Arcserve increases leads with IC built in Ion.
• UBM's geek's guide to London recently brought London Technology Week to
life online.
• Purchasing Power drives 4x higher e-commerce conversions with IC.
• VSP's interactive calculator helps its customers determine the right plan for
their needs.
• Dell utilizes IC to create engaging user experiences.

12. References
• Walters, T. and Rose, R. Deliver peak
experiences with interactive content. Content
Marketing Institute, May 2016.
https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/06/Ion_CMI_Interactiv
eContent_Final.pdf
• Demand Metric. Content Experience Impact
and the Buyer's Journey. Demand Metric
Corporation. February 2018.
https://www.demandmetric.com/content/conte
nt-experience-impact-and-buyer%E2%80%99s-
journey-report
• Demand Metric. Interactive Content impacts
buyer’s journeys?.
https://www.demandmetric.com/content/cont
ent-experience-impact-video-infographic
• Ion Interactive. Interactive Content Case
Studies; Nine stories of great brands creating
engaging content experiences, 2015.
https://apps.ioninteractive.com/resources/cas
e-studies/interactive-content-case-studies