How To Use Interactive Content To Convert Customers

Did you know that in 2021 retail eCommerce sales totaled 5.2 trillion US Dollars worldwide? With this figure expected to keep growing over the next few years, online store owners need to know how to make sure they remain competitive and sell more than their rivals in a lucrative but crowded marketplace.

While achieving this is not simple, there is one great way to maximize your chances of success: using interactive content in your online store. But what is interactive content, specifically, and how do you go about integrating it into your eCommerce store?

To answer these questions, and more, keep reading our essential guide below.

What Qualifies as Interactive Content, Exactly?

Far from being just one of the passing trends in customer experience, interactive content is a powerful conversion method that’s definitely here to stay. When we talk about interactive content, we refer to all types of content that create a life-like interaction and connection between the content itself and the person consuming that content.

So, for example, common types of interactive content may include quizzes, polls, product recommendations, UGC (user-generated content), videos, and more. Anything that allows a brand to establish a direct, and often personalized, line of communication with its customers qualifies as interactive content.

Free to use image from Unsplash

The Top Three Benefits of Using Interactive Content

Now that we have clarified what interactive content stands for, let’s discuss some of its benefits – below we have rounded up the top three most impressive ones.

1.    Boosted Brand Awareness

If your company starts to leverage interactive content regularly, the chances are that its brand awareness will improve. This can happen in two ways. First, interactive content is much more easily indexed and picked up by search engines like Google, which tend to prioritize it over non-interactive content.

Second, because interactive content is inherently much easier – and more pleasant – to share, customers will be keener to do so compared to content that looks and feels more static and depersonalized.

2.    Improved Connection With Customers

Interactive content is, essentially, conversational content: it allows you to create a genuine connection with your customers that mimics a real-life conversation. For this reason, interactive content can help you to improve your customer relationships, as it provides them with the level of empathy, personalization, and human connection that most consumers in the digital era crave.

3.    Increased Conversion Rates

Last but certainly not least, interactive content is a fantastic tool to use if you are looking to skyrocket your conversion rates. Why? Think about interactive content like this: essentially, it’s a nurturing, personalized, and engaging way to guide your customers through the discovery of all that your brand has to offer.

With interactive content, you can show your customers who you are, what values you stand for, and why your products or services can genuinely improve their lives. And you can do all this in a way that feels real, authentic, and filter-free.

Ultimately, if your content is compelling enough, it will encourage your customers to buy from you, and to keep coming back for more.

Free to use image from Unsplash

Interactive Content for eCommerce Brands: The Five Main Types of Content To Use

Do you want to jump on the interactive content bandwagon to achieve all the benefits above – and more – for your eCommerce brand? Then, consider incorporating the interactive content types below into your digital content marketing strategy.

And if you are thinking about teaming up with some social media influencers to promote your eCommerce store through interactive content, take a look at this creator management tool.

1.    A Friendly Chatbot

One of the easiest and most fun ways to use interactive content is to add a chatbot to your eCommerce store. While chatbots have been around for a while, they are still excellent little helpers when it comes to boosting the visibility, effectiveness, and profitability of your online store.

With a chatbot, you can answer customers’ questions, provide suggestions on products or services, and even redirect the communication to a (human) member of your team. Powered by technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP), interacting with a chatbot is an easy, friendly, and informal way to engage with your customers at any stage of the buying process.

Another great advantage of chatbots is that they are no longer reserved exclusively for eCommerce stores that sell tangible products. Online-based businesses that offer mostly services, such as Dialpad VoIP for small business, can also use and benefit from chatbots in the same way as other store types.

Image sourced from intellias.com

2.    A Quiz to Find Personalized Products

Another popular way to use interactive content for eCommerce brands is by creating short quizzes that help customers identify and buy products that are ideal for them. Usually known as “product recommendation quizzes”, this interactive content type is great if your eCommerce store sells products that cater to a wide range of customer needs.

Think about, for example, online brands selling fitness gear, skincare products, or pet food. If a customer lands on your website for the first time, they might feel a bit overwhelmed by the amount of different options that you present them with.

With a product recommendation quiz, you help take the guesswork out of product choice, while at the same time finding out more about your customers, their tastes, pain points, and desires.

But how do you go about creating a product recommendation quiz? First of all, you’re going to need to select a topic that ties in well with your niche. Do you sell hair care products for curly-haired people? Then, consider creating a quiz titled “Discover your curly hair type”, or similar.

Make sure you include questions that are very specific and relevant to the topic you chose – in our example, you may ask about hair porosity, main hair goals, hair challenges, and so on. Finally, you’ll want to offer a series of results that depend on what your customers have answered.

The idea is that each result will direct them to a product from your store that you believe is most suitable for their needs. Make sure that you don’t simply tell them “Here you go, this is what you have to buy”, but provide a brief explanation of why that product should be exactly what they are looking for.

3.    An Informational and Engaging Video

As one of the most powerful digital content marketing tools available, videos should definitely be a staple of your overall marketing strategy – and they especially benefit eCommerce store owners.

Consider creating short video clips that inform your customers about what your products or services are and how they will improve their lives, or opt for a playful animation video that your customers may find fun and intriguing, leading them to find out more about your brand.

Another way to incorporate interactive content into your eCommerce store is by using an interactive shoppable video. Shoppable videos allow customers to shop for products directly from the video they are watching on your site, creating a seamless and interactive shopping experience. This type of interactive content can be especially effective for fashion, beauty, or home decor brands, where customers may want to see products in action before making a purchase.

4.    A Creative Product Description

If you run an online store and are not crafting compelling product descriptions, you are already missing out on a lot of potential opportunities. Whether you want to promote your best power dialer, a new clothing line, or anything else, product descriptions are the name of the game.

Even more importantly, though, make sure that your descriptions are as interactive as possible. Something bland that simply describes the product may not feel attractive enough for your customers to want to spend any time considering buying it.

If you add, for example, a layer of storytelling to your description, some special hover effects, and maybe a short video clip, then it’s a whole different ball game. Remember that selling products online is not really about selling that specific item: it’s about telling a story that your customers can relate to, recognize, and feel attracted to.

Add plenty of adjectives to your product descriptions, as well as other words that can help not only describe the products but also bring them to life in a way that feels authentic and irresistible.

5.    An Interactive Email

Email marketing, while being one of the oldest and perhaps most traditional ways to market a product or service, remains an incredibly effective one. Customers these days, though, expect to receive emails that are fully personalized and that bring real value to their lives.

You guessed it: interactive emails are the way to go. When crafting your next email for your eCommerce store, try to include items such as a product recommendation quiz, a video testimonial from a happy customer, some special effects and hover icons, and more.

Remember, though, that to make sure that your email is readable and user-friendly, you don’t want to jam-pack it with all the interactive elements above, or your message will take ages to load and put off your reader. One or two interactive items will suffice; it’s up to you to pick which ones are most suitable for your eCommerce store.

Another way to incorporate interactive content into your eCommerce store is by using a tweet scheduler to promote your products or services. By scheduling tweets to go out at optimal times, you can increase engagement and visibility for your brand, while also encouraging customers to share your content with their followers.

Free to use image from Unsplash

‍

Another way to raise your profits, particularly when working on third party platforms, is to increase your prices. To successfully do so, you need to make sure your customers understand the value they will receive by purchasing your products or services. Interactive content, such as quizzes, videos, and shoppable videos, can help you effectively communicate the value of your offerings and justify the price increase to your customers. 

‍

This is especially effective when incorporated into your sales pipeline, where interactive content can guide customers through the buying process and help them make informed decisions. Consider incorporating interactive content into your marketing strategy to not only improve your connection with customers and boost brand awareness but also to increase your conversion rates and profits.

‍

Supercharge the Power of Your ECommerce Brand with Interactive Content

If you want to stay relevant, competitive, and profitable in a world where new eCommerce brands pop up every day, you might want to consider using interactive content in your digital content marketing strategy.

Interactive content describes any content that allows you to communicate with your customers in a way that feels authentic, valuable, and personalized. From interactive emails to informative videos, from cool product descriptions to quizzes, you are spoilt for choice.

Which type of interactive content will you use to grow your eCommerce brand and convert more customers than ever? Let us help you get started! 

Want to learn more? Join the Jebbit team for a group demo where we'll walk through key features and functions and showcase how an interactive experience achieves results such as reduce cost per lead or CAC, more value per lead, create lead nurturing strategies, increase website traffic & time on site. Join one today!