To put things dramatically, a battle wages on right now in public relations and content marketing. Digital platforms are the battlefield and the fighting is for the audience’s attention. It’s not important who is winning. What’s important is the weapon that gives the greatest advantage to the players – interactive media.
How do we know? Newly released data in Demand Gen’s 2015 Content Preferences Survey paints a vivid portrait of interactive media’s dominance over passive content. What do the numbers show?
The effectiveness of content as a marketing conversion tool for prospects:
70% vs. 36%
“70% of interactive content users said their content was moderately or very effective at converting prospects, while only 36% of passive content users gave such ratings to their content.”
The name of the game is ROI and those issuing interactive content have reason to be confident in their communications programs. Even inside Business Wire, we see that the difference between interactive and passive content in facilitating tangible ROI is drastic. If interactive content is so successful, why are you not using it to accomplish your marketing goals?
The effectiveness of content in educating buyers:
93% vs. 70%
“Ninety-three percent of interactive content users said their content was somewhat or very effective in educating buyers, but only 70% of passive content users reported the same level of effectiveness.”
Today’s product purchasers are an educated market. They have a multitude of reasons for wanting to know about the brands they come into contact with. Some people might be interested in a company’s corporate social responsibility. Others might be interested in the specifications of a newly launched product. Communication professionals should take advantage of the new tools such as Picture and News Capsules. They are available to help audiences better understand a brand or product and move faster through the sales and marketing funnel. Interactive media informs people, and offers insights that might be more difficult to understand via traditional, passive methods like text-only brochures and news releases. If an educated market is a happy market, why wouldn’t you want to help people get the information they want?
The effectiveness of content in creating differentiation:
88% vs. 55%
“Eighty-eight percent of interactive content users said that interactive content is somewhat or very effective at creating differentiation, while only 55% of passive content users gave such ratings to their content.”
Communication pros know that standing above the rest can make a lasting impression on the market. Interactive media proves to be a tool that audiences remember best when compared to brands relying on passive content.
For example, look at what Intel and Hasbro are currently doing with their PR programming. They now include interactive assets, embeddable via a simple link, in their news releases and media outreach. These assets help reporters round out their news stories, provide a central home to a wide range of supporting content assets and are averaging over 6 minutes of reader engagement.
This type of engagement has never been achieved with a text-only news release, a photo or a simple YouTube video. By combining these files into one interactive asset, the asset becomes much more engaging, triggering curiosity and increasing understanding and adoption of the company’s information.
With a strong product, brand, or service, standing apart can be the element that tips the scales and converts a lurker into a consumer. It takes many touchpoints to build a relationship with target markets. Failing to utilize all the tools available will leave you asking questions later on down the road. What if we did something more? What if we started providing researchers engaging content that shortened the research process, and the sale process alike?
67%
“About two-thirds (67%) of the respondents in the 2015 survey said they are relying more on content now to support purchase decisions than they did a year ago.”
More and more people are relying on content as a tool to aid in making the best purchasing decision so why are you still creating boring, flat content when the ability to make it interactive is available right now?
To learn more about interactive media and how it can engage audiences for 6-12 minutes on average, click on News Capsules and Picture Capsules.
Vilan Trub is a marketing copywriter at Business Wire. Follow Business Wire: @BusinessWire.