Did you know Jeopardy has been around since 1964? Factoring in a brief hiatus from the late 70s through the early 80s, the popular quiz show has had more than 54 years of airtime!
What keeps audiences coming back for more? While we all want to root for the underdog—in this case, an average person on track to win big money—what really keeps us on the edge of our seats is the interaction. We get to feel like we’re really on the show.
Jeopardy’s format as a quiz show allows us to not only test our knowledge, but also compete against the contestants to quickly come up with the correct answers. Through the show, we take in information and learn so we can get a few more questions right next time we watch.
It’s the same way we pay more attention to presentations or seminars when the presenter is engaging with their audience and asking questions; people crave interaction. This is good news for marketers—interactions are a great way to gather information about your audience and generate new leads. Enter interactive marketing.
Benefits of Interactive Marketing
First off, let’s define interactive marketing. Interactive marketing is a “one-to-one marketing practice that centers on individual customer and prospect actions.” Unlike traditional marketing, interactive marketing is driven by user behaviors and preferences.
Marketers and business owners that leverage interactive marketing tactics benefit from:
- Increased engagement
- More information about their audiences
- Differentiation from their competition
- Increased brand loyalty
- Better information retention from audiences
- Lower marketing costs
- Improved quality of leads
This is why many company leaders are now asking, “How can we leverage this interactive element in our marketing?”
Leveraging Interactive Marketing in Digital
No matter the strengths of your current marketing strategy, there are plenty of ways to use more interactive and engaging tactics in your efforts. Here are just a few ideas to consider.
Social Media
Once you’ve established which social media platforms your business should be on, it’s also important to make sure you’ve familiarized yourself with each of the platform’s features.
Are you looking for a great conversation tool? Polls are a great way to spark conversation. LinkedIn and Instagram Stories both support polls as long as they’re created within each app.
In addition to polls, IG stories have Questions, similar to an open-ended question on a form, as well as Quizzes, which allow you to test your followers’ knowledge. You can even add music for your followers to click through and save.
If your business is selling a product, you can also start a shop in Meta. This will give your products a dedicated space on your Facebook and Instagram so you can sell them directly through the social media apps. You’ll be able to tag your products in photos so if your followers see something they like in a post, they can click through to instantly buy the product.
Facebook also allows customers to interact with posts through 360º photos or 3D photos. While these options are just photos that don’t give users a specific action to take, the movement of the photos indirectly prompts users to click and drag on the photo.
Web
Interactive elements on your website are also great for generating leads and collecting audience information like email addresses, buying preferences, and other valuable information.
Like on social media, there are plenty of opportunities to get your audience engaged as they spend time on your website, especially through polls and quizzes. Polls are a great way to narrow down your audience, help you determine future content, and gather feedback from current or potential customers.
By incorporating quizzes on your website, you’re starting a two-way conversation. You can gain information about your potential customers while providing them with information about your business or product. It’s a win-win.
Meld recently developed a quiz for Peace Tree Brewing Company’s latest giveaway campaign to win a tailgate party. Participants provided their go-to tailgate food and drink preferences, and Peace Tree used their answers to route them to a beer and food pairings generator featuring some of Peace Tree’s core brews.
Prior to getting their results, users had to fill out a lead gen form (in this case, it included providing a name and email address), which entered each user into the giveaway and added their contact information to the Peace Tree newsletter. The results so far have been impressive: 92 percent of people who started the quiz finished and subscribed to the email list, and Peace Tree gained hundreds of unique contacts!
Guerilla Marketing
This type of marketing isn’t contained to online campaigns. There are many ways to incorporate interactive marketing into your storefront and even your local marketing efforts.
Since interactive marketing is about creating a memorable experience to help customers connect, here are some ideas for drumming up brand excitement and loyalty in-person:
- Branded photo booths or walls
- Games – anything from board games to hopscotch
- Experience giveaways (think influencer getaways or Airbnb experiences)
Interactive Marketing in the Wild
In 2019 for the final season of Game of Thrones, the hit TV show launched their Quest for the Throne Campaign, stating “For seven seasons, Game of Thrones characters have gone to great lengths to sit on the throne and for seven seasons, fans have not…until now.” The campaign placed six iron throne replicas in six countries around the world, prompting a scavenger hunt for fans to find them. Not only did some fans complete the search for the throne, but they also discussed the series and the location of each throne online.
Another great example comes from The Barbie Movie. Prior to the movie’s release, a Barbie Selfie Generator popped up online allowing anyone to become Barbie or Ken. People could add their photo and personality traits or job title to create a fun character poster. Before even seeing the film, people could immediately engage and connect. The campaign, which led to an influx of user-created posters on social media, gave audiences a preview of what the movie is about.
Honorable mention: Barbie’s Airbnb DreamHouse giveaway. Bringing Barbie’s iconic home to life garnered tons of excitement, even though only two winners were selected for a one-night stay.
The Takeaway: Interactive Marketing is Worth Exploring
Whether you have the resources to create a large interactive experience, or you simply enlist the help of quizzes and polls on social media, incorporating your audience into your content is a great way to engage your customers and promote your business. And you don’t need an iconic throne, a Barbie Dream House, or an unlimited marketing budget to start experimenting.
Want to see how Meld can bring your next campaign to life? Reach out to start the conversation!
