Interactive Media: Everything You Need to Know [2022]

The world’s turned interactive.

In 2022, we will keep seeing the shift from static experiences to dynamic ones that started many years ago. That’s happening because users have changed, and they value interaction even more.

Today, people seek entertainment to escape from day-to-day problems. It’s essential to follow those trends because they also say a lot about customer behavior: they will buy only from those who care about unique experiences and from those who engage them with their advertising.

That’s why interactive content and interactive media allow brands to break the ice, engage their prospects, and increase conversions.

Read on to learn more about how these concepts work.

What is interactive marketing?

Back in the day, people used to go to movie theaters to watch a movie.

That was the only way to follow new releases. The experience of watching something on a big screen in a room full of other people is very static, which means it doesn’t require much from watchers. You just go to the theater and stay still until the end of the film. 

The world evolved, and in the late 90s, we had a big breakthrough: DVDs.

The first significant change that it caused was drawing more attention to interaction. If users are watching a DVD, they can press play or pause at any time to resume or stop the movie. Also, they have a ton of additional content to make it even more enjoyable. 

From the movie theater to the DVD, interactivity came into the picture.

Along with it, you had a whole new world, more focused on that kind of experience than ever before. The internet was starting to happen as well, and computers were becoming a big thing, allowing users to participate in dialogues with each other.

That’s why interactive media is so essential, and interactive marketing is trending. However, what exactly is interactive marketing? 

It’s when you approach marketing differently by creating an active experience for people. They can interact, respond, and choose directions, just like you would in a conversation. It’s nothing like traditional advertising, which doesn’t consider the will of the user.

This new method is customer-centric and allows them to make choices and participate.

Interactive marketing is also a strategy that requires a combination of images, text, videos, graphics and all sorts of formats as well. It’s very diverse because it intends to meet specific customers’ preferences.

What are the benefits of interactive marketing?

So, let’s look at the benefits of this kind of marketing. 

Personalization

As we’ve said, personalization is a key aspect of marketing. If you want your prospects to get involved, you have to speak their language.

That means personalizing content/campaigns, according to what they want. As your brand starts talking to them, they feel special and excited. 

Engagement

Static pieces of content may be effective, but interaction is the future. Users interact all the time on their computers and phones, so they’re used to that. They require engaging experiences everywhere.

As we’ve mentioned before: that type of marketing is very personalized, according to the prospect needs and preferences.

As you involve people in your campaign or content, you engage them and get them to move forward in their journey: from barely knowing that your brand exists to buying from you and recommending your services to friends. 

Data collection

Interactive pieces are those that require user participation. Your user gets to make choices and answer questions.

The good thing is: your teams can monitor every touchpoint and interaction to know more about the prospects. For instance, you can see which direction they chose and which answers they provided to understand their preferences and needs.

Thus, your brand will have a lot of valuable data to analyze and create even more personalized and engaging experiences.

By producing data-driven content and campaigns, chances are you’re turning more visitors into leads. And, ultimately, more leads into customers.

Successful sales

When using interactive marketing, your company will guide prospects through the journey, educating them about your solution while creating engaging experiences.

Because of that, the outcome is more successful sales, with leads that make the right decision.

Interactivity paves the way for personalization, which helps you choose products/services that better meet the needs and solve pain points of the audience.

Playful experiences

If it’s interactive, it’s playful. That means: it’s fun and makes the audience feel like they’re having a good time. Focusing on that kind of experience helps you address prospects’ pain points, causing them to adopt your solution quickly. 

Education

That approach to marketing is also about education. You get to teach prospective customers more about the subject they’re interested in. This helps prospects choose the proper solution, and also broadens their vision on the matter.

What are the most popular types of interactive media?

Interactive content is trending in 2022. That’s why you need to look closely at interactive media that brands have been using to complement their content and create even more engaging, exciting experiences.

1. Apps

Apps are used for everything nowadays. People are always connected to their phones and still using an app to solve a problem and get access to something meaningful. Or even to have fun. Those applications allow users to make decisions actively and interact all the time.

Today, apps send notifications and messages. We can navigate through them and discover features to make our life easier. And we have the power to uninstall one of them and install others as we wish. 

2. Games 

Those are practically synonymous with interaction. Even our definition of that idea comes from a game perspective.

They consist of a scenario where people have all the control and get to specific phases and places if they make the right choices. If they lose, they have the chance to play again. It’s a world full of participation of users engaged and having fun. 

That’s why brands are adopting gamified experiences to boost results and get prospects to feel more engaged while talking to them. It’s an excellent strategy. 

3. Social media

Social media is also a great representation of interaction. It’s a free space where people meet, share ideas, talk to each other, and participate actively in each other’s stories.

That universe has been the ideal scenario for companies that want to befriend their prospects and speak with them directly. 

Social media-oriented strategies are all about personalizing the language, the tone, and the approach to fit the unwritten rules of digital communities.

Businesses have been doing that to support customers in need of assistance and answer questions users may have. They’ve been getting a great deal of attention from the audience, but also conversions and customer engagement. 

4. Interactive video 

Video is a very compelling format. People can watch it while doing something else, and they also can learn complicated concepts by just looking at someone explaining it. It’s engaging because it blends sound and vision, creating an extraordinary experience. 

What about interactive videos? Well, they combine the power of video as we know it with the interaction we’ve been addressing in this post.

This type of video requires participation and user choices but still mixes audio and visual elements. 

5. Virtual reality (VR)

VR is also a significant innovation. It consists of a world that can be virtually conceived. That world is available for users with the proper equipment to see. This opens up a whole new world of opportunities to brands that wish to create memorable experiences. 

In this case, the interaction lies in the fact that people can change the scenario they’re in and interact with objects and other visual components. 

What are the trends for 2022?

How about diving into the new trends for 2022? Let’s see what the world of interactive marketing will bring us this year.

One of them is the smart use of video advertising. Brands are starting to produce videos that present marketing as something more interesting, engaging, and personalized to watchers. 

Also, we have many interactive content types that will be used this year. Calculators that allow people to visualize savings when using a product/service of a brand; and interactive ebooks, full of images and visual components, with chapters that may change according to the input of the user. 

Other examples are solution finders and solution configurators that help people choose what better fits their needs in a catalog of products/services. You can also use assessments, polls, and quizzes that keeps the user interested by answering new questions.

All of those pieces can be produced with Ion, with no coding.

Wrap Up

Today, marketing is moving faster toward becoming interactive.

Interactive marketing is trending because it’s related to the preferences of the typical user today. It’s a way of selling things to prospects with content that engages, attracts, and teaches them more about the problem.

That’s why it’s essential to stay up to date if you want to optimize results and get more sales.

Want to learn more about other content that might be useful for your business? Check out another post on how to generate revenue with your interactive content.