In the world of marketing, brand loyalty is invaluable. As anyone in the industry will tell you, getting traction in marketing is no small feat. There are a plethora of different strategies out there that people pursue to attract customers. For this article, we had the privilege of talking with Denis Lagutenko, an entrepreneur who specializes in online marketing, about navigating the labyrinth of content creation with the aim of building up brand loyalty.
Regardless of how you set out to attract clients, the goal, generally speaking, is to establish brand loyalty among your customers. Statistics show that the chances of selling to a new client range from 5-20%. On the other hand, your odds of making a repeat transaction with an already existing client range from 60-70%. That is a huge difference, and your ability to establish a solid customer base loyal to your brand or your products will often depend upon your ability to lock down that target audience of repeat customers.
Interactive Content
So, how is that done? According to Denis Lagutenko, few things are more effective in online marketing than interactive content right now. Interactive content differs from regular advertising in that the approach to making this kind of content is centered on creating another layer of activity that exists between you and your audience.
In more typical marketing, content is created with the direct aim of getting a prospective or existing client to make a purchase or use your service. With interactive marketing, the objective is different. You create interactive content with the primary goal of getting a response from your audience, of getting prospective clients to react. Their reactions and responses are not directly tied to a sale or a purchase. Sales and business transactions are the ultimate goals, but to move the goalposts closer, a relationship must first develop.
According to Denis, the game can be broken down into simple terms: “That initial 5-20% transaction rate isn’t something that is going to net you a lot of success, so you have to find a way to change the ratio. Interactive content turns it on its head because, if it is done well and succeeds, you are creating a relationship with a prospective client, and that will make them much more receptive to what you are selling them.” By getting prospective clients to interact with your content, you are lowering the trust threshold and introducing your brand to them in a more subtle way that can often translate to growth. While you may not jump up to the tier where you are looking at a 60-70% success rate, you will be in a much better territory.
Psychologically speaking, there are two main factors at play that will increase your marketing effectiveness if you can successfully implement interactive content. The first is familiarity. When you are working from a blank slate, i.e., trying to reach prospective clients with your marketing content to get them to bite, you are not only fighting against their reluctance to spend on something new and unproven to them. You are also contending with their unfamiliarity.
Imagine you are the person you are trying to reach. You know that everyone has something to sell online, so chances are if someone reaches out to you with promises of an unbeatable product or platform, your guard is going to be up. By getting people to interact in what they perceive as a more or less neutral space, you are lowering their guard and allowing what you have to tell them to penetrate to that all-important level of the consumer psyche.
The second factor is repetition. Interactive marketing opens up a new ad space where prospective clients are engaged with your brand in ways that they are not entirely conscious of. This is where you can work both at building the perception of your brand and creating a relationship with your prospective client. Once a prospective client is in the space that you have created with your interactive content, they are all eyes and ears to what you have to say—whether they know it or not. Psychologically speaking, people respond to repetition. Once they have heard something once and taken it in, they are more likely to believe it once they hear it a second time. The key here, though, is subtlety. You want to be delicate and not hit your target over the head with what you are selling.
And while you are engaging your client and presenting yourself to them, you will also be able to learn about them because they are interacting with you. People love to talk about themselves. If your interactive content engages that innate desire we all have, you will be able to kill two birds with one stone: introduce your brand to prospective clients while also learning about and gathering data on your target audience.
The stats back up the effectiveness of interactive content. According to DemandGen, interactive content gets twice as much attention as other marketing content, like posts. The trick is in making effective interactive content.
Ideas for Interactive Content
Fortunately, creating interactive content does not have to be something that you will have to rack your brain over. Simplicity is best. Again, imagine that you are that client you are trying to engage. Like everybody else, you’ve got a thousand things to do and probably a hundred unread emails in your inbox. You will probably not respond to something that looks like it will take up much of your time or energy. You are much more likely to be drawn towards something light and fun, a respite from the innumerable responsibilities that you have.
According to Denis, engagement with interactive content is achieved by offering people a chance to participate in something light and interesting: “You don’t want to approach it like a teacher giving a class homework. People are busy, and the best way to attract them is by opening up a gap where they can slack off a bit but in an interesting way. You should be looking to offer them an opportunity to test their knowledge or skills without having to exert much effort to do so.”
Quizzes
One of the most effective ways of doing this is through quizzes. Quizzes can be an opportunity for a user to display the knowledge that they have on a particular subject and also an opportunity for you to educate people about your brand. The key is creating a quiz that is fun and related to your brand or product. You are also going to want to make sure there is some depth to your quiz. If it is too simple, people will be unlikely to stick around to finish it off. The more addicting and engaged your content can be, the better.
Photo Caption Contests & Meme Creation
Another great idea for interactive content is holding caption and meme contests with your audience. These are generally held on social media. If they are done correctly, they can be useful for you and a lot of fun for your audience. A bonus, of course, is that they are really easy to do.
All you have to do is find a trending or provocative picture that is at least tangentially connected to your product or brand. Even then, the picture in question doesn’t really have to have a solid connection to your company. The first step is getting people to notice it and participate, so what is important is that it is playful and gives people an opportunity to be funny and witty.
Meme creation contests are also a very good option. Memes are the currency of the internet. If you can find a way to get your audience to engage with your brand by making content of their own, you will see good results. It will go a long way towards you establishing a relationship with them that will result in brand loyalty. And if you do go this route, make sure that you reward the contest winners and participants adequately! Consider it an investment that will appreciate over time.
Video Marketing
People have changed in tune with the environment around them changing. Reading used to be the most widespread form of information consumption. Now with everything going digital, video has emerged as the hottest medium for consumption. Younger people, in particular, tend to gravitate much more towards video content than they do towards other forms.
Working video into your interactive content repertoire is essential and can be done in various ways. You can make videos that actually integrate viewer interaction into the course of the video, or you can get your audience to take a more active role in content creation by opening it up to them and tailoring your content to them. You can even involve your audience in the videos themselves.
The goal in all of this, as Denis says, is to “Make members of your audience and potential clients feel like they are a part of your brand. If the content you create draws them in and gets them to identify with your platform or product, you are going to make your job infinitely easier.”