Marketing is no longer just a communications function. It’s increasingly about designing and delivering great customer experiences, starting with a prospect’s very first touchpoint. As a specific example of this, Scott examines the growing phenomenon of interactive content — content that our audience actively participates in, not merely passively consumes. From games and quizzes to configurators and assessment tools, interactive content changes the way we engage prospects and breaks through the monotonous noise of passive white papers and webinars. This presentation was given at Information Development World on October 1, 2015.

1. Designing Interactive
Content for Lead
Generation
Moving Marketing
from Communications
to Experiences
Scott Brinker
@chiefmartec

2. Co-founder & CTO
Software and services
for interactive content.
Author & Editor
Blog on the entwining of
marketing & technology.
Program Chair
Marketing tech
conference.

4. My
company.

5. You
are
here.

6. You
are
here.

7. This is a dead
ebook.

8. The Law of Sh*tty Clickthroughs
The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs by Andrew Chen, http://andrewchen.co/the-law-of-shitty-clickthroughs/

10. Only a small number
of content assets gain
significant popularity.
Most become a drop in
the “Long Tail” ocean.
Asymptotically Impossible to Break Through
Available Audience Attention
Available Content
=
Average Attention
Available Per
Content Asset
This number
continuously drops.

11. time
contentinnovation
1. Web pages
2. Rich content
video, infographics, responsive web, HTML5
foundation of digital content marketing

14. time
contentinnovation
1. Web pages
2. Rich content
3. Personalization
4. Interactive content
video, infographics, responsive web, HTML5
foundation of digital content marketing
dynamically substituted content
based on visitor’s profile
interactive experiences with
programmatic flow and logic
Going up this axis is
all about breaking
through the noise

15. Interactive Content
Content that has software functionality.
The audience actively participates instead
of just passively consuming it.

23. _________________ are
to __________________
what ________________
is to ___________.
BuzzFeed quizzes
interactive content
National Enquirer
journalism

28. 2%
13% 15%
64%
6%
0% 2%
5%
48%
45%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Very
ineffective
Somewhat
ineffect.
Neither Somewhat
effect.
Very
effective
Passive Interactive
How effective is content at educating buyers?
Source: DemandMetric, Content & The Buyer’s Journey: Benchmark Study Report, June 2014
93% vs. 70%

34. Media Messages what it sayswhere and
how it appears
most digital marketing innovation to
date (“the medium is the message”)

35. Media Messages
Mechanisms
the next big wave of
marketing innovation
(“the mechanism is
the message”)
what it sayswhere and
how it appears
how it behaves
form
function

45. Engagement Axis
BusinessModelAxis
FREE/OPEN
FREEMIUM
PAID/GATED
PASSIVE INTERACTIVE
Websites
Blogs
Social
Media
eBooks
WebinarsWhite
Papers
Native
Mobile Apps
INTERACTIVE
CONTENT
Interactive
White Papers
Interactive
eBooks
Configurators
Assessment Tools
Contests
Lookbooks
Galleries
Workbooks
Guided Tours
Games
Calculators
Quizzes
Sweepstakes
native mobile
apps are
inherently gated
by an installation
premium passive content is
typically gated behind a form
most passive content is free and low-engagement

63. 70%
conversion rate

64. How well does content convert visitors?
Source: DemandMetric, Content & The Buyer’s Journey: Benchmark Study Report, June 2014
3%
22%
39%
32%
4%
0%
7%
23%
56%
14%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Very poorly Moderately
poorly
Neutral Moderately
well
Very well
Passive Interactive
70% vs. 36%

69. 6%
38% 39%
15%
2%
5% 7%
50%
21%
17%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Very
infrequently
Infrequently Neutral Frequently Very
frequently
Passive Interactive
How frequently is content shared by visitors?
Source: DemandMetric, Content & The Buyer’s Journey: Benchmark Study Report, June 2014
38% vs. 17%

70. Digital body language

71. What is digital body language?
• Website visits
• Email opens/clicks
• Content downloads
• Social media touches

75. What does it
mean?!?

76. Noisy
and not
differentiated

80. Digital dialogue > Digital body language
• website visits
• email opens/clicks
• content downloads
• social media touches
• scenarios calculated
• configurations considered
• quiz/assessment results
• behavior inside content

81. Digital body language

82. Digital dialogue

94. Digital body language Digital dialogue

95. insightintoindividualbuyers
CRM
MAP
Sell-Side
Experience
Interactive
Content
contact information, third-party data,
and sales rep interactions
buyer’s
digital
activity
buyer insights
from interactive
content (shown in
buyer’s context)
• website visits
• email opens/clicks
• content downloads
• social media touches
• scenarios calculated
• configurations considered
• quiz/assessment results
• behavior inside content

96. This is much
more fun than
an ebook.
Scott Brinker
@chiefmartec