Marketing Apps: How To Turn Interaction into Business Action

Turning Interaction into
Business Action
© i-on interactive, inc. All rights reserved

• www.ioninteractive.com

What’s Inside?
•

Marketing apps: what & why

•

9 Ideas for effective marketing apps

•

Lots of examples & inspiration

•

Get the Marketing Apps Idea Book at: http://www.ioninteractive.com



What In The Heck
Is A Marketing
App?



Marketing apps leverage
usefulness to turn static content
into applications that engage &
convert

Think: interactive, browser-based digital experiences



Why Marketing Apps Rock
•

Highly engaging for visitors

•

Bring the interactions of mobile apps to browser-based
experiences

•

Can be conversion-focused

•

Provide highly valuable segmentation & sales enablement data

•

Makes marketing useful, leveraging “Youtility”



Two marketing trends support
your move to marketing apps:

1. Youtility — people want useful things
2. The rise of content overload — people want
content “snacks”



If you sell something, you
make a customer today; if
you help someone, you make
a customer for life.
-Jay Baer

Smart marketing is about help, not hype
Marketing apps like calculators, price estimators & quizzes are helpful!


Youtility transforms content into
something useful, memorable
& valuable

Marketing apps are useful, memorable & valuable



The content marketing problem



The content marketing solution:

More interactive & useful content

!
!

#11
!
!

Richer content experiences
!


A great example of Youtility…
Moz’s 12-chapter
ebook is delivered
within a single web
page

!

Clickable chapters
allow for easy
navigation to relevant
topics

<- Nice up sell!



9 Ideas for effective marketing apps



Idea #1: Calculator



Dell’s ROI
Calculator
estimates
potential
ROI



Takes you
through six
steps to
help
determine
savings



Captures
contact
information
on ﬁnal step



Generates a
comprehensive ROI
report that can be
saved or printed



H&R Block provides a
tax return calculator
& estimator



Gives advice for
tax savings

Provides ofﬁce
locator



ion’s calculator
allows for easy
estimation of pricing



The option to request custom pricing is also available
to request custom pricing is also available
The option


AARP provides a
calculator for
comparing health
plans and ﬁnding
potential savings



Characteristics Of Calculators
•
•
•
•
•
•

Typically multi-step
Used for estimation, pricing, calculation of savings, etc.
Values can be adjusted to see different outcomes
Results can/should be made available to save, print or email
for easy reference
Highly useful for B2B and B2C alike
Valuable resource for customers



Idea #2: Conﬁgurator



BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia provides health plans
based on number of employees



Gives health
plan options for
companies with
less than 50
employees



AT&T data calculator
lets you estimate
monthly usage, then
recommends a plan



Bellroy uses an interactive
wallet slider to compare
their “slim” wallets to
traditional wallets

<- Love the use of the
content rotator to
showcase product
beneﬁts


Then, you gives
you options for
wallets based on
folded or ﬂat
bills…

<- Scroll over for
product details, or
purchase now!



Visitors expect a highly personalized conﬁgurator experience
when researching and shopping for vehicles


Characteristics Of Configurators
•
•
•
•
•
•

Typically multi-step, very “hands on”
May also be referred to as a ‘wizard’
Allow for assembly or packaging of products or services
Displays a customized output for every individual
Valuable resource for customers
Can be a competitive advantage for both B2B & B2C



Idea #3: Conversion Path



Ford uses highly visual “segmentation” options



Each choice is “paid off” on the subsequent page


Three clicks get
you where you
need to be



Iron Mountain gives “need” based segmentation options to
bucket visitors into targeted offer pages



FrontPoint Security takes visitors through a 4-step conversion
path…


To help determine security needs & request a quote


Includes a qualiﬁcation question


And asks to exchange some basic information for a
cost estimate & coupon


ion allows brands and agencies to ‘choose a path’ to the  
50 Landing Page Best Practices Guide



Characteristics Of Conversion Paths
•
•
•
•
•
•

Typically highly visual & clickable
Users segment themselves into buckets
Targeted content can then be presented for each segment
Segments should be mutually exclusive
Choice should be “easy”
Provide valuable data to sales & marketing, without asking
for it outright



Idea #4: Content Wizard



Phoenix Children’s Injury
Prevention Center conﬁgures
car seat recommendations
through a Q&A web app



Asks several questions in order to customize the output


Then, provides video, images, and content relevant to the
unique car seat needs


Smart Insights’
‘health check’
tool assesses the
health of your
digital marketing



Then, gives advice & content recommendations based on answers



The San Francisco Dept. of Emergency Management
quizzes visitors on earthquake preparedness



Choose your location!



Provides helpful safety tips, based on answers



Characteristics Of Content Wizards
•
•
•
•

•

Typically multi-step & highly interactive
Used for for customization of content, using criteria or filters
Helps with “content overload” — providing a more enjoyable
& personal user experience
Provides highly valuable information — advice,
recommendations, tips — to visitors based on their
selections
Highly valuable for both B2B & B2C



Idea #5: Quiz/Assessment



ion’s ‘Post-click Assessment’ gives guidance on
building a successful post-click program


Visitors are taken through a Q&A session



Score, with recommendations are given…results
can be sent via email


Characteristics Of Quizzes/Assessments
•
•
•
•
•
•

Highly engaging & entertaining
Typically multi-page/multi-choice
Can be used to educate visitors — giving valuable insights,
advice & recommendations
Responses can be used to surface warm leads
Data can be used to drive targeted marketing campaigns
Highly valuable for B2B & B2C



Idea #6: Survey



toyotasurvey.ca



Commission Junction uses an ‘advertiser application’ to
encourage membership sign up

Provides plenty of options to
learn more or get started


Characteristics Of Surveys
•
•
•
•
•
•

Typically research-focused
However, in marketing context can be more persuasive
Strategically designed to capture information/data that is
unknown to marketing
Provides marketing with benchmarks
Provides sales enablement data & marketing automation
insight into segmentation
Can be combined with an incentive to encourage
participation



Idea #7: Contest



Marin Software challenges “search geeks” to a timed quiz



Winners awarded various levels of prizes


Characteristics Of Contests
•
•
•
•
•
•

Highly engaging & fun
Prizes or “cred” typically used to incentivize competition
Designed to engage & deepen interest in a product or brand
Great for social or viral campaigns
Should be “shareable” — including links to Tweet, Like &
Share
Can be used to collect data used in marketing & sales
enablement



Idea #8: Voting



Cintas’ hosts a yearly
America’s Best
Bathroom Contest…
and promotes via a
beautiful microsite



IDWholesale designed a lanyard design contest, allowing
visitors to vote on their favorite entries


Characteristics Of Voting
•
•
•
•
•

Typically highly visual & clickable
Designed to engage & deepen interest in a product or brand
Great for social or viral campaigns
Should be “shareable” — including links to Tweet, Like &
Share
Can be used to collect data used in marketing & sales
enablement



Idea #9: Game



IBM’s CityOne game is
targeted at business
leaders, city planners,
and government
agencies
!

The game allows players
to react to a variety of
crises and see how their
decisions affect outcomes



CramerSweeney tests
your “brand IQ” using
game show style quiz



Characteristics Of Games
•
•
•
•
•

Highly engaging & fun
Used to educate & entertain
Helps drive community & brand loyalty
Many involve rewards, prizes or incentives
Can be highly valuable for both B2B & B2C



Calculators
Conﬁgurators
Content Wizards
Games
Quizzes
Surveys
Voting
Conversion Paths
Contests
!



!

Easily create & test app-like
digital experiences with ion.
!

www.ioninteractive.com 
@ioninteractive
info@ioninteractive.com
!



Marketing Apps: How To Turn Interaction into Business Action

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