Social media has become an integral part of our lives. We are constantly connected and interacting with friends, family, colleagues, brands, celebrities, and more through various social platforms. While static content like images and text still make up a significant portion of social media, interactive content is on the rise and driving higher engagement. But what exactly is interactive social media content and why is it effective?
What is Interactive Content?
Interactive content refers to any social media content that involves two-way interaction between the viewer and the content creator. It goes beyond passive consumption and engages the audience to click, tap, scroll, respond, and otherwise actively participate. Some examples of interactive social media content include:
- Polls and surveys
- Quizzes and assessments
- Contests and giveaways
- Interactive ads
- Augmented reality (AR) filters
- Chatbots
- Shoppable posts
These types of content prompt the viewer to respond in some way, facilitating direct engagement between brand and audience. It gives the viewer a role beyond just spectating passively. Interactive content turns the audience into active participants, inviting them to react, create, share, vote, purchase, and more.
Why is Interactive Content Effective?
Interactive social media content is effective for several key reasons:
- It’s engaging – Interactive content, by its very nature, draws audiences to engage rather than just view passively. This builds brand connections through active participation.
- It’s memorable – When audiences actively engage with content, they are more likely to remember it later. Interactive content leaves a deeper imprint.
- It generates data – Interactive content provides brands with valuable data on their audiences based on how they engage. This data offers useful consumer insights.
- It facilitates sharing – Audiences are more likely to share interactive content through their own social networks, expanding its reach.
- It promotes conversations – Interactive content gives audiences a chance to converse more actively with brands and each other through comments, questions, votes, etc.
Essentially, interactive content helps brands make connections with audiences in ways that static content cannot. It gives brands a chance to go beyond one-way storytelling and create a dialogue, generating more value for both brand and consumer in the process.
Types of Interactive Social Media Content
Let’s look more closely at some of the most popular forms of interactive social media content brands are leveraging today.
Polls & Surveys
Online polls and surveys have become ubiquitous on social media. Brands use them to quickly gather audience opinions, feedback, and data. Platforms like Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook have built-in polling options to easily create polls and view results. Third-party services like SurveyMonkey and Typeform are also popular. Some best practices for leveraging polls and surveys include:
- Ask simple, focused questions that can be answered at a glance.
- Change up question types – multiple choice, rank order, open-ended, etc.
- Use polls to ask light, engaging questions as well as more informative market research surveys.
- Target questions toward your audience and goals.
- Thank respondents and share poll results to foster transparency.
Quizzes
From Buzzfeed-style quizzes to online personality tests, quizzes are a staple of social media marketing. They tap into audiences’ desires to be entertained, gain insights, and see how they stack up. Quizzes can help brands gather data while keeping audiences engaged. Best practices include:
- Use quiz questions to entertain as well as educate.
- Test product knowledge through interactive quizzes.
- Target different quiz types based on your goals – personality tests, trivia, polls, assessments, etc.
- Brand the quiz so it reflects your desired image and identity.
- Promote quiz sharing capabilities.
Contests & Giveaways
Contests and giveaways have long been a staple marketing tactic across media platforms, and they remain extremely effective on social media for driving engagement. Brands can offer rewards like free products, discount codes, sweepstakes entries, and more in exchange for actions like follows, shares, votes, tagged posts, and contest entries. Some best practices include:
- Require contest entries via interactive content like tagged posts, UGC, or votes.
- Make the prizes enticing enough to drive entries.
- Promote the contest across channels to maximize entries.
- Consider contest frequency carefully to avoid fatigue.
- Use giveaways to attract followers and email sign-ups.
| Type | Goal | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Photo Contests | User-generated content | Best customer photos of your product |
| Hashtag Contests | Social engagement | #ShowUsYourStyle hashtag contest |
| Voting Contests | Engagement and feedback | Vote on new product features |
| Giveaways | Followers and leads | Free product giveaway for email sign-ups |
| Trivia Contests | Brand awareness and education | Trivia quiz about your company history |
Interactive Ads
Interactive ads go beyond static ad messaging to engage viewers more actively. Rather than just view an ad, audiences can participate with options like:
- Click or tap actions
- Swiping or scrolling
- Hover or mouseover effects
- Embedded games and videos
- Augmented reality filters
- Instant purchases or bookings
This interactivity within ads boosts attention, recall, and conversion rates. Some best practices for interactive ads include:
- Match interactions to campaign goals – video views, clicks, conversions, etc.
- Balance interactivity with clear messaging.
- Test different options and placements for optimal results.
- Use interactive elements like product visualizers, customizers, and demos.
- Drive users seamlessly from ad interaction to transaction.
Augmented Reality (AR)
AR overlays digital effects, images, and animations onto the real world via smartphone cameras. On social media, brands are using AR effects and lenses to allow audiences to interact playfully with branded content. Examples include:
- AR photo filters and overlays
- AR-enabled product visualizers
- Interactive brand games and challenges
- Face filters and lenses
- AR-triggered reactions and animations
AR allows brands to deliver engaging, immersive experiences that traditional formats can’t provide. Best practices include:
- Test AR with different use cases to determine what resonates best with your audience and goals.
- Choose AR content that aligns with your brand identity and storytelling.
- Promote discovery and sharing of branded AR experiences.
- Ensure AR elements are interactive and react to user actions.
- Combine AR with other experiences like videos, apps, and games.
Chatbots
Chatbots allow brands to engage audiences through conversational interfaces. Chatbots can have AI capabilities to understand questions, handle FAQs, recommend products, provide feedback, and more. They can be used on:
- Messaging apps
- Brand websites
- Social media platforms
- Text messaging
Chatbots create interactive, personalized experiences that help brands connect conversationally with each user. Best practices include:
- Give chatbots distinct personalities to strengthen brand identity.
- Offer swift, accurate replies to questions, requests, and commands.
- Continuously improve chatbot functionality with AI and machine learning.
- Provide options for users to switch from bot to human as needed.
- Test chatbots with target audiences to optimize performance.
Shoppable Posts
Shoppable posts make buying directly from social content seamless. Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest enable brands to tag products in posts and Stories, allowing users to click through to checkout and purchase. Shoppable posts merge storytelling and commerce in an ultra-convenient experience. Best practices include:
- Tag a wide range of products to offer choices.
- Use Shoppable posts across the customer journey – awareness, consideration, conversion.
- Leverage influencer content as shoppable posts too.
- Optimize the post copy and experience for the checkout process.
- Prominently highlight the shoppable tags and buttons.
Choosing the Right Interactive Content
With so many options, how should brands determine what types of interactive content to invest in? Here are some key factors to consider:
- Your audience – Study user demographics and behavior on each platform to determine what content types they naturally engage with.
- Your goals – Match interactive content formats to your specific desired outcomes – engagement, education, conversions, etc.
- Your resources – Assess your budget, staff capabilities, and other resources to tackle interactive content.
- Data and testing – Use data and experimentation to double down on what works and refine approaches.
- Overall strategy – Ensure interactive content aligns with and enhances your broader social media strategy and brand storytelling.
Regardless of which types you choose, the unifying principle is using interaction and participation to more deeply engage your audience. Test a variety of formats across platforms to determine the best fits.
Creating Effective Interactive Content
Once you’ve identified the ideal formats for your brand, how do you actually create standout interactive content? These tips can help:
Know Your Audience
Always start by understanding your target audiences on a deeper level – their interests, motivations, pain points, and behaviors. This informs the themes and techniques that will resonate most with each interactive post.
Set clear goals
Define the specific purpose and objectives for each interactive piece of content. Is it to increase engagement? Gather feedback? Drive conversions? Different types of interactivity are better suited for different goals.
Make it mobile-friendly
With so much social media usage happening on mobile, interactive content must be optimized for smaller screens and on-the-go users.
Find the right tools
Leverage user-friendly tools and platforms that allow you to quickly build polls, quizzes, AR effects, and more without extensive technical know-how.
Use visuals strategically
Images, video, animations, and other visuals can make interactive content more compelling while also strengthening brand identity and consistency.
Write great questions and captions
The writing in your polls, quizzes, prompts, captions, and instructions will make or break the experience. Use clear, succinct, and engaging copy.
Make participation frictionless
Remove any hurdles to interacting. Allow easy tabbing through quizzes, one-tap voting, seamless AR effects, etc.
Promote discovery and sharing
Encourage audiences to share interactive content to multiply its reach. Hashtags, tags, and prompts can help.
Offer incentives
Sweeten the experience by offering discounts, giveaways, gated content, or other perks in exchange for participation.
Monitor and optimize
Use analytics to identify your most effective formats, copy, placements, etc. Use those insights to refine your approach over time.
Conclusion
Interactive social content represents the future of social engagement. When users can do more than just scroll, they make meaningful connections with brands and content. While visual appeal and quality still matter, interaction is the defining characteristic that brings social strategies to the next level.
Brands that embrace interactive formats and use them strategically will gain an edge. As consumers increasingly crave participatory experiences, interactivity provides brands with more avenues to grab attention, spark conversation, and build lasting customer relationships through social platforms.