For the uninitiated, growth hacking is a process of rapid experimentation across marketing channels and product development to identify the most effective, efficient ways to grow a business.

If you’re marketing your business then you’re continuously searching for ways to increase website traffic, time-on-site and customer engagement. You also realize you cannot afford to rely solely on great content.

According to VP of Oracle North America, Tami Cannizzaro, “there is no longer a captive audience for anything.” So what is to be done?

The answer: What if we can cater to each individual’s query easily?

Content marketing’s aim is to educate the audience, build awareness and lead to conversions and sales. But often, what we post online doesn’t always meet the requirements of every individual buyer. Thus, interactive content becomes a useful tool.

The power of interactive content

Interactive content appeals to a short attention span, which is pretty much everyone these days. With buttons to click, moving pieces to track, or videos to watch throughout a piece, interactive content helps keep people’s attentions piqued, so they don’t decide to go to another page before you’re able to get your message across.

Interactive content increases user engagement

When your content is interactive (e.g., a calculator, poll or perhaps a quiz) you are automatically asking someone to input some data from their side as well. It’s human nature to feel the need to interact.

Some of the most effective lessons in school are in fact the ones where kids actively participate by creating things. And interactive content such as a quiz, a calculator or a poll accomplishes that. Furthermore, as a marketer, you gain more insight about the user whilst simultaneously educating them in a playful way.

Studies have also shown personalized content that constantly changes is far more likely to produce repeat visits and subscribers than static content. So, not only are you decreasing your site bounce rate, but you’re increasing session duration (a useful metric when analyzing user behavior).

Interactive content increases user loyalty

Interactive content keeps a piece fresh, even as time passes. Static content can become stale over time when information becomes outdated. So, if the end goal of your content marketing is to convert interested visitors into paying customers, then interactive content has proven effective for educating, and in turn, bolstering sales.

Interactive content boosts recall and retention

When you educate, entertain, and engage your audience, recall and retention is higher.

Remember your high school physical education lessons? It wasn’t always about being able to score a goal, or strike a home run. The reason why we enjoyed classes like that the most was because we got to experience first hand what we were being taught.

Content that allows people to do something in order to learn a lesson increases the chances of information sticking with them. In contrast, static content – which is often simply stated to readers – is far less likely to be remembered or make and impression.

Interactive content converts better than static and passive content — you gain attention, engagement, conversion and retention. A lot of us fail to realize how much we can accomplish with this simple growth hack. The number of qualified leads you can gather using this method is astounding.

Sid Nandy writes about digital media (content & social), consumer behavior, brand awareness, and omni-channel marketing campaigns. He is a Marketing Strategist for Outgrow and the Chief Marketing Officer at Pomona.

 Every brand has stories to tell—stories that will not only engage, inform, surprise, delight, and impact their audience, but that will also deliver on measurable business goals. Sid aims to be the conduit between brand and consumer. Connect with @sidnandy on Twitter.

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