Buyers are educating themselves well before they’ll speak to you and your partners – and content marketing is a huge opportunity for you to share what they are looking for. It takes time and the quality of the content is key; but it can be a challenge to cut through the noise, or even when you do, to keep your audience engaged.

On average, B2B researchers do 12 searches prior to engaging on a specific brand’s site. (Source: Google)

Interactive content is all about the engagement and appeals to 43%* more buyers than standard content, which alone will help you stand out when shared on social and email in between all the other content they are consuming. Imagine how powerful your results could be and the evidence you would have when claiming MDF or going for more funding with a partner (and vice versa).

The key to interactive content is that it puts some power into your buyer’s hands. Whether it’s them clicking an option that fits their profile on an assessment or simply moving the cursor over an area on an infographic that they are interested in to find out more – that’s creating a much more memorable experience as they are participating.

51% of B2B buyers say interactive content is helpful when tackling business challenges. (Source: SnapApp Survey)

Then there’s the wow factor. It can look super impressive, or can be a simple click through option on a sales playbook – but in either situation it’s customising the experience for the audience that little bit more and adding value. Giving the content a purpose.

What type of interactive content could we develop with partners?

More than half of all B2B buyers view at least eight pieces of content during the purchase process, and 82% of buyers viewed at least five pieces of content from the vendor prior to purchase. (Source: Forrester)

Content that’s interactive can help you engage right across the RACE model (or customer lifecycle). Do keep in mind that you also need to focus on formats that appeal to your target audience, for example; a CEO who is typically short on time: you need to stand out quickly – consider short bite size videos.

45% of B2B buyers say interactive content is one of their top three preferred content types. (Source: SnapApp Survey)

Here are a few ideas to consider:

1. Interactive assessment/digital health check/quiz

It’s human nature to be competitive so an assessment, or quiz adds that additional appeal. It also reaches those that want to problem solve – a big thing in the B2B market.

Another human need is that typically you’ll want to receive something for your efforts – so a quiz does that, a report, or a score – something of value that’s worth the click or details that the buyers shared.

An assessment or quiz can easily get these answers across – with increased engagement, and is a perfect opportunity to share your joint value proposition messaging.

2. Interactive infographics

Infographics do a fantastic job of getting interesting and important stats, or points over to the end audience; but you can ramp that up even further by making it interactive. Look at your eco-system; could you do a joint infographic on a specific topic where a range of partners support various areas? Or tell a story that has various options to hover over, and take the audience down a specific route? Infographics are useful for the ‘Market to’ a partner stage, or the ‘Market to/through/with’ stage to the end customer.

3. Surveys and Polls

People like to be heard: polls and surveys on social or on your website show you are listening, and those that complete it are indicating they have an interest in the topic. You could tie into a specific campaign with a partner, and both share out to the base? Present the results back, in a moving graphic.

You’ll also have useful data points to use in further content.

4. Interactive eBooks

eBooks are always popular and a fantastic call to action. But how do you make them really compelling so they really speak to the audience and embed the key points in their memory? You could tailor to look at the various personas that would pick up your eBook – and have it built in sections that speak right to them – easily jumping to that content. Another simple and quick option is to bring in links to other content such as a video – and mix up the formats.

5. Gamification

This is a great option to bring things to life and incentivise sales teams to absorb content, embrace a new go-to-market offering, or to record leads – but in an interactive way. You could design a game that the salespeople can play if they meet certain targets, or complete certain actions – and win a prize.

6. Sales Playbook

Sales teams have a lot to take in from various partners, so make your playbook easy for them to absorb. Create it in PPT and have sections to jump to, relevant to their role level or information needs. Or a PDF that does the same, with videos embedded to make learning easy and consumable.

7. Interactive video

This can be highly immersive and gives a unique experience for everyone watching – ranging from clickable icons that drive you off into a different section of the video, to a fully interactive video from the start. Think Bear Grylls ‘You v the Wild’ – you select your route tied to your views and choices.

Strong content like this is critical to then run powerful and converting social ads, ideal for virtual events to use on stands or as follow up activity, and to arm your sales teams with.

It also boosts your ranking with search engines, driving more leads to more pages.

You can re-purpose existing content

We’re big believers in maximising content that’s already working well. You can take it and make tweaks so that it becomes interactive – or as the basis for a fully interactive asset. Saving you time and budget.

If you’d like to know about how we can help with partner marketing, please contact us. Call 0113 292 0945 or email [email protected]

* Source – The Campaign Confidence Gap, DemandGen