Cunningly Clickable Interactive Content Is the Secret Sauce of Engagement
Long-form articles, videos and infographics are all super tasty elements to include in your content menu. But they’re also passive. If you want to literally engage your audience, spicing in interactive content makes the exchange delicious for both creator and consumer. The consumer gets an immersive, entertaining and often helpful experience. Plus, they stick around longer and often come back for seconds. The creator gets enthusiastic engagement, earns brand love plus powerful link building, not to mention rich data willingly given.
It does cost more to create interactive content, but there’s plenty of analysis that shows the extra effort and dollars make the juice totally worth the squeeze. Luckily, just like a strong spice (shout out to nutmeg & cardamom), a pinch goes a long way.
Hungry for more? Feast on my curated list of 5 examples of cunningly clickable interactive content. And if you don’t mind, scroll all the way to the bottom to take my poll!
1. Sherwood Snacks Seven
I subscribe to the Snacks newsletter, which is a light-hearted and pithy take on markets, business, technology, and the culture of money. The info is to-the-point with plenty of witty wordplay, and I always look forward to their Snacks Seven Quiz.
The format is the same each week, hooking you similar to your favorite word game (not that I am addicted to these in any way). I really like the functionality of being able to get instant feedback on each question as you take the quiz, rather than having to complete an entire form before getting holistic results. It also feels exclusive because unless a quiz link lands in your inbox, they’re not easily findable online. Here’s another one, if you’re into it.
You can submit each answer one at a time.
2. Huntington Calculators
Recently, I stumbled on a slew of specifically designed calculators at Huntington.com. Incorporating links to these as calls to action in related content gives readers a strong reason to click through and get a little help on financial topics on their mind. With three little kids, I think about the looming college expense(s) with no small trepidation. Turns out, there’s a calculator for that. Not sure how much better I feel, but at least I have a ballpark idea of how short I’ll fall for footing the full bill (sorry, kiddos – not happening!).
People, I have less than 10 years before this becomes a possible reality. What the heck??
3. BuzzFeed Quizzes
As with most things BuzzFeed, their quizzes are frivolous and silly, but good fun. This one that tells you what animal you are based on your fave foods is no exception. How exactly do they make money? It’s complicated, but content is the key.
4. The New York Time’s AI Valentine’s Generator
I’ve been in love with this creative AI functionality for two years now. That’s way longer than most relationships my single friends tell me about these days. Also the exact amount of time that J-Lo and Ben Affleck’s marriage lasted. It’s built on top of ChatGPT, with some custom fields that are endlessly mix-and-matchable. Consider it my Valentine to you ahead of V-Day next week.
Here you can see my inputs from the three provided drop-down fields plus the AI output.
And here you can see Bennifer, then and now. Apparently she filed for divorce on their literal two-year anniversary. Sigh.
5. Merriam-Webster Quizzes
No, I don’t read the dictionary for fun. But I do often frequent m-w.com (are you really that surprised?). Usually I’m there for the dictionary or thesaurus functionality, but I’m also an ideal target for their quizzes that are cannily crafted to be perfectly irresistible for a self-proclaimed Word Girl.
