What Is Interactive Marketing Importance in Communication: Types, Advantages & Disadvantages
The marketing and business world has seen so many transitions among consumer behaviour during the past few decades, and it is a bit confusing to understand what is interactive marketing.
As technology immensely brought revolutionary changes in our lifestyle, we all changed too!.
Our thought process became more complicated which influenced many situations and criteria in our lives!.
There was a time when marketers used to tell people to buy a certain product, or maybe to use a particular service.
While doing this conventional type of marketing, there weren’t any scopes for the general people to make any kind of communication with the marketers.
In other words, previously, all marketing strategies were basically one-way, either the customers did buy the product or service, or they didn’t.
What was lacking there is that in case the customers wanted to interact with the people being persuaded by buying that product or service, they simply couldn’t. There was no way to do something like that when the advertisement was taking place through TVC or billboard.
The thing is, even though customers couldn’t make any connection with the marketers, it didn’t really bother any parties.
However, the situation isn’t the same anymore at all.
Now, people always want to be a part of their favourite brand’s marketing activities and give their own feedback.
The marketers need their customers to act in this way as well because that’s actually very beneficial for the business itself.
And this interaction between marketers and customers can be observed in interactive marketing!
What is Interactive Marketing?
Interactive marketing involves customer-centric strategies which practice taking individual prospects or customers’ actions under consideration and moving forward with newer marketing plans based on those considerations.
Customers’ preferences and the way they behave trigger interactive marketing activities.
For which it can be said that interactive marketing actually shows what a great shift it has made from traditional marketing views.
Unlike other conventional marketing perspectives, interactive marketing considers customer actions absolutely important and reacts to them so that marketers can cope up with customers’ demands and expectations.
However, to make sure that interactive marketing strategies are actually making a difference and bringing positive overall outcomes for the brand.
Advanced technologies must be used properly in order to capture a 360° point of view from the customers’ perspectives.
Types of Interactive Marketing
Interactive marketing encompasses lots of marketing initiatives, let’s get to know about the significant ones:
1. Interactive Storytelling
In this case, the marketers will try to make the marketing content as diversified as possible.
For example, consider a blog post that is really long and kind of boring, of course, you cannot expect much interaction from this kind of content from your customers.
What you do in this case is to add some animations, infographics, or something similar to these, it will make the blog post far more dynamic and attractive.
You can also break down the post into smaller parts as well or attach audio or video clips to it!
2. Personalized Content
For this one, you will need advanced technologies. The main purpose to create personalized content is to make customers feel related to your brand.
To do it, utilize appropriate kinds of technologies that gather as much reliable and right information from your customer demographic as possible.
After you are done collecting your information about your customers’ demographic, preferences and choices, you can now use them to craft your further marketing strategies based on them.
After you are done, your new marketing activities will be better welcomed by your customers because now they will be able to relate to them!
3. Layered Information
Another form of interactive marketing is providing layered information to your customers, giving them detailed information in small portions.
When information will be in the form of snippets, it will be easier for customers to intake and then consume it.
4. Two-Way Interaction
Two-way interactions can be considered as the heart of interactive marketing since this literally gives the customers a very strong and effective opportunity to take part in active interaction with the marketers.
Also when interactive marketing is done through branching content, calculators, quizzes, games, interactive videos, and similar stuff like these, it provides the customers with a very memorable and powerful experience as well.
Best Practices Interactive Marketing
To get reach the audience you need to do some strategy with your content.
The content will drive to your website or stay with your brand for a longer period of time.
Once you know your audience internet and process interaction then that will be the most powerful weapon for you.
So, here are some of the best practices of interactive marketing methods by which you connect with your audience easily.
1. Multimedia
While doing interactive marketing, you will need to use multiple types of content to engage your customers.
You should not only use text-heavy content, rather, include visuals, images, videos, pictures, etc.
2. Personalization
Make some effort to provide your customers with a very unique experience, with which they will be able to relate on an individual level.
By using the right technology, personalized content can be delivered to your customers.
3. Opt-In
Of course, you should try to make as smooth an effective interaction with your customers as possible,
However, do it only when they are willing to do the same.
You should better respect your customers’ privacy by engaging in interactions only when they are interested.
4. Include a Compelling Offer
Special deals and offers are always compelling to customers. Use this tactic wisely.
5. Tell a story
You might use wordy content containing your brand message that you want your customers to know.
And they might also read it somehow.
However, there’s no guarantee that they will absolutely remember it.
The chances of it, however, increase to a great extent if you can incorporate your brand message into a story, which is far more interesting!
A story always caught everyone’s eyes like glue on paper.
6. Make It Immersive
Customers should find something in your advertising that will make them immerse in it.
You can use multiple online tools to make your marketing strategies as engaging as possible.
7. Usability
If it’s an online ad that you are using as interactive marketing, don’t forget to make it user-friendly and intuitive as well.
Customers should not be repelled by your ad.
8. Effective ROI
Use the tool that is best suited for your brand and system, providing a high return on investment.
9. Reshaping the Brand
Your marketing campaigns and strategies should be executed in such a way that will encourage customers to actively take part in the process of reshaping your brand content like images, posts, videos, infographics etc.
10. Viral Sharing
Your marketing content should be able to have easy shareability so that it can be transmitted through various social networking platforms and the web.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Interactive Marketing
Interactive is one of the key marketing for any company to use this any company can want their audience mindset.
Most of the interactive marketing customers also share their content and positive information around their circle.
However, in interactive marketing both have pros and cons which will be discussed in your eyes down.
Benefits of Interactive Marketing
1. While going through the advantages of interactive marketing, at first comes the high cost-effectiveness of it.
Interactive marketing will provide you with thousands of benefits, but only at a very low price!
2. Since interactive marketing gives you the opportunity to collect customer feedback to a maximized stage.
You can analyze them and gain a lot of significant useful insights from them.
This will help you to customize your future marketing strategies as well.
3. Also, through interactive marketing, customers can play an important role in the marketing activities of a brand themselves by actively taking part in them.
In this way, they provide their preferences and needs, which helps you to plan for the upcoming days.
Ultimately, your sales increase, customer satisfaction enhances to a great extent, and new doors of opportunities open!
Disadvantages of Interactive Marketing
In online marketing three are common disadvantages that can harm or lose your money. Sometimes can be more dangerous than your imagination.
So, before starting a proper plan to do interactive marketing you should know the cons of the interactive marketing. Here are those:
1. Customers Differences
Most of the time interactive marketing involves understanding probability or guessing.
Markers try to use various tools to guess the customer behaviours by using A and B types of items with some matrix of keywords and demographics.
However, here is where the most fearful things come, the customer mode can be changed in terms of some situations.
And if this happens then your marketing and advertising cost can go on the water without catching any fish.
2. Accessibility
Customers get to know through the advertising on some products items which maybe he/she interested in.
However, you will purchase the product through using your website, but if he/she doesn’t have the proper accessibility for the internet then it will be hard to approach the product to the customers.
3. Control of The Company
Interactive marketing is one to one connection with the customer. Company and customer relations.
So, companies can use authentic marketing processes to control the customers. For their marketing strategy, there are no certain rules which will follow everyone.
There is a high possibility and might be a sale date to the other company.
Final Words
Interactive marketing genuinely creates so many scopes for new-world marketers, by exploring more and more of it. You can discover so many new ways to increase interaction with your customer demographic and bring advantages for your brand. However, this needs effort and creativity, no doubt about that. So make no delay anymore, we hope you get some knowledge about what is interactive marketing.