Lessons from Christmas: Utilising Interactive Content to Maximise Results

By Quentin Paquot, CEO, Qualifio

With Christmas behind us, brands must look back and review what worked best and what could be improved upon for the festive season in 2022 and other seasonal celebrations. The final few months of the year are always a gold mine for consumer brands. But what can these organisations do to take advantage of this busy period? How can they not only attract customers, but also keep them engaged for the long term?

It is clear that digital channels are an effective way to reach consumers in today’s environment, but in such a competitive environment, the content that is served to audiences has never been more important.

Customer Experience At The Centre

A big draw for consumers is the interactivity and experience of engaging with a brand, this is why interactive content tactics are becoming so popular, with 90% of respondents in a recent survey believing that interactive solutions are effective. Companies worldwide are now using the method to successfully enhance user engagement and productivity.

This shows why many companies are turning to interactive content to provide audiences with unique experiences that drive consumer engagement, spread brand awareness and build trust while collecting valuable and actionable data. Using content such as advent calendars, quizzes or polls, brands can engage and entertain consumers while providing a high-quality customer experience around the Christmas period. As a result, they can then create long term relationships with audiences through marketing campaigns that leverage the buzz created around the festive season to improve sales, create return customers and build brand loyalty.

For advertisers, interactive content drives 47% more viewing time compared to a non-interactive ad, this generates higher engagement and return on investment. For consumers, they are able to engage in entertaining content that they enjoy whilst being safe in the knowledge their data is only being shared with the direct company. Publishers also successfully sell advertising space, enabling them to monetise their audience, while providing better value to the consumer in exchange for their data.

Accurate Engagement Through Zero-Party Data

In a world that focuses on the need for consumer privacy, zero-party data provides brands with a reliable solution that doesn’t rely on cookies or information collected by third parties. Instead, zero- or first-party data is that which is offered directly to brands by consumers themselves, such as marketing preferences.

By using this interactive content to attract users, brands can also utilise the zero- and first-party data gathered from their interactions to continue to target consumers more accurately throughout the entire festive season. This is vital as we move toward a cookieless future, as marketing teams must start finding ways to compliantly and reliably collect data during this busy period. Not only will interactive content allow them to target specific audiences much more accurately with formats that are well received and enhance the user experience, but it also ensures the company remains completely GDPR compliant during the festive period.

Interactive content transforms what could be seen as simple static information, into something that engages consumers and builds trust in brands through the process of gamification. Furthermore, the first-party data that is collected can include email addresses, phone numbers and demographical information to win games, which not only benefits brand campaigns in the short term, but also provides a platform on which they can develop a long-term relationship with the consumer. Using this data provided directly from the consumer, a brand can better understand them. It can begin to segment and target them based on their preferences, promoting further engagement – and even potentially rewarding that engagement before any sale is ever made. This allows brands to leverage the buzz created around the festive season to improve sales, create return customers and build brand loyalty.

Maximise Results Now

Interactive content proves best when it is attached to a narrative or storyline, this is why the method proves especially successful during specific seasons, mainly Christmas, as the narrative is already written and globally known. With people in the festive mood, half the work is already done for the brands, as consumers are already in the mood to play games and have fun whilst shopping. This method not only works for Christmas but for other seasons as well. Other key dates that have societally known narratives are Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mothers & Father’s Day, or even the upcoming World Cup and the Olympics. Brands must jump on these and get ahead of the game.

By Quentin Paquot, CEO, Qualifio

With Christmas behind us, brands must look back and review what worked best and what could be improved upon for the festive season in 2022 and other seasonal celebrations. The final few months of the year are always a gold mine for consumer brands. But what can these organisations do to take advantage of this busy period? How can they not only attract customers, but also keep them engaged for the long term?

It is clear that digital channels are an effective way to reach consumers in today’s environment, but in such a competitive environment, the content that is served to audiences has never been more important.

Customer Experience At The Centre

A big draw for consumers is the interactivity and experience of engaging with a brand, this is why interactive content tactics are becoming so popular, with 90% of respondents in a recent survey believing that interactive solutions are effective. Companies worldwide are now using the method to successfully enhance user engagement and productivity.

This shows why many companies are turning to interactive content to provide audiences with unique experiences that drive consumer engagement, spread brand awareness and build trust while collecting valuable and actionable data. Using content such as advent calendars, quizzes or polls, brands can engage and entertain consumers while providing a high-quality customer experience around the Christmas period. As a result, they can then create long term relationships with audiences through marketing campaigns that leverage the buzz created around the festive season to improve sales, create return customers and build brand loyalty.

For advertisers, interactive content drives 47% more viewing time compared to a non-interactive ad, this generates higher engagement and return on investment. For consumers, they are able to engage in entertaining content that they enjoy whilst being safe in the knowledge their data is only being shared with the direct company. Publishers also successfully sell advertising space, enabling them to monetise their audience, while providing better value to the consumer in exchange for their data.

Accurate Engagement Through Zero-Party Data

In a world that focuses on the need for consumer privacy, zero-party data provides brands with a reliable solution that doesn’t rely on cookies or information collected by third parties. Instead, zero- or first-party data is that which is offered directly to brands by consumers themselves, such as marketing preferences.

By using this interactive content to attract users, brands can also utilise the zero- and first-party data gathered from their interactions to continue to target consumers more accurately throughout the entire festive season. This is vital as we move toward a cookieless future, as marketing teams must start finding ways to compliantly and reliably collect data during this busy period. Not only will interactive content allow them to target specific audiences much more accurately with formats that are well received and enhance the user experience, but it also ensures the company remains completely GDPR compliant during the festive period.

Interactive content transforms what could be seen as simple static information, into something that engages consumers and builds trust in brands through the process of gamification. Furthermore, the first-party data that is collected can include email addresses, phone numbers and demographical information to win games, which not only benefits brand campaigns in the short term, but also provides a platform on which they can develop a long-term relationship with the consumer. Using this data provided directly from the consumer, a brand can better understand them. It can begin to segment and target them based on their preferences, promoting further engagement – and even potentially rewarding that engagement before any sale is ever made. This allows brands to leverage the buzz created around the festive season to improve sales, create return customers and build brand loyalty.

Maximise Results Now

Interactive content proves best when it is attached to a narrative or storyline, this is why the method proves especially successful during specific seasons, mainly Christmas, as the narrative is already written and globally known. With people in the festive mood, half the work is already done for the brands, as consumers are already in the mood to play games and have fun whilst shopping. This method not only works for Christmas but for other seasons as well. Other key dates that have societally known narratives are Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mothers & Father’s Day, or even the upcoming World Cup and the Olympics. Brands must jump on these and get ahead of the game.