2017 Interactive Content

Marketing Trends
Today 12 Trends:
BIG THINGS:
LITTLE THINGS:
• Interactive Content

• Video

• “Personalization”

• Account based Marketing

• Content that creates content
• Tool Tips

• FUN

• Social, Social, Social

• Data Visualization

• Storytelling
What content marketers

will be focused on in 2017
80% will focus on lead gen as a content

marketing goal over next 12 months.
Brand Awareness
79%
Engagement
Lead Nurturing
78% use website traffic to measure how well

their content marketing is producing results.
76% prioritize delivering content

quality over quantity
76%
and yet…
4.6 billion 

pieces of content

are produced daily.


83,000

blog posts published

every hour.
Your audience is

inundated

with content
It’s no wonder as much as 70%

of content goes unused
70
%
and yet…
of marketers expect their organization

to make MORE content in 2017.
70%
That’s a

whole lot

of content.
What does this mean

for content marketers

in 2017?
IMPERATIVES:
• Stand Out
• Differentiate
• Gain Attention
• Engage
• Demonstrate Results
All of today’s trends point

to meeting these imperatives
BIG

Trends
Let’s start with

the obvious
Interactive

Content
1
“Quite simply, it’s

not a question of
whether companies
should use interactive
content but rather

how soon they

should start.”
~ Content Marketing Institute
Already entrenched
More than half of marketers surveyed

are now using interactive content

53%
More on the horizon
Anticipate increase in use of interactive content
75%
The use of 

interactive content 

is expected to 

increase dramatically 

in the next 12 to 24
months, with 87%

of B2B marketers
predicting at least

10% of their content

will be interactive.
It’s no wonder

content marketers

are using interactive
experiences.
Our audience engagement
has increased since my
organization started using
interactive content tactics
Engagement
66%
Interactive content can
have reusable value,
resulting in repeat visitors
and multiple exposures
Web Traffic
79%
Combining traditional
content marketing tactics
with interactive content
enhances retention of my
organization’s message
Education
79%
Non gated interactive
content can provide a
“sample” of the brand,
resulting in a higher
degree of lead nurturing
Lead Nurturing
75%
Interactive content
provides me with valuable
ways to repurpose my
organization’s passive
content.
Content

Repurposing
67%
Interactive content 

grabs the attention of the
reader more effectively
than static content
Attention/

Differentiation
81%
How differentiated can an article be?
When they all say the same thing?
Literally.
(we are all guilty of producing this type of content)
Note: Multiple Responses permitted.
Reasons Interactive Content Used 

in Content Marketing
Educating the audience ……………………….………… 75%
Engagement ……………………………………………….. 59%
Lead generation/top of funnel …………….…………… 58%
Create brand awareness …………..……………………. 57%
Conversion………………………………………….……… 49%
Social media/community engagement ……….………. 41%
Lead nurturing/mid-funnel ……………………….……... 33%
Customer retention/loyalty………………..…….………. 31%
Storytelling ………………………………………..……….. 31%
Sales/sales enablement ………….…………….….…….. 28%
Other reasons ……………..……………………….…….… 4%
94% more effective at conversion
60% more effective at differentiation
60%
33% more effective at educating buyers
120% more effective at getting shared
20
%
1
“Content 

will become 

user led”
In 2017
The most 

popular types

of interactive

content
2
Note: Multiple Responses permitted.
Types of Interactive

Content Used
Assessments …………………………………….54%
Calculators .......................................................52%
Contests ...........................................................50%
Quizzes .............................................................48%
Interactive infographics …………………….….44%
Interactive eBooks ………………………………38%
Interactive white papers ……………………..…27%
Configurators .…………….……………..……… 26%
Games ………………………………………….… 24%
Wizards ……………………………………………17%
Interactive lookbooks ………………………..…15%
Types of Interactive Content experience
requested by ion customers 2016
Infographics
Assessments
ebooks
Whitepapers
Calculators
Resource libraries
Quizzes
Solution finders
Most popular ion Quick Starts

templates used in 2016
Infographics
Assessments
Lookbooks
Long form content
Quizzes
The top five content formats B2B

marketers are using or plan to use for

content-enabled campaigns include:
85 84 82Interactive

Infographics
ROI

Calculators
Assessments
95Video
92Surveys

% %
% % %
2017 will be about

unique applications

within these existing types

of interactive content
Video
3
The can’t ignore trend

of 2017
“In 2015, videos grew

in consumption the

most, among all 

content types. Many 

are predicting that 

video will compose 

70% of all internet 

traffic, by 2017.”
Online video is the
fastest growing
content marketing
trend:
~ Neil Patel
43 percent of consumers want to see

more video from brands.
43%
Video=ROI
A Firebrand Group study recently discovered

that about 85 percent of marketers have seen
positive ROI from their video efforts.
85%
According to HubSpot
research, Video was 

followed by social media
posts, news articles and
research content.

Video Is Being
Consumed
“…the content that 

has the best chance 

to keep the audience’s 

attention is video, 

due to its interactive 

nature.”
Interactive Video
Interactive Video
http://www.transfarency.com/?clk=HOMEICON2_OTHERFALCAM160105
Video Background
ion Quick Start - Landing page with Full Page Background Video
Interactive Video
Video Decision Tree & Quizzes
ion Quick Start - Video Decision Tree
Personalization
4
For me at Ally our focus 

is on personalization of
content creation, and that 

will command our attention
and investment. That is,
understanding, at a 

customer-level, personas,
needs, wants and 

preferences and delivering
them in a meaningful way
through the channels 

they prefer to be 

communicated in.
“
”~ Andrea Riley, CMO, Ally
71 percent of audiences expect advertising to be
tailored to their interests and habits.
According to the “2016 B2B Buyer’s Survey”
conducted by Demand Gen Report, 69 percent

of B2B buyers say the most influential aspect

of a company’s website is content that

speaks directly to their needs.
69%
Segmentation with 

Personalized Results
Personalized Results
https://babysizer.com
Personalized Results
https://www.fitbit.com/findanewfit/fitnessquiz#quiz-start
Mobile First
5
The average 

household has 7.4
internet connected
devices. A ‘mobile 

user’ one minute is a
‘desktop user’ the 

next. The distinction 

is entirely artificial.
Responsive Design
Fun
6
Game-a-fication
Games
Game-a-fication
Game-a-fication
Sense of Humor
Interactive Video
And even fun with forms
Fun with Forms
http://www.svn2ftp.com
Fun with Forms
www.transfarency.com/?clk=HOMEICON2_OTHERFALCAM160105
Fun Mad Lib Style Marketing Quiz
Fun with Forms
Account Based

Content
7
Sales Enablement
ion Quick Start - Quick Pitch for Accounts Based Marketers
Sales Enablement
ion Quick Start - Online Sales Presentation
Sales Enablement
ion Quick Start - Sales Asset Matcher
“Additionally, 

interactive content 

will also enable 

marketers to collect 

data and insights that
sales teams can use 

to accelerate the best
prospects through the
sales process.”
Storytelling
8
Storytelling
Storytelling
Storytelling
Storytelling
Animated Storytelling
Video
Visual Tours
Multi Media
Multi Media
STORYTELLING
BASICS:
• Highly Visual
• Immersive
• Motion through the Story
• Animation of Key Content
• Evoke Emotion or Feelings
• Soft sell, no sell
Little Trends
Tool Tips
9
Tool Tips
Tool Tips
Visual Tour with Tool Tips
Content

that creates
content
01
Centermark
Centermark
Results Comparison
Meaningful Results Page
Meaningful Results Page
Social

Emphasis
11
#headlines
https://www.panthera.org
Social Stories
http://series.hashtagsunplugged.com/thedress
Social Stories
www.visitwales.com/findyourepic
Social Stories
Data

Visualization
12
Interactive Charts
www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/3/25/11293258/tax-plan-calculator-2016
Interactive Charts
Data visualization
Data visualization
Data visualization
Data visualization
UN-gate content
13
“Ungated
Content Is the
Way to
Customer
Hearts”
interactive
content works
36Increase in 

Conversions
21Increase in 

Site Visits
%
%
7.5-10 

Increase in 

Leads through
education
Interactive White Paper
50XEngagement
An engaging quiz
drives 50 times more
participation
4X
Purchasing power drove
4 times the number 

of e-commerce
conversions.
Conversions
82
FedEx uses

embedded interactive
experiences to

make shipping easy
and increase

revenue by 82%
Increase
%
info@ioninteractive.com
twitter: @ioninteractive
Thank You

2017 Interactive Content Marketing Trends