93% of B2B Marketers Say Interactive Content Is Effective. Here's Why

On Google, there are 260 million search results for “b2b technology.” There are only 214 million for “b2b software.” Based on the numbers, you'd expect b2b technology to be the more popular term. But according to Google Trends, that's not the case. For most of 2020, b2b software has had about twice as much interest.

Data like that is powerful evidence for B2B marketers who can optimize their sites to take advantage of a keyword inefficiency. Best of all, anyone can access that information, and more just like it. Want to test your site speed? Assess your marketing maturity? Identify untapped markets? You can investigate all of these questions yourself using the Digital Marketing Toolbox on Think With Google.

A few years ago, the search giant launched Think With Google, a content hub for marketers and business owners. “It's intended to be a resource for everything from high-level insights to deck-ready stats to useful tools,” said Alli Mooney, the site's former editor-in-chief, who now runs brand content at Waze.

Those types of tools are just as useful for Google's marketing team as they are for its audience. Interactive tools are one of the most cost-efficient content investments you can make because of their evergreen appeal. And once the content is live, it won't require much upkeep.

A few good examples of this include CoSchedule's Headline Analyzer and Canva's Color Palette Generator. Both tools occupy top spots on search rankings, driving more long-term value than your average blog post. According to a study by Demand Gen Report, interactive content was more effective at educating buyers than static content by 23 percentage points.

It's the difference between telling someone what to do and empowering them to find the answer on their own. Why give a man a fish when you can teach him to how to benefit from your B2B software, right?

“When you let your customers interact with your content, they make choices that are relevant to them, and you learn more about them each time they click,” said Jennifer Burak, who was VP of marketing for Rapt Media, an enterprise video platform, before becoming director of marketing at Techstars. “This helps you create better content and continue to optimize your existing content.”

Interactive content encompasses a variety of formats like videos, calculators, quizzes, and even games. Creating this kind of B2B content can sound complicated if you've never done it before, but there are simple ways to get off the ground: calculators and quizzes.

Calculators have become the go-to resource for a lot of companies because they let people consider costs without a hard sell. Salesforce, for example, has a free ROI calculator that promises to show “how revenue, gross margin, and cost control could improve.” To make it as easy as possible, Salesforce asks users to filter by industry, which automatically enters some data based on recent benchmarks.

You can see why a tool like this is beneficial. It makes the case for why you'll benefit from buying Salesforce, without you ever having to talk to a salesperson.

BuzzFeed's calling card—quizzes—also works for B2B companies. Only instead of asking people to choose from 13 pictures of Taylor Swift and telling them what kind of dog they are, B2B marketers can develop diagnostic quizzes that point users toward solutions for their biggest work challenges. At Contently, we added a Content Strategy Assessment at the bottom of our content strategy services page on our website to help potential customers evaluate which of our solutions fits their needs.

When done right, interactive tools don't just drive leads. They qualify them too, providing key information that'll help you personalize your follow-up and push prospects down the funnel more efficiently.

For marketers wondering how to build awareness and even drive leads, this is one easy way to get people interested in your company. Tools like Typeform, Calconic, and Qzzr offer free trials and have plans for about $30 per month. With low costs and high appeal, we expect brands to start investing a lot more in interactive content next year.

How to take advantage of interactive content:

• Do some research in your field to see what tools already exist and where you can stand out.
• Start simple with a calculator or outcome quiz that your audience can use to discover something about themselves.
• Add value by guiding the user toward a solution like a relevant resource, case study, or product page.