When it comes to marketing, many businesses go with the tried-and-true. The ‘ole, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” When that happens, the results are often just as uninspiring.
To freshen up your game, try interactive marketing. It’s a great way to get customers and website visitors more involved with your business.
They get a more hands-on experience. Which in return will bring you more patients.
Interactive marketing is highly effective! Here’s why …
Sometimes people don’t have the time to sift through loads of information. That lengthy blog post cuts into their time they have with family. So in the end, traditional content marketing can become static.
To prevent that from happening, let’s go over a few ways you can integrate interactive marketing into your approach.
Ready to find out what they are? Let’s get into it!
Quizzes
People love finding out interesting things about them. Quizzes are a great attention-grabber because they make you think.
For example, someone who is having marital troubles may not call your business right away. They may be trying to find information to see if it’s something they should be concerned about.
Instead of reading a long blog post about it, a quiz is quick and virtually painless to do.
All they do is answer a few questions … the same ones you may ask during a therapy session. Depending on the type of answers selected, they’ll get a result. Then they can really find out if they need therapy or can handle the situation on their own.
With quizzes, it keeps people on your site longer. If the quiz you put on there is well thought out and gives valuable information, this could lead to a sales call or intake request.
If you want to take it a step further, have them do the quiz but don’t give away their result. Once they reach the end, make it so they have to enter their email address in order to gain their results. It’s an interactive marketing technique that’ll also gain you email subscribers.
Interactive Data
Staring at a graph is not only frustrating to some but boring as well. It can be hard to digest a lot of content in one sitting. To make it easier, make the data more interesting.
Instead of using a graph layout, use one that makes the results stand out.
For example, someone wanting to find popular music genres during different time periods could benefit from an interactive data graph. They could select a time period and see how it either increased or decreased in popularity over the years.
It’s a way to give people information without boring them to death. When it’s fun and visual, they can digest the information a lot easier.
Contests
We’ll start by saying that this one might be a bit difficult for a therapist. The key is finding a giveaway that you are ethically comfortable with. However, if you can find that perfect offering, running a contest or giveaway is a great way to get someone to sign up for your newsletter.
This type of interactive marketing works because it keeps the people engaged. You can make the tasks optional so people won’t get frustrated that there are so many hoops to jump through.
Remember to make it fun but also have a prize that’s worth winning.
You could offer coupons for a free first session. Or, create a gift basket composed of items like chocolate, flowers, self-help guides, and even a bath kit.
Another way to boost engagement is to have participants complete tasks. For instance, if they share your post about your contest to friends on Facebook, they earn another entry. If they refer two friends to sign up for your newsletter, that’s another entry. Again, you have to do what feels right – and always make sure that your contest complies with all state board regulations.
Social Media
If your business isn’t on any social media platforms, you’re missing out. Social media is the easiest way to get people to interact with your business.
When you post interesting content, they’ll engage with it. People want content that’s informative and fun. When it is, that leads to more comments, likes, and follows.
Create content that compels them to participate in the conversation. Whether they leave a comment or follow your business, that’s what you want.
You want to build up that audience so your marketing efforts will be continuous. You’ll have a following you can always report the latest news to.
Just be sure to target people you know are going to be interested in your content. It’s not worth it to track down folks who’ll follow your business that day then ditch it the next.
The key is to gain a following that’ll be engaged. When someone leaves a comment, reply back. People love brands that engage with their audience.
Don’t be afraid to share other people’s content as well. You won’t be losing any followers, you’ll gain more.
When you make your social media all about you, it can easily turn people off. Self-promotion 24/7 can be nauseating.
Partner with influencers in your area to get them to boast about your business. Instead of payment, you can offer free sessions. Monitor and analyze the effectiveness of these partnerships with influencer tracking software, ensuring your collaboration is fruitful and aligns with your social media strategy.
That opens your business up to a completely new following.
Email Marketing
Believe it or not, sending out an email newsletter is a type of interactive marketing. It’s a way to continuously market your content to your audience.
The point is to create an email that’ll catch their attention. You want to make the headline so enticing that they feel compelled to click on it.
In the body of the email, you can add video or GIFs for an added touch. The more interactive you can make it, the better.
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Wrapping Up on Types of Interactive Marketing
Marketing can seem like a difficult thing to master. All it takes is a little know-how and a game plan.
Implementing these techniques will have you seeing a spike in traffic. The more visitors, followers, and patients you can rack up, the better. Then you’ll always have an audience to market to.
Need help when it comes to your marketing plan? See how we can help you today!
