Interactive Vs. Static Content: Which Works for You in 2023?

Interactive Vs. Static Content Which Works for You

All of us have been there. When making a new advertising campaign or launching a new website, we have to decide whether to make our content static or interactive. A big part of the interactive vs. static content debate is which one will get more people interested, and which one will set us apart from everyone else.

Static content is one-way, talking down-to-consumers kind of content, while interactive posts engage viewers more dynamically. This type of content has a higher engagement rate, and it can increase sales and leads. Static, dynamic, and/or interactive content always come up when talking about marketing strategies that rely on content. After all, the success of a digital marketing campaign highly depends on great, personalized content that improves user retention. It is not easy, but knowing how these three types of content are different and what advantages they hold can definitely help.

This article explores the benefits of using interactive vs. static content for your website. It can help you decide which type of content is best suited for your marketing and branding needs.

What is Static Content?

Static content always remains the same. Think of standard HTML pages that act as a static resource to a web server, which will not change until you replace it with another updated static file. The other thing that makes content static is the source of the content. If a brand or one person creates and promotes a piece of content, it cannot change or adapt to its growing audience by interacting with people from outside the group.

Why Use Static Content?

Why Use Static Content

There are a lot of scenarios where static content just works. Perhaps most importantly, some companies have limited time and limited resources, so creating marketing copy only once can prove to be quite economical. You develop the content once and then publish it to multiple channels. It can be used again and published again, however, mostly the content ends up just sitting there until someone finds it and reads it.

Conveniently, since static content is readable but unchangeable, it is extremely useful for industries that have tight regulatory policies and need to carefully review and get approved much of their content through several layers of management. This data can still be shared and commented on, but not much else can be done. Static content is also easy to promote and is often used for customer conversions.

Think about calls-to-action (CTAs), landing pages, mail newsletters, and ads that use a single focused piece of copy to convert valuable leads to buying customers. After all, what you really need to do is give people reasons to download, watch, or consume your content in any form. It works out even better if that same content is easy to print and share with other people, or to be used as a reference later.

Why Not Use Static Content?

There are obvious reasons to steer away from static content, as it is most often only useful for one-time offers and marketing copy, which would bear recurring customers if they visit your website regularly. After all, why would anyone come back to a website if the information remains the same? The internet is already full of static content, which makes it all the more difficult for your content to stand out.

When talking about interactive vs. static content, we need to understand how the latter is an entirely one-way route, leaving no channel of communication from the clients back to you. Most of the time, the only reciprocation you get on your marketing copy is via blog comments and product reviews. Also, they are often not optimized for mobile devices, and as anyone who has read a PDF document on their phone would tell you, it is not a pleasant experience.

What is Interactive Content?

What is Interactive Content

An interactive post is one that users can engage with to get additional functionality. This can be in the form of a social button like a Facebook ‘Like’ on your company’s blog, an online survey, a webinar, an add product review button, and more. It gives users a better experience because it adapts the website based on what they do. It feels more real.

When a user interacts with a page, the contents on it actually incorporate their interaction into the page, for example, an additional ‘Like’ on the counter or a positive review plastered onto the website. All of this can be done “on the fly” and requires very little management on your part.

Why Use Interactive Content?

In the context of the interactive vs. static debate, there are several reasons to consider making your website more interactive. Perhaps the biggest one is that it stands as a form of social proof, telling your new visitors that your brand is quite popular with people on social media, thus, making a good impression at the outset. It lets them know that they can keep up with your brand on their favourite platforms without needing to return to the website, increasing their brand loyalty and your own reputation. This form of engagement lets you interact with both potential buyers and recurring customers in different ways.

Search engines rank websites based on the volume of social proof they can garner, and the engagement based on the time spent on the website. Interactive content lets your users not only value the content on your website more but also increases your SEO rankings. On a technical level, it improves click-through rate, completion rate, and lead conversion rates across the board without sweat.

See also: 6 Tips on Improving Search Engine Positioning of Website

Why Not Use Interactive Content?

Using external technologies can always come with some level of risk, which is why sometimes it might be better to steer clear of interactive posts. For some businesses, this can be potentially risky because you can be subjected to negative content outside the regulatory bounds of your company’s own website and official platforms. This can be an especially tricky territory when it comes to working with social media.

While it seems like an easy prospect at the beginning, developing and updating interactive content is by no means time cheap. You will need to not only monitor but often regularly devote ad-spend to ensure that you are relevant across most, if not all, social media platforms. This involves keeping your followers regularly engaged with fresh and relevant content, alongside responding to both their positive and negative comments. As such, you will eventually need to hire more manpower and talent and conduct extensive training.

Which Type of Content is Best for You?

When planning out the content needs for your business, there are many things to consider. Having too much of any one type of content, either static or interactive, is a recipe for disaster. Doing so often drives people away from your website, leaves a bad impression, or just generally hurts your brand. Many companies have experienced success by striking a good balance between using interactive and static content based on their needs. This has helped them find new customers, engage with their target audience, or offer help where needed.

However, it is also worth pointing out that the amount and kind of content you can create is definitely limited by how significant your budget is. Your long-term goals should be about growing your web presence at a steady rate to include all of these channels, such that you can slowly but steadily build a strong team to support your content needs.

The Bottom Line: Interactive Vs. Static Content

Now that you understand where your approach falls in the interactive vs. static content continuum, it’s time to put your knowledge to the test. At One Content Pro, we pride ourselves on delivering both static and interactive posts that actually help you achieve your growth targets and better content marketing results.

Let us create relevant, valuable, and engaging content for your brand and bring your vision to life. Contact Us Now to see how we can assist with your content marketing plan!