Interactive Tools & Experiences for SaaS & Tech Marketing

Interactive content has been an emerging trend in enterprise technology marketing for some years, and it's evolving in many interesting ways. Things like calculators, assessments, and other tools lend to deeper engagement and higher quality lead generation because prospects are more invested in the outcome.

Here's a breakdown of some of the different kinds of interaction content you should consider:

Calculators

Calculators help leads crunch the numbers on things like costs, ROI or any other metric they might find interesting. These are great for people to understand and estimate the direct ROI impact of your solution based on their specific situation. Calculators range from simple to complex, depending on the amount of customer inputs you want to include. The more data that you ask from prospects, the more confidence they'll have in the accuracy of the results.

Also consider the outputs. With enterprise software, in addition to ROI, you may want to include things like Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Break Even Point. Whatever the key metrics your solution addresses (sales revenue, customer satisfaction etc.) should also be included in your calculator.

Interactive Infographics

Akin to static infographics, interactive content brings interesting stats to life in a visually compelling way. Try compiling stats relevant to customers’ industries and add visual elements that really “pop.” In addition to folding your existing data into interactive infographics, perform an audit of research you've conducted. Interesting data, facts and findings that you haven't previously used in marketing collateral can also be utilized in an interactive infographic.

Plan to use these in the early to mid stages of the marketing and sales cycle, as they're mainly for building awareness around either your product or major challenges in the industry that your solution is designed to address.

Quizzes

If you've been to websites like Buzzfeed, you're familiar with online quizzes. They're great because prospects feel like they're getting some personalized insight from you, and are easily shareable on social media. Consider repurposing some stats and figures from your whitepapers into quizzes, giving prospects incentive to test their knowledge after they've finished reading. 

Another way is to utilize quizzes at live events. Have reps at your booth with an interactive quiz available on their iPad and have customers take it on the spot. After they’ve completed the quiz, discuss the results (and their potential business needs) right then and there.

Assessments

These are like quizzes but dig deeper into a prospect's business needs. They help your potential customers get a handle on the current state of their business, what needs improvement, and how your solution could possibly fit in.

Assessments can also be used for peer benchmarking, showing the prospect where they stand with respect to the overall industry. Prospects will either see they have ground to make up, or perceive the competition nipping at their heels. Either way, it's a strong impetus for them to learn more about your solution and how it could help them be more competitive.

Solution Builders

Almost like a free demo, with solution builders you provide users access to a basic version of your product, and guide them through building a solution based on their specific goals and needs. This method is great for tactile learners who need to “play around” with technology to really get a sense of the value it could potentially provide. 

If you need help getting started with a solution builder, a good place to start is referencing your existing product briefs. Solution Builders are ideal for those mid to late stage prospects where high-level value has already been established, but the buyer needs to see and feel exactly how you're going to solve their problem.

Product Tours

Interactive product tours help bridge the gap between tutorial or overview videos, and product demos. The problem with videos is that while the product is explained in detail, the user is forced to sit back and watch. Demos are great, but often users miss the most important features because they don't have any guidance.

Product tours are guided walkthroughs of your product, allowing prospects to experience and perform tasks within your platform, but with guidance in the form of pop-ups and prompts. For enterprise tech companies, WalkMe is one of the best tools available for creating customized, engaging product tours.

Digital Sales Rooms

A digital sales room is an online platform that enables B2B companies to share information and resources with their buyers, streamlining the buying process. It is a secure, shared space for sellers to inform, interact and negotiate with buyers. This virtual environment allows sales reps and buyers to collaborate more efficiently, providing them access to relevant content throughout the deal cycle.

Digital sales rooms provide many benefits for B2B companies looking to improve their sales process. They enable businesses to personalize their customer experience by providing tailored content that speaks directly to their customers’ needs. Furthermore, they allow for more efficient collaboration between sellers and buyers by providing a centralized location where all relevant materials can be accessed quickly and easily. Additionally, digital sales rooms are highly customizable, allowing businesses to tailor them according to their specific needs.

Adding A Real-Time Factor

One of the greatest tactics for making interactive tools effective is to add some real-time feedback for usage.

• For a calculator, you can see budgets, comparison costs or other data adjusted as the visitor is changing values.
• An assessment can provide a score as questions are completed.
• Solution builders can change the configuration and pricing of products as visitors select parameters.

The key here is to give real value right there on the page, but then entice with deeper information when they provide contact information. Real-time feedback tools are shared and linked to often which significantly increases exposure and search rank. With the right tool, you have the ability to bring in very targeted leads en masse.

Key Takeaways

The final large benefit from tools is that upon submission you can gain valuable information for the sales process that might be otherwise hard to capture in any other type of conversion. So, while these tools can cost a lot to invest in, over a period of time they can deliver major ROI.

Per many, interactive content represents the future in B2B enterprise technology marketing. While you don't necessarily have to be hugely invested in it at this point, it's wise to start folding in things like ROI calculators, quizzes, and interactive infographics to your digital marketing mix to get started down the path and keep up with the competition.