Why Interactive Content Matters when Reaching the Professional Tradesman
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
When all is said and done, we’re trying to create all this great content in order to engage the contractors, right? Then we need to ensure that what we do will be looked at, read and watched.
Interactive content will help you accomplish these goals. Contractors love to watch videos (both instructional and entertaining), they are always available to give you their opinions (polls) and they want to show you how smart they are (quizzes). Now not all your content has to be interactive, but I think you’ll find that the content that will get the best play (read and shared) will revolve around interactive content.
Not only does it give the contractors a better user experience, it also affords you better metrics to evaluate your content (shares, likes and comments). The key is to design the message with the focus on the contractor and make the subject matter very focused.
So the first step is setting your objectives:
- What do you want the content to do – create brand awareness, educate, entertain?
- Who is your target audience – owner or worker?
- Where are you going to distribute it – social channels, your own site or a third-party site?
Second step is to keep the message targeted at that specific audience. People today have short attention spans (10 second sound bite).
Third, have a strong call to action. You have to make it clear what you want them to do and you don’t have to wait until the end to make the pitch.
So don’t be afraid of using interactive content and I’m sure you’ll see better results.