It’s time to mix up your marketing. Move from one-sided conversations with your customer to promoting open dialog by inviting them to respond using Interactive Marketing. This fosters opportunities to build symbiotic relationships with your customers and it allows deeper understanding of your customers preferences. 

First off, what is Interactive Marketing and why should you be doing it?

Interactive Marketing promotes an interaction between you and your customers by using engaging content that has inviting visuals and captions. If you think about traditional marketing and advertising, it is usually a one-sided conversation from you to your customers. Although this marketing approach works, Interactive Marketing will help to increase your conversions, as it prompts the customer to respond. Consequently, this gives them a sense of involvement and trust in your business. 

Quick and easy steps for using Interactive Marketing in your social media plan:

You can shift your current social media content into Interactive Marketing with simple adjustments to your strategy. These adjustments include:

Polls:

Using Instagram or Facebook polls are a current trend that allows you to interact with your customers, prompting them to give a quick response and reaction to your content. 

An example of an Instagram or Facebook poll for gyms: 

• Post an image of your location and ask your followers when they prefer to workout: 

“Do you prefer working out in the AM or PM?” or “ Do you prefer a sweet or savoury breakfast? (or Eggs or pancakes)” 

This type of interaction encourages a really quick response from your audience! 

An example of an Instagram or Facebook poll for the Hospitality Industry:

• Post an Instagram or Facebook story with the Question sticker:

“What is your ideal holiday destination? Beach or Snow?”  or “Which would you rather at a hotel? Day at the pool or spa day?” (Can use things that you offer at your hotel eg Games room, bed and breakfast ect)

Questions:

Using Instagram or Facebook stories or feed posts to ask your customers questions is a great way to encourage a response.  

Examples of Instagram or Facebook question’s suitable for feed or story posts:

• What are you most thankful for today?
• Which do you like better? (Pin two things against each other) Can make it light-hearted eg. Nutella or Peanut Butter (for gyms) or make it two things that are relevant to you eg. for a gym AM or PM workouts
• Would you rather? (A beach holiday or skiing holiday)
• Anything topical at the moment like current affairs and events (eg. COVID-19 updates) 
• What are you watching right now? These questions are good as they are light hearted and get a great response from customers
• Post a photo of your pet or a customer's pet and give them a shoutout! Ask- Are you a cat or dog person?
• Tag your “bestie, workout buddy, travel buddy ect” 

Giveaways or contests:

Customers love contests or giveaways; these help build connections with your brand and create a loyal customer base. After posting a giveaway or contest, encourage people to comment on your posts which will increase awareness of your business. Additionally, you can encourage them to repost your content to their social media accounts. This will increase their chance of winning, but also increase awareness of your giveaway and therefore your business. This helps to attract new customers.

Post an opportunity for a customer to win something or receive a reward or discount

• For Gyms:

One free week at the gym for you and your workout buddy - “Tag your workout buddy in the post for your chance to win.”

• For hotels:

One free night stay - “Tag your travel buddy for your chance to win” 

Interactive Marketing gives you the opportunity to understand your customers better as it relies on two-way communication. This helps to give you an insight into their preferences, which will lead to you understanding your customers needs and online behaviours, which is always a plus.