Before we dive into our core subject, Interactive Social Media posts, let’s just mention how difficult it is for companies to differentiate themselves from others these days on Social Media.
The Social Media algorithms are made to boost the posts with the most engagements such as likes, comments, and shares. So, if you do not have a huge fan base already, it can feel like it is impossible to be seen. That’s where Interactive Social Media Posts can help!
In this article, we will talk about the following:
- What are Interactive Social Media posts?
- Benefits of writing engaging interactive posts
- How to write Interactive Posts for Social Media?
- Types of Interactive Social Media Posts – with examples
What are Interactive Social Media posts?
Interactive Social Media posts are posts that focus on interactivity and engagement first, content second. They follow the same principles as any other types of Interactive Content. Essentially, you create an Interactive Experience for your audience where they can engage directly with you. It is a two-way communication rather than a one-way message from you to them.
In other words, Interactive Social Media posts are posts that are shared with the intention of encouraging a specific interaction from viewers. And, by interaction, we mean more than a simple click on the like button. We mean actions such as answering a poll question or participating in a contest.
Interactive Social Media posts are posts that focus on interactivity and engagement first, content second. Do you agree? Click To TweetThe benefits of writing Interactive Social Media posts
Below you’ll find 3 reasons why you should implement interactive posts to improve your social media content strategy.
1. Boost Engagement
Of course, the number one benefit of writing Interactive Posts for Social Media is to boost engagement. Plus, by boosting engagement, you can succeed in making your post reach and impressions increase. It’s a Win-Win as we say!
In addition, Interactive posts are great during the holidays. For instance, Christmas interactive posts can significantly boost your reach during the holidays.
2. Enhance Brand Recognition & Loyalty
When viewers interact with your Social Media posts, they have a way higher chance to retain the information they read. Thus, they’ll remember your brand and your content better. Plus, by entertaining your audience, you’ll increase your likeability and improve your brand loyalty.
3. Capture Zero & First-Party Data
Every time your audience interacts with you, you have the opportunity to learn more about them. That’s also true when they come from your Social Media pages. For example, when they answer questions in your polls, or they purchase something on your website after clicking on one of your posts. Make sure you collect data from all these touchpoints to give your marketing strategy a big growth.
How to write Interactive Social Media posts?
Or should I say, what is the difference between writing regular posts and Interactive posts for Social Media? The difference really lies in “interactivity and engagement first, content second”.
Reflect on how you write your current Social Media posts. Or better, google “How to write Social Media posts”. All the answers, the tips & tricks, and the steps you will find are about the content of your posts. You will find lots of tips such as “Keep it short”, “Use a casual voice”, “Don’t overthink it”, “Use a good CTA”, etc. It is a content-first approach.
But, when writing engaging Interactive Social Media Posts, you will want to reverse this process. In other words, start by defining the goal of your posts and the specific interaction you want to encourage. Then, think about the content.
1. Define the goal of your Social Media posts
First thing first, as with every marketing tactic, everything should be well thought out and be goal-oriented. There are different types of Social Media goals, such as building brand awareness, increasing website traffic, improving community engagement, boosting conversions or sales, collecting data, and generating leads.
2. Determine the specific interaction you want to promote
Once you have established the goal of your Interactive Social Media post, you will want to think about how you want viewers to engage with your post. What is the specific interaction you want them to do? The interaction could be to answer your poll, participate in a contest, share user-generated content, and so on.
3. Choose a type of Interactive Social Media Posts
The objective here is to make sure that you choose the right type of Interactive Posts for Social Media depending on your interaction and goal. For example, a Poll is not the best way to boost sales, but it is great to learn more about your audience’s preferences.
You can find a list of specific Interactive Social Media Posts in the following section.
4. Write the content of the post
Now that the most important things have been defined, you can be creative and write the content of your post. It should follow all the tips & tricks you have heard before: clear, concise, friendly, and so on. Do not forget emojis and hashtags. Plus, follow your brand guidelines.
5. Specify the call-to-action
Don’t forget the most important part of your copy: the CTA. The CTA should be well-thought because it’s the element that links your posts with your desired interaction. It is what will drive passive readers into becoming active participants. You can consider testing your CTA with your friends/colleagues to confirm it is nailed down.
Pro Tip: You can add an incentive to your CTA to boost your result. For example, a chance to win something!
6. Review & Publish
Once your Interactive Social Media post has been written, make sure it is on point: double-check that there are no grammar mistakes and ask for peer review if you are uncertain – Because there is nothing worse than a SoMe post with obvious grammar mistakes! Plus, confirm that you have established a way to measure the effectiveness of your post with actual data. Then, schedule your post at the perfect time to boost your chance to reach the Social Media Holy Grail: a viral post!
7. Reflect on the results
Finally, a couple of days after your post has been shared, take a look at its success. You will want to measure the effectiveness of your Interactive Social Media post by looking at how many viewers did the interaction you wanted them to do. In other words, how interactive was your post?
Related: 25 Types of content marketing to skyrocket your business growth
6 Types of Interactive Social Media posts – with examples
There are many types of Interactive Posts for Social Media. But, in this section, we will focus on 6 of the most important ones. Hopefully, it will give you new Interactive Social Media ideas
1. Contests & Giveaway
Contests & Giveaways are amazing tools because they are one of the best ways to increase customer engagement with Interactive Content on Social Media. Moreover, they are often used to increase awareness because they usually have a higher reach than other types of Interactive Social Media posts.
Pro Tip: You can also add a contest to other Interactive Posts to boost participation!
Example of an Interactive Twitter Post – Contest
| Post Name | Contest – Xbox Series X |
| Post Goal | Lead Generation |
| Post Type | Interactive Twitter Post – Contest |
| Desired Interaction | Filling-in the Lead Form |
| Content | Would you like the chance to win the new Xbox Series X? |
| CTA | Then, click on the link to participate in this contest! |
| Results | Views: 3203 Link clicks: 591 Interactivity Rate: 18,45% |
2. Polls
Polls are amazing to learn more about your audience. Do you want to know if your audience is more interested in an Interactive Flipbook or Interactive Video for your next campaign? Easy, ask your audience in a Poll!
Polls can also be used to entertain your audience. For example, you can ask them what season they like the most or which Harry Potter character would make the best CEO.
Example of an Interactive LinkedIn Post – Poll
| Post Name | Poll – Best CEO – Harry Potter Theme |
| Post Goal | Improve Community Engagement |
| Post Type | Interactive LinkedIn Post – Poll |
| Desired Interaction | Participate in the Poll |
| Content | Who would be the best CEO? |
| CTA | Vote & Let us know why in the comments |
| Results | Views: 987 Link clicks: 65 Interactivity Rate: 6,59% |
3. Link to an Interactive Experience
The specific interaction you wish readers to take when seeing your SoMe posts doesn’t have to be on the Social Media platform. It can also be on your website through an Interactive Experience. Your social media post can simply be the way to share this Interactive Experience.
For example, you could create a Guided Selling Experience and share it through your Social Media platforms.
Example of an Interactive Facebook Post – Link to Interactive Experience
| Post Name | Poll – Best CEO – Harry PotteLink to Guided Selling Experience – Makeup |
| Post Goal | Boost Sales |
| Post Type | Interactive Facebook Post – Link to Interactive Experience |
| Desired Interaction | Do the Guided Selling Experience |
| Content | Are you interested in finding out the best Makeup Routine for your skin type? |
| CTA | Then, click on the link and try our Makeup Matcher! |
| Results | Views: 10 952 Link clicks: 675 Interactivity Rate: 6,16% |
Pro Tip: The MakeUp Routine is a template that is ready to be customized on our Interactive Content platform.
4. Tag a friend post
Another great way of boosting engagement and increasing awareness is to use “Tag a friend” posts. An example could be “Tag the person you want to travel to Italy with”. It’s best if the post is somewhat related to what you do of course!
Example of an Interactive Instagram Post – Tag a friend
| Post Name | Tag a friend – Trip to Italy |
| Post Goal | Increase Awareness |
| Post Type | Interactive Instagram Post – Tag a friend |
| Desired Interaction | Write a comment under the post |
| Content | Italy has been voted #1 destination for couples in 2022. |
| CTA | Tag the person you want to travel to Italy with! |
| Results | Views: 5783 Link clicks: 1234 Interactivity Rate: 21,34% |
5. Discount Posts
The Interactive Social Media idea here is to encourage comments under your post and ultimately increase the reach of your post while also promoting your products. For example, if you own an eCommerce shop, you could publish an Interactive Social Media post where you offer 30% discounts to the first 30 people who comment on your post. A discount post could be a good idea for your next Father’s Day Marketing campaign!
Example of an Interactive Facebook Post – Discount Post
| Post Name | Discount – Bathing Suits |
| Post Goal | Boost Sales |
| Post Type | Interactive Facebook Post – Discount Post |
| Desired Interaction | Write a comment under the post |
| Content | Summer is right around the corner. Have you purchased your bathing suit yet? We want to help! |
| CTA | We will offer 30% discount codes to the first 30 people who comment under this post! |
| Results | Views: 698 Link clicks: 104 Interactivity Rate: 14,90% |
6. User-Generated Content (with hashtags)
User-Generated Content is content that is created by your audience rather than your brand. There are two ways to create User-Generated Content posts. First, you could publish a post to encourage your audience to share User-Generated content. Second, you could reshare User-Generated Content that has already been done. For example, you could reshare a picture of a client wearing your brand. User-Generated Content is often used in Fashion Marketing campaigns.
Both ways are amazing to boost awareness, increase brand loyalty and grow your community.
Pro Tip: Use this User-Generated Contest template to transform your User-Generated post into a contest and create an even better experience for your audience!
Example of an Interactive Instagram Post – User-Generated Content
| Post Name | User-Generated Content – Festival Best Look |
| Post Goal | Increase Brand Awareness |
| Post Type | Interactive Instagram Post – User-Generated Content |
| Desired Interaction | Encouraging viewers to share their best festival look |
| Content | Festival season is finally here! We want to see your best Festival Look for 2022. |
| CTA | Share your look with the hashtags #BestFestivalLook and #BrandName to win 2 tickets for Coachella 2023. |
| Results | Views: 3593 Link clicks: 371 Interactivity Rate: 10,30% |
Ready to change the way you write Social Media posts?
We hope you found this blog post insightful and that you have all you need now to harvest the power of Interactive Social Media posts. As we mentioned earlier, writing Interactive Posts for Social Media is one of the best ways to have a successful Social Media strategy.
If you are interested in finding out more about the unlimited possibilities of Interactive Content, create a free account to try our customizable templates!
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