What is interactive media?
Interactive media allows users to engage with elements such as computer graphics, digital text, animation, video, and sound. This content relies on users’ input, which shifts their role from observers to participants.
The best content experience platforms are used to process and share information in personalized ways. The most common types include social media, websites, video games, digital marketing tools, and training programs.
In 2022, Instagram added reel templates, a game-changing feature that allows its users to add preferred photos or video clips to pre-existing templates consisting of defined time slots. It allows users to interact with the platform, speed up the content creation process, and increase time on the site.
Types of interactive media
As digital times advance, internet users want to actively engage with digital media rather than passively consume the content like with newspapers, cable, or satellite. Users have many examples of interactive media to explore.
- Virtual reality (VR): Even though the name may be familiar, many people are still asking, ”what is virtual reality?".Put simply, VR is a computer-developed environment that appears true to life. It creates a simulated, immersive environment for users that allows them to exist in a world where everything is artificially constructed through images, sounds, and other effects. Users enter this world by wearing a special headset or helmet.
- Mobile applications: Applications, or “apps,” are easily-accessible programs on portable devices such as smartphones or tablets rather than desktops or laptops. Mobile apps for gaming, lifestyle, and entertainment deliver output based on user input.
- Social media: Social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are digital communities where users navigate, generate, and share content. These apps enable a two-way flow of information between content creators and consumers by sharing photos, messages, and games.
- Websites: People access information over the internet via websites. Giving out information alone is no longer enough. Interactive websites include video, animation, and sound to engage visitors and provide an experience that creates an impact.
- Video games: A video game is a game one plays on a computer or a console for entertainment. It's an interactive computer program that takes inputs via a controller, keyboard, or joystick and engages users in a simulated audio-visual environment.
Benefits of interactive media
The requirement for communication media that do more than just the bare minimum is increasing. Three reasons why interactive media is currently trending are:
- Personalization: The output of interactive media is driven by user input, which means it personalizes experiences according to what the consumer needs and prefers, making it a more relatable medium.
- Engagement: Interactive media creates highly authentic experiences that influence how people think, feel, and behave. It can personalize content for different users, which leads to a boost in engagement. While Static content is compelling, it lacks a personalized user experience. This can negatively impact engagement and retention. This is where interactive content helps.
- Data collection: Users have to select and respond to questions when they engage with interactive media. This accumulates data that can later be analyzed to offer better experiences for the consumer.
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Learning: Interactive content fosters learning and knowledge retention. As users spend more time interacting with the subject, they’re more likely to understand and remember it for extended periods.
Interactive media vs. traditional media
Traditional media includes pre-internet outlets such as cable, satellite, newspapers, and billboards. While traditional media has been used for decades, it doesn’t cater to the personalized requirements of each consumer.
The internet has drastically changed how people consume content because it has made accessing information faster and combines formats such as audio, videos, and animation to enhance user experience.
Interactive media connects and engages with users in ways that non-interactive media cannot. It attempts to live up to the preferences individuals expect when consuming content.
Many businesses have shifted from traditional marketing efforts to customer-centric, interactive marketing that involves diverse interactive media technologies.
Get started on the journey of creating a future-proof interactive marketing strategy.
Devyani Mehta
Devyani Mehta is a content marketing specialist at G2. She has worked with several SaaS startups in India, which has helped her gain diverse industry experience. At G2, she shares her insights on complex cybersecurity concepts like web application firewalls, RASP, and SSPM. Outside work, she enjoys traveling, cafe hopping, and volunteering in the education sector. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
