Marketing Apps: How To Turn Interaction into Business Action

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Turning Interaction into Business Action

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What’s Inside?• Marketing apps: what & why • 9 Ideas for effective marketing apps • Lots of examples & inspiration • Get the Marketing Apps Idea Book at: http://www.ioninteractive.com



What In The Heck Is A Marketing

App?




Marketing apps leverage usefulness to turn static content into applications that engage & convert

Think: interactive, browser-based digital experiences



Why Marketing Apps Rock• Highly engaging for visitors • Bring the interactions of mobile apps to browser-based

experiences • Can be conversion-focused • Provide highly valuable segmentation & sales enablement data • Makes marketing useful, leveraging “Youtility”



Two marketing trends support your move to marketing apps:

1. Youtility — people want useful things 2. The rise of content overload — people want

content “snacks”



If you sell something, you make a customer today; if you help someone, you make a customer for life. -Jay Baer

Marketing apps like calculators, price estimators & quizzes are helpful!Smart marketing is about help, not hype



Youtility transforms content into something useful, memorable & valuable

Marketing apps are useful, memorable & valuable



The content marketing problem


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More interactive & useful content

The content marketing solution:

Richer content experiences#11



Moz’s 12-chapter ebook is delivered within a single web page!Clickable chapters allow for easy navigation to relevant topics

<- Nice up sell!

A great example of Youtility…



9 Ideas for effective marketing apps



Idea #1: Calculator



Dell’s ROI Calculator estimates potential

ROI



Takes you through six

steps to help

determine savings



Captures contact

information on final step



Generates a comprehensive ROI report that can be saved or printed



H&R Block provides a tax return calculator & estimator



Gives advice for tax savings

Provides office locator



ion’s calculator allows for easy estimation of pricing



The option to request custom pricing is also available The option to request custom pricing is also available



AARP provides a calculator for comparing health plans and finding potential savings



Characteristics Of Calculators• Typically multi-step • Used for estimation, pricing, calculation of savings, etc. • Values can be adjusted to see different outcomes • Results can/should be made available to save, print or email

for easy reference • Highly useful for B2B and B2C alike • Valuable resource for customers



Idea #2: Configurator



BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia provides health plans based on number of employees



Gives health plan options for companies with less than 50 employees



AT&T data calculator lets you estimate monthly usage, then recommends a plan



Bellroy uses an interactive wallet slider to compare their “slim” wallets to traditional wallets

<- Love the use of the content rotator to showcase product benefits



Then, you gives you options for wallets based on folded or flat bills…

<- Scroll over for product details, or purchase now!



Visitors expect a highly personalized configurator experience when researching and shopping for vehicles



Characteristics Of Configurators• Typically multi-step, very “hands on” • May also be referred to as a ‘wizard’ • Allow for assembly or packaging of products or services • Displays a customized output for every individual • Valuable resource for customers • Can be a competitive advantage for both B2B & B2C



Idea #3: Conversion Path



Ford uses highly visual “segmentation” options



Each choice is “paid off” on the subsequent page



Three clicks get you where you need to be



Iron Mountain gives “need” based segmentation options to bucket visitors into targeted offer pages



FrontPoint Security takes visitors through a 4-step conversion path…



To help determine security needs & request a quote



Includes a qualification question



And asks to exchange some basic information for a cost estimate & coupon



ion allows brands and agencies to ‘choose a path’ to the 50 Landing Page Best Practices Guide



Characteristics Of Conversion Paths• Typically highly visual & clickable • Users segment themselves into buckets • Targeted content can then be presented for each segment • Segments should be mutually exclusive • Choice should be “easy” • Provide valuable data to sales & marketing, without asking

for it outright



Idea #4: Content Wizard



Phoenix Children’s Injury Prevention Center configures car seat recommendations through a Q&A web app



Asks several questions in order to customize the output



Then, provides video, images, and content relevant to the unique car seat needs



Smart Insights’ ‘health check’ tool assesses the health of your digital marketing



Then, gives advice & content recommendations based on answers



The San Francisco Dept. of Emergency Management quizzes visitors on earthquake preparedness



Choose your location!



Provides helpful safety tips, based on answers



Characteristics Of Content Wizards• Typically multi-step & highly interactive • Used for for customization of content, using criteria or filters • Helps with “content overload” — providing a more enjoyable

& personal user experience • Provides highly valuable information — advice,

recommendations, tips — to visitors based on their selections

• Highly valuable for both B2B & B2C



Idea #5: Quiz/Assessment



ion’s ‘Post-click Assessment’ gives guidance on building a successful post-click program



Visitors are taken through a Q&A session



Score, with recommendations are given…results can be sent via email





Characteristics Of Quizzes/Assessments• Highly engaging & entertaining • Typically multi-page/multi-choice • Can be used to educate visitors — giving valuable insights,

advice & recommendations • Responses can be used to surface warm leads • Data can be used to drive targeted marketing campaigns • Highly valuable for B2B & B2C



Idea #6: Survey



toyotasurvey.ca



Commission Junction uses an ‘advertiser application’ to encourage membership sign up

Provides plenty of options to learn more or get started



Characteristics Of Surveys• Typically research-focused • However, in marketing context can be more persuasive • Strategically designed to capture information/data that is

unknown to marketing • Provides marketing with benchmarks • Provides sales enablement data & marketing automation

insight into segmentation • Can be combined with an incentive to encourage

participation



Idea #7: Contest



Marin Software challenges “search geeks” to a timed quiz



Winners awarded various levels of prizes



Characteristics Of Contests• Highly engaging & fun • Prizes or “cred” typically used to incentivize competition • Designed to engage & deepen interest in a product or brand • Great for social or viral campaigns • Should be “shareable” — including links to Tweet, Like &

Share • Can be used to collect data used in marketing & sales

enablement



Idea #8: Voting



Cintas’ hosts a yearly America’s Best Bathroom Contest…and promotes via a beautiful microsite



IDWholesale designed a lanyard design contest, allowing visitors to vote on their favorite entries



Characteristics Of Voting• Typically highly visual & clickable • Designed to engage & deepen interest in a product or brand • Great for social or viral campaigns • Should be “shareable” — including links to Tweet, Like &

Share • Can be used to collect data used in marketing & sales

enablement



Idea #9: Game



IBM’s CityOne game is targeted at business leaders, city planners, and government agencies !The game allows players to react to a variety of crises and see how their decisions affect outcomes



CramerSweeney tests your “brand IQ” using game show style quiz



Characteristics Of Games• Highly engaging & fun • Used to educate & entertain • Helps drive community & brand loyalty • Many involve rewards, prizes or incentives • Can be highly valuable for both B2B & B2C



Calculators Configurators

Content Wizards Games Quizzes Surveys Voting

Conversion Paths Contests

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Easily create & test app-like digital experiences with ion. !

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