How To Create With out HTML

Earlier than working at Rock Content material, I had by no means had any contact with digital advertising and marketing—or so I believed.

On the time, I didn’t totally grasp the extent of digital advertising and marketing and the quantity of labor it includes. Simply to present you an thought, I used to imagine that each advertising and marketing staff had a developer on board. In any other case, how may an organization like Apple create interactive experiences for every new product launch?

Now, having managed greater than 50 interactive content material creation tasks, I snicker (and sort of cringe) once I suppose again to that point. You see, I don’t code. I don’t know HTML, and I’m nonetheless not sure about what CSS stands for.

The journey from realizing nothing about advertising and marketing or code to the place I’m right now was lengthy, however it began with one query:

Why use interactive content material as an alternative of static supplies?

After I first began working with content material creation, I used to be fairly intimidated by interactive content material, and I didn’t actually see its goal. Why make investments all this extra effort when static supplies can convey the identical info?

I’ve very restricted data about design, and every little thing I do know, I discovered right here whereas working as a challenge supervisor for Rock Content material. So, naturally, it appeared rather more simple to me to not fear about designing and coding an entire web page simply to make use of the identical copy we may have utilized in an e-book.

Nonetheless, as I discovered extra and consumed extra content material, I started to know the strategic facet of interactive content material: it’s extra like a dialog than a lecture.

While you use static content material, you’re merely offering the consumer with info and hoping they supply some suggestions.

In distinction, while you use interactive content material, you’re inviting them to a dialog. You’ll have the ability to observe how they work together with every a part of your content material, perceive what pursuits them probably the most, and establish which topics carry out higher—even when the consumer by no means writes you a single phrase.

If you happen to’re solely targeted on metrics, interactive content material sometimes leads to higher engagement, increased conversion charges, and elevated time spent on the web page.

Learn additionally: How I Elevated an E-Ebook’s Conversion Price by 20.7% Via Interactivity

Furthermore, when you’re contemplating the consumer expertise, it’s fairly intuitive: interactivity holds your curiosity rather more than studying a block of textual content.

At this level, I nonetheless had one query: Even with all that thought-about, is it nonetheless worthwhile to code a complete interactive web page?

What are no-code options, anyway?

We reside in an period the place practically everybody has heard no less than considered one of these phrases: CSS, JavaScript, HTML, Python, and many others.

Studying easy methods to program has by no means been extra vital (no marvel I used to suppose each advertising and marketing division had a developer on their staff).

It was genuinely stunning to study that not solely do most advertising and marketing departments lack a developer, however additionally they are usually severely understaffed.

Contemplating this, and the truth that most individuals neither know easy methods to code nor need to study it, some wonderful platforms present no-code options for designing web sites, blogs, and sure, interactive experiences.

The thought is that you just’re capable of create with out having to code every little thing from scratch – or something, actually. As an alternative, you possibly can merely click on and drag completely different components to the place you’d like them to be, and that’s it.

No-code options for interactive content material 

No-code options are already fairly common for web site and weblog creation. If you happen to watch YouTube as a lot as I do, you’ve in all probability heard about Wix or Squarespace. 

However what when you don’t need to construct an entire new web site? What when you’re simply trying to create interactive content material to distinguish your marketing campaign?

My favourite instrument for that is Ion. Sure, I do know, I’m biased, however I’ve additionally witnessed the ability of this platform time and time once more.

As a challenge supervisor, one of the vital elements for me is to construct rapport with my prospects so I can really perceive their wants. I can inform you there’s no higher strategy to join with somebody than to share experiences with one thing you don’t know a lot about, and for me, that’s coding. Most of my prospects hate it.

Contemplating this situation, listed here are a few of the fundamental benefits I see in Ion:

Simply apply your branding to the content material

You’ll want to incorporate your model supplies on the platform earlier than utilizing it for the primary time. No coding concerned right here.

After that, every little thing you want is well obtainable everytime you create a brand new expertise, guaranteeing your staff stays inside your model pointers.

Simply change your branding 

Did your staff simply revamp your advertising and marketing supplies, and now you’re questioning easy methods to replace each single inventive piece you’ve got? It’s fairly easy: after you replace solely the mandatory property, your interactive content material will replace robotically.

Even when you determine to alter every little thing and create an entire new information, a single click on of a button will assure your creatives are up to date as effectively.

Content material-led design 

While you’re creating your expertise in Ion, you should utilize considered one of its many functionalities to higher spotlight the knowledge, guaranteeing that you just’ll have the very best showcase to your fastidiously crafted content material each single time, simply by dragging and dropping the weather on the web page. 

Tags in every single place 

If you happen to’re a challenge supervisor or somebody who works with information, that is the place Ion thrives. 

You’ll be able to tag completely different components of your expertise with simply a few clicks of the mouse, and know precisely how a lot time your consumer spent on every web page, which components and sections had been probably the most partaking, and the place they’re accessing the expertise from. 

To not point out a full view of the funnel: what number of distinctive customers you bought, what number of engaged and transformed. 

Fast and simple 

For brief-staffed groups, Ion may be your work bestie: it’s potential to create easy experiences in about two hours, from begin to launch.

The platform affords pre-set templates that you should utilize. Once more, with only a few clicks, you possibly can add your model’s supplies, copy, and pictures, and also you’ll be able to go.

Various kinds of experiences

Most individuals suppose no-code options are solely obtainable for ebooks or touchdown pages. Nonetheless, you possibly can go a lot additional than that. 

With ten various kinds of experiences, Ion lets you take advantage of out of your content material in each stage of your funnel. 

Learn additionally: How can we use interactive content material in Rock Content material’s advertising and marketing technique?

Going additional than the interactive touchdown web page

Every stage of the shopper’s journey requires various kinds of content material, and this holds true for interactive experiences as effectively.

If you happen to’re partaking with somebody who has simply found your model, discussing the deserves of your product might not be the simplest method. Due to this fact, it doesn’t actually make sense to offer them with a microsite that solely highlights your options for his or her challenges.

Conversely, when your buyer is already fascinated with doing enterprise with you, a easy infographic might not be the deciding issue.

Think about viewing your content material out of your persona’s perspective: What ache factors have they got? What challenges do they face? And how will you present help?

As an excellent rule of thumb, touchdown pages and interactive infographics are likely to work effectively while you’re aiming for model consciousness, as they will shortly showcase completely different percentages and situations.

Ebooks, assessments, quizzes, and whitepapers are finest suited to the center of the funnel when the shopper understands the choices obtainable to resolve their issues.

Final however not least, calculators are wonderful for the top of the funnel. Sometimes, most calculators require a big quantity of data or delicate information to operate. Your prospects are extra probably to offer this information in the event that they already belief your model.

A typical request I obtain from my prospects is to revamp a web page on their web site to make it extra interactive. This might contain making a extra partaking “About Us” web page for each prospects and workers or embedding a “Resolution Finder” to help prospects find the very best options.

In these instances, there’s a small quantity of coding concerned. Your staff might want to embed the interactive web page utilizing an iframe. That’s it—no extra code to fret about.

My favourite use instances for center and end-of-the-funnel experiences are associated to VSP Imaginative and prescient Care. Their prospects didn’t know which plans would fulfill their wants finest or supply the very best cost-benefit.

Ion not solely solved this downside with a financial savings calculator, permitting customers to evaluate plan worth based mostly on their particular wants and monetary situations, but it surely additionally assisted VSP’s staff in growing a complicated product wizard. This wizard generates personalised suggestions for every buyer, with 98% of them mentioning it as extremely helpful.

Elevated efficiency (regardless of the format)

I discussed earlier how the efficiency of your content material may be enhanced by transitioning from a static format to an interactive expertise. Let me illustrate this with an actual instance: Hootsuite’s Social Media Developments 2022 report.

Via Ion, they managed to take advantage of out of their content material and information, reworking a report, sometimes content-heavy and never notably partaking to learn, into a ravishing, informative, and digestible expertise. 

This made your complete content material a lot simpler to learn and retain and expressed the model’s essence significantly better than a PDF file.

That yr, distinctive visitors visiting the Report pages elevated by 34%, whereas time spent on the web page went up by 119%, whereas the variety of downloads grew by greater than 30%.

Fairly good, huh?

Learn additionally: How Hootsuite Reworked Its Largest Annual Marketing campaign

Right here’s a enjoyable reality: do you know that 75% of entrepreneurs use interactivity to boost academic content material? By partaking with completely different components on the display screen and even answering quiz questions, the consumer’s retention of your content material will increase exponentially.

Ultimate Ideas

Interactive content material isn’t simply the way forward for content material creation; it’s already the current.

You need to use it to make your technique extra versatile. It could possibly assist educate your prospects, elevate consciousness of your merchandise and options, and even help your individual staff in successfully speaking your model’s worth.

Don’t let your issues about coding deter you from including this instrument to your arsenal.

If you happen to do have some coding data, you possibly can additional customise it utilizing CSS. If you happen to don’t code, you possibly can merely neglect that programming exists and concentrate on what you do finest: creating content material and fascinated with your shoppers.

No HTML required.

Wish to see easy methods to add interactivity to your advertising and marketing? Click on right here to get a free demo with considered one of our specialists.