Like never before, demand for digital content is on the rise. But not just static, lifeless content that’s simply been loaded to a website—today’s digital consumers expect more visually engaging content than that. Smart brands are dazzling their customers and prospects with eye-popping immersive content to better catch their attention and interest—and drive them to explore the brand site, and often make a purchase.
A newly released report from interactive SaaS design platform Ceros, The Embrace of Immersive Content, uncovers current marketing strategies and use of immersive content based on a survey of more than 1,000 marketing, PR, and design professionals at a variety of companies and in different industries.An overwhelming number of respondents said that content designed to encourage active participation and a higher level of engagement is more effective.
The study breaks down findings into four sections highlighting success strategies and roadblocks of those who excel in a content strategy and those who do not. Key findings from the report include:
- 90 percent agree content designed to create an experience performs better, yet most are producing more static content than interactive
- Top three barriers to immersive content creation include difficulty securing budget (52 percent), lack of in-house skills (36 percent) and little to no leadership buy-in (23 percent)
- 7 out of 10 professionals agree that playing it safe is the biggest risk today’s marketers face
“The biggest learning from this report is that today’s marketers know and understand the value of immersive content, but struggle to put a strategy in play because they don’t have the proper tools, resources, or internal buy-in,” said Alex Kelly, director of digital marketing at Ceros, who led the survey, in a news release. “Eighty-one percent said they wished their company published more interactive and engaging content—that number makes me cringe! It’s up to the leadership teams to empower marketers and designers with the resources and creative freedom they need to burn those barriers.”
“More than any other company stakeholders, marketers understand the struggle to get their customers’ attention and the importance of keeping them engaged,” the study reports. “They report that the biggest threats to marketing itself are, predictably enough, social media fatigue (43 percent), a changing marketing landscape (32 percent), and burnout (32 percent). Considering the obstacles they face, marketers know the content they create has to stand out.”
Participants in the survey consisted of marketing, PR and design professionals across small, mid-size, and large companies from five different countries. Seniority within companies included individual, manager, director, C-level, owner and other.
Download the full report here.
More than 1,000 marketing, PR, and design professionals took this extensive survey. They represent a mix of companies—40 percent are B2B, 43 percent are B2C, while there were a handful of government and creative agencies—spread evenly between small, mid-size, and large companies. All of them are, in one way or another, in the business of content creation.
