HowInteractiveContentCanBoostUserEngagementInterviewwithOutgrow

Outgrowisagame-changingplatformthatallowsyoutocreateinteractivecalculators,quizzes,recommendations,polls,andchatbotsthatexciteyourcustomersandgenerateleads.Thissimpleyetpowerfuldraganddropbuilderallowsbusinessestoquicklycreatehighlyengagingandvalue-drivenCostEstimators,Savings/ROIcalculators&othertypesofinteractivecontent.Inthisinterview,OutgrowCreativeDirectorSakshamSardaexplainswhyuserinteractionissoimportantandgivessomebrillianttipsandideasforgeneratingleadsandsales.

PleasedescribethestorybehindOutgrow:howitstarted,andhowithasevolvedsofar

Originally,wehadanothercompanythatwasdevelopingcustommobileapps.Oneofthefirstquestionspeoplewouldaskuswas“Howmuchisitgoingtocosttobuildaparticularapp?”Toanswerthatquestion,wecreatedacalculatorthattooktheuserthroughaseriesofsimplequestions,like:?

WhatkindofappdoyouwantWhichstoresdoyouwanttoputitonWheredoyouwanttooutsourceyourteamfrom?Becauseyouknow,thepricerangediffersdependingontheteamyouhire.?

Thatcalculatorgaveaverypersonalizedestimateofhowmuchyourappwasgoingtocost,anditwentcompletelyviral.Wegotsomanyleadsfromit,wedecidedtostartacompanythatwouldallowotherbusinessestomakesimilarcalculatorsandinteractivecontentpiecesforleadgeneration,that’showtheideaforOutgrowcameabout.

Werealizedthatintheagewearelivingintoday,there’stoomuchinformationandtoomuchmisinformationgoingaround,sotheuserreallydoesn’tknowwhattochoose.That’swhereinteractivecontentcomesinbecauseitgivespersonalized,targetedvaluetocustomers.AndanyonecanbuildsuchcontentonOutgrow.cowithoutrequiringcodersordevelopers.?

Weoffereightfundamentalkindsofinteractivecontent:calculators,quizzes,assessments,recommendations,polls,chatbots,giveawaysorcontests,andfinally,formsandsurveys.?

Thesearetheeightbasictypesbecauseeachofthemaddressesafundamentalhumanneed.ButasyougoonOutgrow.coandyoustartbuildingoneofthesecontenttypes,whatyou’llrealizeisthatyoucancombineacalculatorwithaquizorwithacontestandyoucomeupwithsomethingevenmoreengagingandcomplex,somethingthatisgoingtooffernovelandcreativesolutionstotheusers’needs.?

Eveninmycase,whenI’mfreeontheweekend,Igoonourownsoftware,andItrytodesignstuffbecauseit’sjustsomuchfunandsoeasytodo.It’sreallyeasytocomeupwithnewideasforattractingtraffictoyourwebsiteandprovidingvaluetoyourcustomers.?Youcanmakeappletsandwidgetsbyjustusingourdraganddropfeatures:youjustgoonthere,makesomethingovertheweekend,putitonyourwebsiteonMonday,andtestifitworks.Ifitdoesn’t,youcanmakeimprovementsbasedonthedatathatisbeingcollected.Thisbasicallyallowsyoutoplayatthesamelevelashugeenterprisesbecauseyouareabletomakeandtestmarketingtoolsquickly.

HowtouseOutgrow

WatchthisdetailedtutorialtolearneverythingyouneedtoknowaboutbuildingyourinteractivecontentwithOutgrow.

Inyourview,whataresomeofthechallengesthatmarketersarefacingthesedays,andhowdoesyoursolutionhelp.

Theagewe’relivinginisofficiallyclassifiedastheinformationage,butIthinkwe’relivinginaverylateperiodofthatage,andit’snowmoreofanageofmisinformation.Thereistoomuchinformation.Soifyouwant,forinstance,tohirealawyer,yougoonlineandyoulookuplawyers,butyoudon’tknowwhichonetopickbecausetherearesomanyofthemandthere’ssomuchcontentontheirwebsites.Inmostcases,you’llseeabasicCall-to-Actionontheirwebsitelike“CONTACTME”.Therearetonnesoflawyerswiththatkindofacall-to-actionandtherereallyisnoincentiveforyoutogowithaparticularlawyerinsteadofanother.

NowimagineiftheCall-to-actionwas“SeeHowMuchICanSaveYouinLegalFees”,givingyouapersonalizedestimateofwhatyoursavingswouldbeifyouwentwiththisparticularlawyer.Ifyouarethekindofclientthatlikestobeshortandtothepoint,you’remorelikelytoclickonthat.SoIthinkOutgrowsolvesabasicneedfortargetedinformation,thatistosay,informationthatisrelevanttoeachindividualcustomer.?

ThatishowinteractivecontentcanhelpwithwhatisknownineCommerceasChoiceParalysis,whichiswhathappenswhenyougoonlinewiththeintentiontobuysomething,butthere’stoomuchchoiceandyoucan’tmakeupyourmind,soyoudroptheideaaltogether.?

Forexample,let’ssayyouhaveastorethatsellssunglasses.WithOutgrow,youcouldhaveaChatbotorashopassistanttorecommendparticularsunglassestoyourcustomersbasedontheirfaceshape,eyecolor,skintone,etc.Oncethedataistakenin,thealgorithmwillprovidepersonalizedrecommendations,givingthecustomertargetedoptionstochoosefrom.ThereareenterprisesandlargecompanieslikeAmazon,L’Oreal,IKEA,etc.whoaredoingthisalready,butwithOutgrow,forthefirsttime,smallandmedium-sizedbusinesseshavetheabilitytodothesamequicklyandleveluptheplayingfield.

Whatwouldbeourtipsforimprovingengagementanduserinteraction?

Forimprovingengagementanduserinteraction,thefirstthingtobeginwithisconvertwhateverplaintextyouhaveonyourwebsiteintosomethinginteractive,becauseoneofthebasicthingsthathumanbeingsliketodoistointeract.Peopleliketoengageandtherearen’tmanywaysyoucanengagewithatextthatisjustwrittenasanarticleorapost.Ithastobeinteractive.IthinkthebiggestexamplethatIcangiveyoufromourowntimesisthemeteoricriseofBuzzFeedandit’squizzes.?

BuzzFeedgotallitsaudiencesinthe2000ssingle-handedlybyhavingengagingarticles,insteadofstaticarticles,andthat’swhatmostnewswebsiteshavestarteddoingnowadaysaswell.

BBChasadailynewsquizandCNNhasquizzestoo.Infact,oneofthemostreadarticlesontheNewYorkTimesin2017wasactuallyaquizandnotastaticarticle.?

SotheoneadviceIcangiveaboutengagementandinteractionistomakeyourcontentlessstatic.Thekeythingispeoplegenerallyhaveverylowattentionspannowadays(asthesayinggoes:“millennialshavetheattentionspanofagoldfish”),sotheyarenotgoingtofocusonyourcontentformorethan,say,aminute.Thatistosay,youhave60secondstocatchtheirattentionandprovidethemvalue,andiftheydon’tseesomethingthatcatchestheireye,theywouldjustgotosomeotherwebsite.?

Sothebestthingonecandoisprovideapersonalizedvalueviaaquizoracalculatororarecommendation.Thatway,youhavetheusers’attentionandyou’regivingthemanimmediatevaluethatisveryrelevanttothem,sothat’swhatIwouldadvise.

CanyoumentionsometypicalusecasesforOutgrow?

Ialreadygavetheexamplewiththe“WhichSunglassesWouldSuitYouBest”widget?whereyouasktheuserfortheirfaceshape,skintone,eyecolor,whatfashionstheylike,andbasedonthatyouautomaticallysuggestsunglassestothemThereareactuallytwothingsyouaredoinghere:?

Youarerecommendingrelevantproductsandprovidingeducationalvalue?Every-timetheuseranswersaquestion,youarecollectingmarketingdatathatyoucanlaterusetore-targetthecustomerevenifheorshemakesnopurchase.Youcanusethisdatatofurtherimproveyourproducts,toseewhatkindofproductsyouneedtoaddtoyourstock,andtounderstandhowyoushouldadvertisetoyouraudiences.?

Anotherexample:BeautyandWellnesssitescanuseittohelptheircustomersfind“WhatMakeupSetsWouldSuitYouBest”.Iactuallydidn’tknowaboutthisuntilaclienttoldmethatoneofthekeyquestionsforthisrecommendationshouldbe“whatcoloraretheveinsunderyourwrists?”thatdetermineswhatmakeupsetsuitsyou.?

SothepointI’mtryingtomakeisthatanyonewhohasspecializedknowledgeabouttheirindustryprobablyalreadyknowshowtheycanuseinteractivecontenttoprovideabetterservicetotheirclients.Outgrowisusedinaround31industries.Wehaveuniversalusecasesforsmall,mediumandlargeenterprises.?Herearesomeotherexamples:?

WhichAdvertisingPackageShouldYouGetWhichHaircutShouldYouGetHomepageChatbotCostSavingsCalculator:HowMuchDoYouSavebyBuyingaTESLA?

Letmegiveyouanotherexample:youmusthaveseentherearealotofinfluencersnowadays,butonInstagramspecifically,therearealotoffitnessinfluencersinvitingyoutofollowtheirworkoutplanandassuringyouthatit’llmakeyoufitinsoandsomanydays.?Theproblemwiththisishoweverthatonefitnessplanisprobablynotgoingtoworkforthatinfluencer’sdiverseaudience.

Sothenyouseesomeinfluencerswhohavegoneonestepaheadfromthis,andtheyputalinktoaquizintheirInstagramstory.Thequizasksyoutoanswersomeparticularquestionsaboutyouandyourbodytype,anditthenrecommendsaparticularfitnessplanthatwillworkonlyforyou.Now,theseinfluencersareprovidingaverytargetedvaluetotheirusers,sothey’rekeepingthemengagedverynaturally.It’slikehavingyourownpersonaltraineronline.AndsothatiswhatalotofInstagraminfluencersaredoingnowandthat’sjustoneusecaseofhowyoucanuseinteractivecontent.?

Anotherusecaseiscalculators.Morespecifically,there’sareturnofinvestmentcalculatorthatalotofsoftwarecompaniesareusing.Ifyourcompanyissellingaphysicalproduct,it’seasyforuserstoseethattheyarespendingsay$40andtheyaregettingsomethingconcreteinreturn.Butwhenyouprovideaservice,usuallyit’sgoingtobealongtermbenefit,soyouneedtoshowyourusershowmuchmoneytheywillsaveovertimeandwhatbenefitstheywillgetovertimebyusingyourservice.?

Theeasiestwaytodothisistohaveacalculatorthatletspeopleinserttheirbudget,andseewhatresultstheycangetfromitovertime.Thecalculatorcanalsomakeapersonalizedinfographicfortheusers,wheretheycansee,forinstance,howmanyclientstheycangetperyearandinthelongrunbyusingthiscompany’sservices.Infographicdataiseasierforaudiencestounderstand,andfortheserviceindustry,youreallyneedtoshowyourcustomer(inagraph)howthevaluewillbeprovidedovertime.?

HowhasCOVID-19affectedyourbusinessandindustry?

Oh,notmuch.Wehavehadsubscriberswhoareprettyloyalandhavebeenwithusforawhilenow,soIwouldn’tsayit’sparticularlyaffectedus.Forus,it’sactuallybeenallaboutfindingwaystohelpourclientsthroughthesetoughtimes.?

Weneverhadadefensiveapproach,weneverworriedaboutwhetherpeoplemightleaveus,wealwayshadmoreofanaggressiveapproach,andthemainquestionwas“howcanwebehelpfulasaservicetoourclientsaswellasthegeneralpublic.”?

Forinstance:assoonasthelockdownstartedcomingintoeffect,allrestaurantswerebanned,butthelawhadabitofaloopholeinitandsaidrestaurantsarebannedbutTakeawayandDeliveryarenotbanned.Sorestaurantsstartedconvertingintotakeawayanddeliveryspots,usingdeliveryserviceslikeUberEatsorWolt.Other