Engagement in Digital Media

Digital communication has become more and more relevant than ever before. People have access to all kinds of digital platforms such as social media, emails, and more. Digital media can engage users in ways that print media cannot, and the purpose of this blog is to introduce some ways to make your digital media engaging and how to accomplish them.

Interactive PDFs

PDF files have been in existence for a long time. Over time they have evolved and today’s PDFs have many interactive capabilities that can make them more engaging. Videos can be embedded into PDF files, and navigational buttons can be programmed into PDFs as well. All of that can be done when editing the file in layout software such as Adobe InDesign.

Above: Editing a button in Adobe InDesign 2021

How to create buttons in InDesign 2021: Create an object you want to use as a button. Select it, then go to Object > Interactive > Convert to Button. The buttons and forms panel should appear. This panel gives you various options, such as naming the button, adjusting its appearance when the cursor is hovering over it, and more. You will have to add an action in this panel for the button to work. Various actions can be performed by buttons, such as moving between pages, playing a video or animation, and printing the page. There are many more actions than the ones listed here.

How to add a media file in InDesign 2021: Video and audio files can be imported into your InDesign document by going to File > Place. Select the media file you want to add, and place it where you want. You can open the media panel by going to Window > Interactive > Media. The media panel will let you preview the clip and change settings. Make sure you export the document as an interactive PDF instead of a print PDF, otherwise your media file won’t play. A list of supported formats can be found here.

How to generate a QR Code In InDesign 2021: Go to Object > Generate QR Code. You will be able to edit the content and colour of the QR Code before placing it. This can be useful if you want to include a link to your organization’s web page in the PDF.

Above: Creating a QR code leading to the IDC website

Web Tools

There are a number of tools that can help you to get a glimpse at how wide of an audience you are reaching, and to whom your digital media is reaching and having an impact on. Google Analytics is a platform that allows you to see who is accessing your digital media, and for how long. It is a tool that lets you track activity on your web pages and apps. This can give a good indicator on how successful your marketing, brand, and product actually are. You can learn more by visiting their website. Another tool that can be used are web cookies. Web servers are able to send small pieces of data, known as cookies, to a user’s web browser. If that particular website is visited again, the browser can send the cookie back for additional information. A common use for cookies is to keep a user logged in if they access the same website multiple times. Cookies are used for remembering specific things, such as a virtual shopping cart, as well as for storing personalized preferences and tracking users. One way to reach out to additional users is search engine optimization (SEO). Your business can pay a search engine to place your links at the top of the page. Doing this will ensure that users will see it when they search for your product.

With all these tracking measures however, it is important to keep user privacy in mind as well. Privacy is a fundamental human right, but the internet makes it harder for people to protect their data. There will be some users who might ask to not be tracked. Some web browsers, such as Apple Safari, have anti-tracking features built in that can prevent specific sites from profiling them. Be sure to follow all internet privacy regulations in your area.

How to Make Your Website Searchable

There are a number of strategies to make your website more searchable in Google and other search engines. One easy strategy is to make your website load as quickly as possible. Using few images and HTTPS requests can help with speeding up your website. There are also tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights that can show you how quickly your website is likely to load. It is important to identify the right keywords to put in your headings and URL as well. A tool called Semrush can be used to determine how searchable your website is using a specific keyword. Semrush can give lots of valuable data, such as how many search results there are for a specific keyword, what words are commonly used to search for products like yours, and the overall chance of your website being easily searched for.

Making Webinars Engaging

Let’s face it, sometimes webinars can be hard to sit through. It is important to try to keep your webinars engaging so that your attendees get as much as they can out of it. One strategy that is quite effective is making some sort of game out of it. A simple yet effective way to do this is by creating a quiz on Kahoot for everyone to participate in, since it has a competitive component to it. Engaging visuals are also highly recommended. It is a good idea to focus more on the graphics and photos in the visual component and use a minimal amount of text. Chances are that your attendees will not be fully engaged if your visual component has excessive text. Audience interaction is also recommended. Having a chat box, live discussions, and audience participation will make the webinar more engaging for the attendees, and also a more enjoyable experience for the presenter. Most video conferencing software and websites should have at least some of those features present.

Making Promotional Emails Engaging

There are a number of strategies to make your promotional emails more engaging to the consumer. It can be as simple as having an engaging subject line. Offering exclusive offers will also help make your emails more engaging. Try to keep promotional emails short and add a sentimental component to them.

Above: Nintendo’s thank you email

For example, I actually receive regular promotional emails from Nintendo. One thing that they do that establishes an emotional connection is thanking you for playing their new games. I have recently started playing one of their newest video games, and Nintendo has sent me a thank you email. They made sure to say thank you in the subject line and to make it a major part of the email. They also recommended some other games I would enjoy playing.

One service that can help your company to make engaging emails is Mailchimp. It can let you easily personalize emails as well as build your brand in a variety of different ways. The service also lets you create your own website and track how well your campaign is doing.

I hope that this blog post has been informative and given you an insight into how digital media can be engaging.

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Sources

Adobe. (2021, August 15). Add movie and sound files to InDesign documents. InDesign User Guide. Retrieved October 29, 2021, from https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/indesign/using/movies-sounds.html.

Google. (2021). Google Analytics. Google. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/provision/#/provision.

Martin, N. (2017, October 2). 7 Creative Ways To Make Your Next Webinar Engaging & Memorable. MaestroConference Blog. Retrieved October 29, 2021, from http://blog.maestroconference.com/7-ways-make-webinars-engaging-memorable/.

McGuire, S. (2019). 5 Tips to Create an Engaging Email Marketing Campaign. Invesp. Retrieved October 29, 2021, from https://www.invespcro.com/blog/5-tips-to-create-an-engaging-email-marketing-campaign/.

MDN Contributors. (2021). Using HTTP cookies. HTTP | MDN. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Cookies.

Moz, Inc. (2021). What Is SEO? Moz. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://moz.com/learn/seo/what-is-seo.

Rocket Science Group. (2021). Mailchimp. Retrieved October 29, 2021, from https://mailchimp.com/.

Singleton, C. (2021, October 26). How to Make Your Site More Visible on Google. Style Factory. Retrieved October 29, 2021, from https://www.stylefactoryproductions.com/blog/six-simple-ways-to-make-your-site-more-visible-in-google-search-results.