Have you ever been online researching a topic for work and then somehow 30 minutes fly by and you’re deep into a far-flung article, two or three times removed from the original topic? There is a scientific term for it:
Flow Theory
Flow Theory is defined as the state of effortless concentration and immersion in an activity. It was first theorized in the 1970's, and now modern science is proving that flow translates to online information consumption in a big way. That’s huge news for marketers because we can leverage those scientifically proven psychological triggers that take people into an immersive state and apply it to B2B Digital Marketing.
At White Rhino we describe the process of creating content so immersive that your audience wants to spend extended period of time with it as Addictive ExperienceSM, or AXSM. And if done right, it has powerful results: longer engagement, receptive lead nurturing and ultimately more sales.
There is no doubt about it, sometimes B2B content can be cumbersome, and dare I say it, boring, for your audience to read. We’ve heard countless times from B2B clients that their service line or product is hard to explain to their target audience.
But when you focus less on hammering your audience over the head with your message and instead let them experience it, you can achieve those longer engagement times you need to make a real connection. In fact, scientific studies have shown that online flow experiences can attract consumers, mitigate price sensitivity and positively influence subsequent attitudes and behaviors. This is powerful stuff.
There are 3 main ingredients to create an experience using Flow Theory:
- Perception of Play: Immersion into a digital interactive environment where the user has control
- Challenge: Varying degrees of challenge and skill to increase quality and engagement
- Content consumption: Augmenting product knowledge into a gamified environment
Combining these three elements of Flow Theory along with a deep understanding of your audiences emotional drivers is what will make your content addictive – and get you better ROI. Consider these statistics from a few of our recent AX projects:
- Transforming a B2B software free trial offer into a fun adventure to solve a Casino heist resulted in 650% higher conversion rates to try the product.
- Repurposing a 113-page research report into an interactive visualization that kept visitors engaged for 7 minutes on average – ultimately generating 612% more interest than when the report is delivered as a straight PDF.
The proof is in the pudding, and the pudding tastes like Flow Theory.
