What are Interactive Videos and their Functionalities?
In any regular piece of video content, viewers have little more agency than deciding when to play, pause, rewind, and skip ahead. Interactive videos also enable viewers to provide input that affects the nature of the video they are watching in different ways.
In essence, interactive videos are pieces of media that make viewers and active participants – directors, if you will – of the content they are watching.
As they put the viewer at the center of the action, the communication and interaction tend to be much more immersive than with traditional video pieces. Moreover, due to their novelty and inherent immersive aspect, interactive videos provide a perfect medium to make the viewing experience much more customizable, enjoyable, and memorable.
Interactive Video Functionalities
Thanks to technology like branching video software and online video streaming, interactive video development lets you create content that gives viewers a number of exciting options and choices. Like allowing them to jump to related pieces of media, find out more information about a product on screen, or even choose the angle a given scene is presented from.
Some of the functionalities you can add to your interactive video are:
- 360-degree views: These allow viewers to drag the screen and see different directions. For example, you can use 360-degree views to display your store from the inside and give viewers a more immersive experience.
- Hotspots: These refer to clickable areas within a video. They can be call-to-action buttons, links that take people to a webpage, or overlays with additional information. You can use hotspots to add a detailed description of a character or information like a product’s price and delivery time.
- Branches: With these, users can choose the direction of the narrative or the next action. For instance, if you sell clothes, you can give viewers the option to choose between “summer season” and “spring season” to view an entirely different product line within the video organically.
- Add-to-cart links: People can click and add a product to the cart while watching the video.
- Quizzes, surveys, and games: Not only can these help you engage viewers, but they also allow you to gather contact information and generate leads.
Why Should You Add Interactive Video to Your Marketing Strategy?
So, we know that interactive video makes viewers active participants when consuming your content, giving them agency and making the whole experience far more engaging than it normally would be.
However, engagement is just one of the great benefits of this type of content. Here are a few other relevant ones.
Interactive video is leading the way:
When it comes to marketing, using the ultimate and more popular tools is one of the most effective ways to reach an audience. On the same note, consumers are craving more personalized content that makes them feel like more than mere spectators.
Interactive video has the best of both worlds, making it perfect for enhancing your audience’s experience and involvement with your brand.
People will remember your message better if it’s interactive:
Whatever your niche, you probably face stiff competition. And, of course, these competitors are trying to win over the same people you are trying to appeal to. Thus, you’ll have to find ways of standing out and getting people’s attention. Interactive videos can lend you a hand!
First, they are more fun than linear videos. On top of that, they enable people to be part of the narrative, resulting in a stronger emotional bond with your message. All in all, letting viewers get involved with the content will make your video and brand more memorable.
It enhances your return on investment:
Video, in general, gives you a great way to improve your marketing ROI; that’s a given. And you can take this to a new level by adding interactive elements to your content.
You see, interactive video is perfect for boosting your marketing strategy; with the use of buyable links and hotspots in your content, people won’t have to stop watching the video to make a purchase. That alone can make the right interactive video into a conversion powerhouse.
It excels at lead generation:
As we’ve said before, including quizzes, polls, or games in your video is a great move to collect data about your customers and prospects. People will want to participate and won’t mind providing their contact information for the opportunity.
The creative options are endless; just make sure to develop unique experiences for your prospects and customers! Put viewers in the driver’s seat, and we promise you they won’t forget your brand. Good Luck!
