We are living in the era of videos.
Shortform, long-form, vertical, horizontal, integrated into websites and platforms, on billboards — the moving image is all around us.
But with so many videos being created and shared, it is getting harder to capture the attention of the audience for more than a couple of seconds.
This is why interactive videos are a crucial marketing tool for building a community and getting your business to the next level.
In this post, we will explain:
- What interactive video marketing is
- How powerful it can be for your content
- Why it is so effective
- Shoppable video examples, quizzes, and other interactive videos
- What makes good interactive videos company
- Examples of businesses that expanded greatly due to tools of interaction
- How to get started with creating your own interactive videos.
New level of immersion – A complete transformation of visual storytelling
To understand how interaction changes the experience of watching the video, think of what you know about regular video, or what we would call linear video.
Videos normally have a set beginning, middle and end, with the option to skip or go back on one linear path.
Introducing interaction to this format takes the viewer through all sorts of paths. The video starts in a certain way and then allows the user to choose its own direction through a variety of tools.
The viewer can discover a new path of content by clicking, scrolling, dragging, hovering, turning or shaking the device.
You can create an interactive video with tools accessible on common social media platforms. Using tools like quizzes, pools, question bubbles and other buttons that inspire engagement and interaction between the content and the audience.
YouTube interactive videos have been around for a long time, with creators crafting video game-like experiences using the built-in annotation buttons and end cards available on the platform.
Interactive video creation can be created completely custom in an interactive video software and adapted to personal websites and various platforms.
What is driving the trend of creating interactive video content is the need to engage with the audience in a more meaningful way.
Video content is extremely popular today and very effective at getting the point across but it is getting harder to engage with the audience and capture their attention long enough to create a connection.
Interactive video marketing revolutionizes storytelling by completely changing the relationship that the viewer has with the content. Interactions make video viewing an active engagement instead of passive.
The viewer feels engaged by creating personal choices and satisfied when new content is revealed. To the viewer it feels like they are discovering information on their own, instead of being served content.
Understanding the power of this new form of storytelling will lead you to:
- much better results with your business
- forming relationships with the audience
- retaining a community of users.
Leveraging interactive video marketing to drive results
The main benefit of interactive video marketing is a much higher level of attention given to the content. Interactive video results in a whopping 591% lift in user activity.
The immersive experience in which the viewer feels so personally addressed drives engagement, interaction and therefore, sales.
The audience is more responsive to video content because it is more believable than an image. Customers today expect photographic manipulation in promotions which is why seeing products and services in a video makes them feel more secure and based in reality.
When converting leads, trust is the important point — users need to feel secure in the product or service they are using, and building a relationship through interaction helps that.
Users are always looking for fresh and stimulating content. By creating unique video journeys rather than just advertisements, you are enticing your audience to return to your page.
Creative content always builds community because the audience recognizes the value and wants to come back for more.
There are various versions of interaction that you can incorporate into your content that serve different purposes:
- Video quizzes are a fun way to engage with your audience and get them excited about a product while also collecting data and learning about their needs.
- Shoppable videos lead the user straight to the product, with no need for browsing and searching, which avoids distractions.
- Interactive videos journeys or choose-your-own-adventure type of videos drive up the entertainment value of the user experience.
How to create professional interactive videos
What makes a great interactive video is an interaction that is genuinely engaging. When you are conceptualizing and creating your interactive video, think about how you can gamify the experience for the audience.
You want the viewer to feel like an active participant, making choices, exploring and discovering new content within the video.
When engaged in this way, the viewer will spend more time focused on the content and is more likely to retain the information afterward, since there is great satisfaction in personal discovery.
Interaction positions the viewer as a key actor in the story.
Interactive videos feel good because they are more complex and, therefore more entertaining form of media. This also makes them harder to craft.
Thankfully, there are tools available to easily create these advanced video forms.
Tolstoy is an interactive video company that enables you to create professional and engaging interactive videos and campaigns, even if you have no prior video editing experience.
With Tolstoy, you can easily create a variety of interactive video solutions to enhance your content, including quizzes, interactive video journeys, shoppable videos, widgets for websites, and many more custom options.
When deciding on the right interactive video software platform for your business, determine your strategy.
Different softwares specialize in different formats and types of interactions, so it is important to know what you are looking for.
Professional strategists at Videodeck can help you develop your video growth strategy through different video formats, and even produce content for your social media, or interactive video for youtube.
Examples of successful interactive video campaigns
Culture Kings experienced a 50% increase in interaction rate
Culture Kings is a streetwear fashion retailer that grew their business successfully using Tolstoy tools, with a 50% interaction rate increase.
Before they relied on static media but when they upgraded to video they immediately recognized better results in driving conversions.
Introducing shoppable videos, showing a piece of clothing in a relatable, realistic manner with the follow link to the product, with basic info and price.
Videos of people wearing the clothes appeal to the audience because they feel more real—customers can imagine themselves wearing the pieces in real life.
The clickable bubble eliminates minutes of searching and makes it very easy for the customer to find the piece they connected to in the video.
They also created interactive videos that integrated seamlessly into their website, through Tolstoy. Interactivity proved successful because it made the content stand out to the viewer and made them want to focus on the content longer.
LSKD got a 110x boost in ROI
LSKD is an Australian sportswear brand that was looking for an innovative and easy way to showcase their products. Deciding to evolve to video commerce from still images made a very big impact on their audience.
Tolstoy gave the team at LSKD an easy way to create interactive and shoppable videos, leading to an uplift in conversion rates of 24%.
The interaction made it easier for the customers to connect to the brand and a faster way to shop which drove their conversion up, as well as engagement and AOV metrics.
Hyundai offered viewers a way to experience the car through video
Hyundai created a very unique experience when presenting their Elantra 2020 model. Car company advertisements generally follow similar conventions.
Hyundai broke out of that mold by creating an interactive video exploration of the new model, presenting all of its features behind clickable symbols.
Every symbol leads to a different content with a different visual impact, which creates a surprising and exciting effect.
The viewer chooses their pace and direction of exploring and the discoveries produce great satisfaction.
By creating a unique, immersive experience Hyundai generated buzz around their new release and attracted completely new audiences.
Any company that aligns themselves with progressive, creative solutions in their promotions has the potential to build long-term relationships with their customers.
Even younger users who aren’t in the market of buying a car yet can enjoy the experience and start a relationship with the brand that will later lead to their conversion to a customer.
“We don’t have time” and “We don’t know how” are now just excuses
Becoming an interactive video creator isn’t as hard as you may imagine.
There are many resources that make it easy for you to manage your interactive marketing video campaigns, even if you aren’t in the position to produce your own content or you don't have video editing skills.
And, Videodeck exists to help you with all video needs you may have!
Our team of professionals produces enticing, communicative video material for your specific product or service.
We can help you carete the video content and also help you implement it using tools like Tolstoy. Check out the videos we've produce for Locomote that are implemented using Tolstoy:
Each piece of content goes through at least five highly skilled and educated artists, writers, directors, editors and other professionals, in teams tailored to you.
With a very wide variety of sets, props, actors and other visual elements to choose from, the Videodeck team makes sure that your video content remains original and professional.
