Chances are, you came upon a video on social media today. This medium is growing not only in popularity but also in performance. Social media is now one of the most important content mediums for everyone’s marketing strategy. Because of its effectiveness, it’s no wonder why brands are now branching out to interactive video.
You’ll know what an interactive video is when you see one. This type of media has been proven to drive a staggering 47 percent increase in the time spent watching a video. Around 93 percent of users even say that interactive content is an effective way of educating them compared to static content.
The rise of interactive video is undeniable. According to Forbes, it’s even the future of video entertainment. This type of video has been gaining traction for a long time, but it was catapulted by Netflix when it released a Black Mirror episode entitled Bandersnatch, where viewers chose their own story combination and ending. Since then, entertaining interactive videos have become a must-try for brands.
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What is an Interactive Video?
By using cutting-edge video tools, videos can be edited through simple motions such as hovering, scrolling, and clicking. It offers tons of features, which include dragging the screen to turn the camera to another direction, clicking areas to reveal information, choosing between story plots, or answering live questions and data inputs.
All these play a part in transforming the viewer’s experience by making it more engaging and memorable. Interactive video really opens a wide range of possibilities for marketing as it transcends all the benefits of traditional video.
What Makes It Different from Traditional Video?
The videos you are used to are called linear video or traditional video. With this type of video, you simply need to click the play button to view the content. You also have buttons such as restart, pause, stop, rewind, and fast forward. But aside from these functions, there’s nothing else you can do.
On the other hand, interactive video allows you to interact with content through a wide array of tools and actions. In many cases, you need to complete actions to continue viewing the video, similar to how you engage with web content.
How Can Interactive Video Be Used?
Interactive video can help your brand in many aspects.
Demo
Probably the best way to demo and explain your product next to physically handling it, interactive demo videos are the future. When your product is completed and ready for distribution, customers can view it from a variety of angles as someone demonstrates how to use it. This way, the audience can have a comprehensive understanding of your offer. If your product is decorative and functionally similar to lamps or air purifiers, interactive video allows you to put in different places so customers can have an idea of how well it fits in their living room or study area.
Educational videos
This type of video is a great way to teach people and make their experience enjoyable at the same time. For example, if you want to teach individuals how to deal with a particular scenario, you can make a realistic video around it and give the viewers the power to choose their decisions on behalf of the cast. This way, they can see the consequences of their actions.
Entertainment
Many media outlets have realized the potential of interactive video, and they are now even promising to launch interactive shows where the viewers can choose their adventures and make decisions for the protagonists. This simply proves how interactive video will become a bigger trend in the future. Given the big push on interactive video, you can capitalize on this trend by making a short animated video for your company.
Recruitment video
If you want to bring in more people to your team, you can use interactive video. This technique will let you save more time, money, and effort. For instance, you can simulate a day in the life video of someone in the position you want to hire. This scenario will give potential recruits an opportunity to see what kind of duties await them. They will also have a better expectation of their work environment.
Customer feedback
If you want to try a unique way of gathering customer feedback, interactive video is the way to go. Now more than ever, consumer research is important to let your brand reach new heights, and interactive videos can do this job without annoying your audience.
To do this, think of smart ways of making game-like stories that include feedback presented in a natural way. For example, you can let viewers choose products that pique their interest. S0 you can focus on this feedback in the future.
Why Should You Use Interactive Video?
Every day, more marketers realize the importance of interactive video in their marketing strategies. And even more companies are planning to include it in their future content plans. The numbers are expected to increase as more brands explore various strategies and identify what works best with their audience.
As you try to examine whether or not an interactive video is perfect for your brand, check out the major reasons why you should add it to your digital media content.
It’s in
The most effective marketing strategies incorporate a wide array of media that consumers love to see. Right now, the trend points to interactive video. Its popularity has been proven by consumer behavior, and companies in all industries have been producing this content at a dizzying rate. Not only that, but the engagement rates of interactive videos have also skyrocketed, with people watching it longer than traditional videos.
It can be monitored
Advertising is expensive, and if you want to save some bucks, you have to track the performance of all your content. For a long time, many marketers thought that the success of videos was only measured through the number of views. However, this skewed understanding has proven to be wrong. Without data that shows the correlation between conversions and video activity, it’s very hard to gauge the impact of a video.
Interactive video has enabled a more effective video metric tracking by tracking clicks within the video itself and analyzing the paths audiences take.
It’s engaging
When a person watches a traditional video, it’s very easy for them to get distracted. With 87 percent of viewers using more than one device at once, brands need a video that will make competing for user attention easier. Interactive video makes viewing active by creating a unique experience that gets the attention of the audience and lifts the activity level to great heights. This is an opportunity brands cannot afford to pass up.
It’s highly memorable and has a high conversion rate
The ability to engage with this type of video makes it more likely for your audience to remember your content. Even if the viewer does not watch the full video, it’s still more memorable than traditional types. Interactive videos also perform well in converting higher rates than other types of digital media such as traditional videos, photos, and banner ads.
It’s fun to watch
On top of all the benefits listed above, interactive video gives people a source of entertainment they will love. It is an awesome way to add a moment of joy to the user experience as they watch an interactive story unfold about your brand.
What Are the Characteristics of a Good Interactive Video?
There are various things you can do with an interactive video. If you examine the most successful ones, you’ll realize that they all share similar qualities. If you are considering adding this medium in your marketing mix, take account of these characteristics below.
Gamified experience
Interactive video allows marketers to elevate the video experience of their viewers in a way traditional media could never do. This technique called branching involves creating various pathways users could select to create a unique experience for themselves.
One of the most popular gamification strategies is to have a “choose your adventure style,” where the audience chooses the character, and what to do when challenges come up. For example, let’s circle back to Netflix. They made an interactive Call of the Wild video where viewers are met with a search query that teaches them how to deal with wild animals. The first query that pops up is, “What should you do if you see a crocodile?” Then, the questions become more intense, “What should you do if the animal is running towards you?” Then, viewers will get a phone call from Bear Grylls, and they will decide whether or not they want to answer it.
Highly entertaining
An awesome marketing strategy does not just sell a product; it ensures that the audience is having fun. This is quite hard to achieve for many forms of media, except video. Just take a look at some Super Bowl ads. You may even have a few advertisements in mind that have built a good entertainment factor in their campaign. In a lot of ways, the same experience can be amplified by interactive video.
Take a look at one of the most successful ads of automotive giant Honda. The brand wanted to showcase its Civic Type R model as a family car and a performance vehicle. In their ad, the audience could toggle between two different stories by clicking “r” on their keyboard. One of the plot positions the car in a family environment as a father is seen picking his daughter from school. The other shows the car driven by the same man who is seen as an undercover agent. These weaving plots make way for a highly cinematic experience for the viewer.
Enhanced overall user experience
It’s one thing to tell a great story, but making the viewer part of the experience? That’s a whole different level. Interactive video allows you to take your storytelling prowess to new heights by letting viewers become the character in your story.
For example, Coldplay was one of the first bands to release an interactive music video. For their song Ink, the viewer becomes the character in the story. They are responsible for making decisions in the protagonist’s quest. With more than 300 different outcomes based on the branching options, it amplifies the experience by a hundredfold.
Interactive Video Is Perfect for Your Business
Not many people are familiar with interactive video. When people encounter it for the first time, they may even be confused about how to approach it. But as more consumers begin to watch this type of content, it’s hard to go back to traditional videos. This is why as early as now, marketers like you should treat interactive video as the future of marketing. If you need help with this, Bunny Studios can guide you.
