What Is An Interactive Video? And Why Should You You Use It?

The rise of video has had a tremendous effect on the interactivity between businesses and their customers. Indeed, an increasing number of companies choose to leverage the use of video to get more sales. This phenomenon can easily explain the success of interactive video.

As a matter of fact, according to a survey of Spiel Creative in 2021, business owners noted a significant growth after using interactive video in their marketing and sales strategy. This really confirms that video is a powerful marketing and promotional tool. But how do you create interactive videos that convert? This article will help you to answer this question.

An interactive video is a visual media which pushes the viewer to take some form of action through a call-to-action. The desired action may be to visit an external website, purchase a product, or learn a lesson.

Some applications of interactive videos

Shoppable videos

Shoppable videos demonstrate a product and include links to make a purchase or learn more about the product.

Distance education

They enable students to select among multiple channels for further information at points throughout the information. They can also include quizzes to assess the students’ retention about a topic and give immediate feedback.

Gaming

In the gaming industry, interactive videos allow the players to select among several options that determine the subsequent storylines in the game. Thus, according to the choices of the players, the outcome of the storylines can significantly vary.

 

Linear videos, which are the traditional videos that we all know, only offer limited functions during the viewing experience. For instance, you can click on the “play” button to start the video.

Or you can pause, fast forward, or pause and restart the video. However, the interactivity level with the video’s content is very limited, and perhaps inexistant.

Unlike linear videos, interactive videos have several tools that enable the users to interact with the video’s content. These actions include clicking, dragging, scrolling, or hovering with the video’s content in the same way anyone would do with web’s content.

In that context, many functionalities can allow to build an interactive video and to create a more pleasing and enjoyable user experience for the targeted audience.

The following list gives examples of functionalities that can be used to make your videos more interactive.

Hotspots

They are clickable areas within a video. They come up as buttons that take the viewer to a separate page. They can also reveal content directly on the video.

360 views

This functionality enhances the ability for a user to drag the screen within a video frame to see in all directions.

Branches

They are different paths that a user can take to control and customize the content they want to see, according to their personal preferences.

Data inputs

These features are form fields through which a user can enter information like their name, age, address, phone number, etc.

Quizzes

These features combine buttons and branches to deliver an assessment and reveal a personalized result at the end of the video. They are more often used in e-learning interactive videos.

Why you should use interactive videos

Interactive videos have become an important tool for marketers and companies over the last decade. Indeed, according to a survey carried out by Spiel Creative in 2021:

• 78% of business owners noted better online sales when they use an interactive video compared to a linear video
• 86.2% of business owners stated they would use more interactive videos in the future as they were delighted with the results they obtained
• 89.5% of business owners noticed that their customers preferred an interactive on-boarding video compared to text based information

Thus, they key figures show us that interactive videos will be more and more used in the future. Here are some reasons why you should use interactive videos to further your business and marketing goals.

Interactive videos are popular

Interactive videos are a kind of media that consumers want to interface with. That’s why they are increasingly popular with brands and their audience. Indeed, interactive videos currently represent 36% of the content produced by brands.

In return, they result in increasing engagement rate from consumers. According to DemandGen, interactive content incurs two times more engagement than static content.

Interactive videos are trackable

Did you think that view rates are the only metrics you can use to track your video’s success on your platforms? Then, you should think again. Interactive videos offer more powerful video metric tracking. Here are some metrics that you can use to track the success of an interactive video:
The number of clicks within a video
The different paths taken if you use branches
The data with video form fields

Interactive videos are more engaging

When using a linear video, a viewer can be easily distracted. Indeed, 87% of viewers use several devices at a time when they watch a linear video. This indicates that marketers lose their audience’s attention quite easily with a traditional video.

On the contrary, interactive videos creates an active viewing experience for the audience. This is shown in the results given by these types of video formats as they manage to keep the viewer’s attention and results in a 591% lift in user activity. This should make companies and marketers more enthusiastic to use interactive videos.

Interactive videos convert more

Interactive videos have a significantly higher conversion level than other form of digital media. For example, Google ads and YouTube annotations displays converts at rates of less than 1%. In comparison, interactive videos convert at a rate of more than 11%.

Interactive videos are more memorable

Interactive videos make your viewers more inclined to remember your brand and your message. This is especially important for learning interactive videos.

And the users don’t even have to interact directly with your video itself. Indeed, studies have shown that interactive video ads are more memorable than linear video ads.

5 steps to create interactive videos

Do you want to reach your marketing and sales potential with the right kind of media? Then, interactive videos are made for you! However, creating eye-catching interactive videos must follow a specific process.

Step #1: Identify your goals

Before creating your interactive video, you must be aware of the goals you want to reach. Here are some examples:

• Why do you create this video in the first place?
• What kind of action do you want the audience to take?
• Why do you think that interactivity will be more suitable for your video?
• What is the conversion rate you want to reach?
• What is the desired outcome that you want to achieve?

Once you answer these questions, you will find the right content and the right interactions that will align with your goals and objectives.

Step #2: Create your video

At this stage you have two options:

• Either you create your video from scratch: in that case, you can use a video maker which offers you several features and functionalities to create an eye-popping video.
• Or you can choose a video online which needs an interactive makeover. If you choose this option, you’ll have to import the chosen video, edit it and add interactive elements.

Step #3: Choose your interactions

Before your video goes online, you must add your interactions. The number of interactions in your video will depend on the duration of the video. For example, if you have a 10-minute video, your interactions must be limited to five.

Here are some interactive elements that you can insert in your video. Depending of the nature of your content, the integrations of interactive elements may include:

• Links that will redirect your audience to external websites, online articles, or additional training resources
• A logo linked to your online training enrollment page
• Hotspots leading to surveys, questionnaires or other feedback forms
• Annotations posing a question or a call-to-action

Step #4: Pay attention to timing

You should choose the right spacing for your interactions because you don’t want them to lose their effects on your targeted audience. To get best results with your interactive videos, we advise you to insert your first interactive element between the 1-to-2-minute mark. Your timeline must highlight all your interactions.

Step #5: Track your results

Tracking your results will enable you to ensure that your video has reached the desired outcome. According to the results of your chosen metrics and the received feedback, you can make some changes in your video. Or you can let it be if the results exceed your expectations. This analysis will also help you to see what really works and to create more effective interactive videos in the future.

Contact Pitchy to create your interactive videos, your ultimate quest!

Do you want to create your first interactive video to boost your sales and your calls-to-action? In that case, Pitchy is the right tool that will fit your needs. We offer you a large spectrum of features and templates to help you to create the best interactive videos for your business, by choosing your format. We do not have a pricing page on our website. If you are interested, feel free to contact us to ask for a demo of our user interface. And learn more about our brand and company on our website.