Back when we first touched on the topic of interactive video marketing, the likes of TikTok were but a twinkle in the eye of marketers. Over the last few years, video has taken huge strides in its evolution, including the rise of interactive video.
In retrospect, even the most clued-up digital aficionado's might have underestimated the rise in interactive video marketing as a lead generation and customer attraction tool.
Hindsight truly is 20/20. Take a look at how interactive video has shaped the way businesses attract, engage and delight customers at scale - and how you can take advantage of this prolific marketing tactic to boost your own success!
In 2019, Demand Metric found that 83% of marketers believed video was becoming more important. In fact, market sectors have already increased their investment in digital and mobile video advertising which has seen a 53% spike since 2016; according to Smart Insights.
Put simply: video reels in great results, but interactive video was earmarked as the next step to achieving outstanding marketing campaigns.
As more brands are now experimenting with innovative and relevant ways of engaging consumers through this exciting medium, our updated guide will help you navigate some of the intricacies and opportunities interactive video provides.
What Is Interactive Video Marketing?
Interactive video supports audience interaction in a way that linear video simply video.
Linear video models have been around for quite some time; plug and play, the video is unchanging over time. The viewer could re-watch it, share a time stamp, and embed it. That's as far as its technical prowess dared to go.
Interactive video allows the viewer to determine the next set of actions. For example, during an interactive video, a user may engage with the content by clicking on a ‘hotspot’ which then performs an action like moving to another part of the video, or displaying information.
In its very essence, interactive video gives the user control by allowing them to take the story where they want it to go. Brands such as Deloitte, Asos and Disney have already exercised some of the most creative interactive videos we’ve seen.
Take a look at Honda’s impressive example of an interactive video in action. Their trailer dubbed ‘The Other Side’ advertises their Civic Type R through a dual-story of an ordinary guy who lives an interesting double life:
View Honda's 'The Oher Side' video here.
As marketers now follow suit ready to capture audiences with this immersive form of media, here are eight reasons why digital brands are jumping on interactive video.
Benefits of Interactive Video Marketing
1. Interactivity Drives Engagement
We don’t need to tell you that consumer attention spans are shorter than they have ever been before. Capturing your audience’s attention long enough to see a conversion can be one of the hardest battles for a content marketer today.
Thankfully, interactive video is here to save the day and here’s why. Wyzowl found that "creating a game-like experience that grabs and keeps a user’s attention and results in a 591% lift in user activity."
2. Interactive Video Marketing Prioritises the Viewer
One of the main objectives for interacting with a video is ensuring the viewer is in control. Control creates relevance for the viewer, driving them to take specific actions within their journey, which results in the video's content being more impactful.
Digital brands have recognised that video consumers want to be able to jump to different parts of a video and view content that suits their relevance, cutting through the noise. Even more so, marketers understand that consumers now demand more personalisation as part of their buying experience.
3. The Popular Choice For A Reason
Research from HubSpot says that 78% of online users watch videos every week and a staggering 55% watch them every day. In short, video has become a popular tool of choice for digital brands to use in their content marketing strategies.
Now armed with some of the most creative interactive videos, brands are creating increasingly powerful ways to communicate their story, explain company value, educate their viewers and build customer relationships that last now and in the future.
Further cementing its increase in popularity, video content is what your customers want to see. Common Places found that 54% of consumers want to see videos from brands over other content types (like email, social images and even blog articles).
4. Interactive Video Marketing Is Delightful!
Straight up, interactive video is more enjoyable than traditional video forms. A consumer will have more fun experiencing a brand through an interactive video as opposed to any other form of media.
An interactive video can delight the viewer in a number of ways by keeping them entertained with exciting interactive content, offering valuable information to promote brand awareness through clickable ‘hotpots’ or simply educating the viewer about a brand’s product or service.
5. Engagement Drives Higher Conversions
According to Flockler, including a video on a landing page can increase conversion by up to 80%. There is no denying that video turns content into conversions.
Did you know, interactive video converts significantly higher rates than many other types of digital video ads? Research from Mobilemarketer shows that interactive video ads boost viewing time by 47%.
Flockler further identified that more than a third of online viewers trust video ads. However, Wyzowl showed that interactive video converted at a rate of more than 11%, compared to Google ads and YouTube annotations converting at rates of less than 1%.
6. A New Way To Capture Valuable Data
Interactive video is an incredibly diverse medium making it perfect for any business to capture valuable data that aids their marketing campaigns.
Adding interactivity at points during the video can drive desired behaviours, ask questions and gain relevant consumer insights that allow brands to learn more about the viewer. It’s the perfect marketing tool to better understand your audience.
For example, Cincopa found that people stay on a website for as much as two minutes longer and are 64% more likely to purchase being shown a product video. Brands can use the information gathered from a viewer’s interactions on a video to present their audience with the right product videos on their website.
7. The Content is Memorable
Consumers love sharing their opinion. When they’re able to interact with a video, this makes the viewer more likely to remember your brand. As brands compete for attention in a crowded digital marketplace, interactive video offers brands a competitive edge to earn viewers attention, and lock in some memorable moments.
An interactive video is exactly what is needed to take a marketing campaign up a notch. Creating high-quality and memorable interactive videos results in improved lead qualification and a speedier sales cycle. No to mention, better ROI...
8. Better Return On Investment
If you want to improve your ROI, interactive video is the perfect marketing tool to increase your numbers and get an edge over your competitors. Recently, brands have massively turned to interactive video to meet their marketing goals. 90% of marketers already use video in their communication, sales and marketing; according to Ojoo.
Why is it so effective? An interactive video can boost your marketing strategy tenfold, increasing brand engagement, gathering valuable customer insights and enhancing your sales efficiency through monetised links in the content.
In Conclusion
There you have it.
We’ve covered eight reasons that prove interactive video holds the gold dust your content marketing strategy is searching for. Equipped with your newfound knowledge, you’re ready to enhance your content marketing strategy tenfold.
Remember, marketing with interactive video offers solutions to help drive lead generation numbers, boost return on investment and create brand awareness.
We really mean it when we say that interactive video might be the best tool in your marketing playbook, so get out there and get creating!
Looking for help to get your content marketing strategy up to speed?
Talk to an expert today and see how we can help.
