Interactive Video Marketing - An Extensive Guide

Interactive videos are the next step in the video marketing journey of business today, bringing higher engagement rates and more inclusive content into the picture. In this article, we take a look at interactive videos, what they can do for a business, and how you can get started with your interactive video strategy today.
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    We love interactive videos. Their sheer ease of engaging the audience by giving them a gaming-like experience is just priceless. In fact, a study conducted by Brightcove, 35% of marketers have seen an increase of 25 % in sales, just by incorporating interactive video in their marketing strategy. The video itself Is a great persuasive tool in the field of marketing. Interactive video amplifies this power to a greater extent.

    Videos combine the power of storytelling with visual stimuli to inspire and engage the audience. Yet the user remains passive throughout. On the contrary, Interactive video gives an active experience to users by letting them take action.

    What Is An Interactive Video?

    A linear video takes the viewer through a journey of visual stimuli. Here the audience has nothing much to contribute to the process besides mere viewing, pausing and other basic operations. Yet they incredibly manage to impress the viewers. In fact, 57% of consumers make a purchase after watching a video about the product.

    Interactive videos, unlike the regular ones, engage the customer by letting them make decisions. With these videos, a viewer can participate in the process, choose paths and watch only the parts they want to. 

    For instance, the user gets to choose between three options and each option takes him through a different storyline.

    A typical interactive video has different plots and based on the viewer’s actions, he's led into different pathways and endings.

    What makes these videos memorable is that in no way selfish. They are focussed at giving the user’s a great experience by making them feel like they are a part of the movie's narrative. 

    The music video for “Ink” by Coldplay is one fantastic example of the capabilities of an Interactive Video. This video takes the viewer through the journey of a lover who's on the quest of finding his lost love. The viewer is supposed to help the lover in doing so. Here's a fan cut of the official interactive video:

    Here the viewer is glued to the screen without hitting the stop button. Read on to understand why Interactive Videos have such great engaging power.

    Why Use Interactive Video?

    Before we tell you why you should be incorporating Interactive Videos in your Marketing Strategy, here are some facts and figures-

    • Interactive videos generate 2 times more conversions than the passive content of a linear video
    • 91% of B2B buyers prefer content that lets them be active and interactive
    • Interactive video has 13% more ability to educate a buyer

    Now that we know the scale of interactive video’s impact, let's go ahead and understand why we need to cash on this opportunity.

    Here are 6 reasons to use interactive video in your marketing strategy-

    1. Interactive Videos Are Engaging

    The viewer is more powerful than the makers of the video. He can choose to stop watching the video the moment he loses interest. Interactive videos have a  game-like technique. 

    This gives the viewer an illusion of giving and take, letting him engage with the video for longer.

    It also helps a great deal in generating leads. 

    2. They Can Convince Prospects Better

    With a viewer engaging with the video for a while longer, you buy yourself some extra time to persuade the buyer. 

    This extra time can go a long way in convincing him to make a purchase.

    3. Interactive Videos Are Memorable

    The audience feels a sense of accomplishment after watching an interactive video. This is because he is directly participating in building the story. 

    There is no wonder why an interactive video has such a lasting impression on its viewers.

    For instance, Philips’ styling video lets the users choose the protagonists through a series of MCQs. In the end, the viewer ends up grooming the man in the video. This video stayed with the audience's way after they'd closed the laptop.

    4. You Put The Audience In The Driver’s Seat

    One main reason why you should use Interactive Video is that they prioritise the viewer over everyone else. He is in full control of the narrative.

    This works because consumers are more prone to personalisation. This also helps in nurturing your leads. 

    5. Interactive Videos Gamify The Experience

    The gamelike experience of interactive videos absolutely delights the user.

    He's hoes through a fun journey of situation, choices and consequences. You can make the viewer feel just the way you want them to.

    6. Interactive Videos Convert

    All the above five reasons drive the viewers through the marketing funnel. His attention is first grabbed and then retained through an exciting series of plots. At the end of the video, the user already loves your brand and wants to know more about it.

    It has now been established as to why Interactive Videos boost sales and give a great ROI. Now we shall go ahead and understand the types of Interactive Videos and the ones that would suit your business the most.

    Types Of Interactive Videos

    The first thing you need to know about interactive video content is that there's several types of interaction to choose from. From hot spots to branched stories, interactive videos come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. To help you wrap your head around them, we've discussed each interaction below:

    1. Branching Videos

    The main focus of a branching interactive video is to let the viewer build his own story. 

    As the story progresses, the viewer comes across different decision points where his choice will decide the path of the storyline.

    These points are mostly Multiple Choice Questions. Based on the option chosen by the Viewer he is led into different parts of the video. A branching video is a combination of several video clips with several plotlines. 

    Delloite’s recruitment video is a great example of a Branching Interactive Video. The MNC attracted great talent through their extraordinary video marketing strategy. Their recruitment video takes the viewer through various circumstances that he might face at the workspace. The objective is to let the candidate understand if he fits into the system or not.

    2. Interactive Video Quiz

    The objective of an interactive video quiz is to engage the viewer through questions followed by immediate responses. Thus, the name.

    Interactive Video Quizzes are used in various contexts. You could either use them for collecting feedback and surveys or make promotional videos and lead magnates. These are just a few of many contexts that Video quizzes are used for.

    Interactive videos phenomenally work in engaging a viewer because the video seems like a to and forth conversation. Such engagement encourages the viewer to completely indulge in the content of the video. 

    Besides, they are also immensely memorable.

    3. 360 Degrees Video

    360 Degrees Videos use immersive video technology and transform the way users interact with videos.

    Here the viewer is placed at the focal point of the video and he has the power to navigate around. As the name suggests, these videos cover 360 degrees of a scene.

    Lately, these types of videos have become extremely popular. Masses around the world showcased their fascination for the same. The best part is the user experience that the video gives. A viewer feels like he is a part of the video.

    Here is the bonus perk - 360 degrees videos are compatible with Facebook and Youtube too. 

    4. HotSpots

    Hotspots are great for keeping your viewer glued to your video. 

    These interactive hotspots are clickable pints in the video. The links can be placed anywhere in the video, even on objects and texts.the viewer progresses further in the video based on the hotspot that the video has chosen.

    This type too is extremely engaging and attention-retaining. This feature has been beautifully explored by the International Media Channel, Disney.

    In 2017, Disney released the making of the epic The Jungle Book. What surprised the fans was that the nature of the video was interactive. The user could choose hotspots to see how the ongoing scene was made.

    Best Practices When Creating An Interactive Video

    Making an interactive video will certainly fetch you great results. But a badly made video can fall flat, resulting in the opposite.

    While a lot of strategies go into making an interactive video that clicks, here are four key points you must keep in mind. Read on... 

    1. Give Them A Heads Up 

    At times the user may not even know that your brand video is different. This can result in all your efforts going into vain. So, let your audience know what they can expect fromthe video.

    For instance, you could write “click on the hotspots for bonus visuals” on your video. 

    2. Don’t Hold Back

    Ensure that your viewer gets to witness the Hotspots or Quiz question or any other interactive element in the first few sequences itself. Like we discussed in the previous point, your user may not even know that the video is interactive if he does not encounter anything of such sort in the first couple of minutes. 

    3. Optimize for Smart Phones

    A Large Chunk of your audience may watch your brand video on their phones. Make your video equally enticing for them too. Make your video compatible with all devices.

    Best Interactive Video Tools For Marketers

    The moment you hear about Interactive Videos, you probably visualise some fancy production set. But thanks to the internet, adding interactive elements to your video is actually pretty simple.

    There are a ton of software platforms in the market that help you majke highly professional interactive videos.

    We have handpicked the best three tools in the market for you.

    Here you go...


    This video making platform is suitable for every single type of interactive video. 

    Wirewax is highly advanced and lets you make it highly professional for your brand. The platform is extremely popular for their supreme capabilities of making videos of exceptional quality. 

    In fact, Several big companies like Disney, BBC, Spotify, FX, etc have used the platform for their brand. 

    While there are several other perks of this interactive video making software, the fact that they do not offer any free plan or trial version is the downside.

    Rapt Media 

    Rapt Media is another great interactive show making platform. It lets creators from across the world to make engaging branching videos. 

    Interactive elements can be added to the videos by a simple drag-and-drop editor. 

    What makes this platform very special are the post-production tools available for one. The visual editor is extremely flexible. Some of the biggest companies like Maybelline, Deloitte, etc have used the platform for their video marketing strategy. 

    However, this exceptional platform comes with a heavy price tag.


    This interactive video making platform is indeed one of a kind. VideoForm lets you make interactive videos with immense ease. 

    You can either build your video from scratch or choose from several use cases and templates. Once you do that, all you need is a little customization to make it yours. 

    Using the platform, you can easily embed your video into your website. Besides, VideoForm also lets you optimize your video for the search engines too. 

    The best part is that the VideoForm lets you access all the templates in its free plan itself. 

    Try VideoForm Free now and let your video marketing thrive.

    Sahithi Prerana
    Content writer at VideoForm. I transform complex ideas into simple words.

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