We’re excited to announce a revolution in online video. It completely transforms the world of video, making it alive and evergreen and elevating digital engagement to a whole new level.
What makes all this possible? A suite of innovative Living Video functionalities baked into our Next Generation Video Platform, the new iteration of our enterprise-grade, open video platform.
Living Video:
A video that evolves based on user context, data or actions
That means whenever you’re creating a Personalized Video, it’s easy to add Living Video features to it, with the click of a button
Let’s take a look at three of the Living Video capabilities driving this revolution.
1) Context and Live Data
If you’re browsing a modern website, it looks different depending on what device you’re using, your location and other contextual information. If you search online to find out the weather or stock prices, you probably feel pretty confident that the results you see on a given web page are up-to-date and relevant.
Now, you can say the same for video.
Our platform lets you connect your video to any live data feed, from your product inventory to 3rd-party data. Every time a viewer watches their video, it changes with real-time-accuracy. And that’s not just text or numbers on a screen updating — the structure and content of the video itself can change, all based on the latest data.
We even have live data feeds that come out-of-the-box with our platform. For example, you can have a dynamic countdown to a customer’s birthday, updated anytime they generate the video.
Live Data Example
Practical Applications for Live Data
How can you use contextual and live data? If we said “the sky’s the limit,” that’s no exaggeration.
- A promotional video on your website can change in real time based on product inventory and viewer interests.
- You can send a video to your customers and change the greeting and visuals based on the time of day they view it.
- A video explaining account or service features can change as features are added or removed.
- The language can change based on the country where it’s viewed, handy if a customer wants to forward a video to a friend across the globe.
Those are use cases that could work for almost any company, but there are more, depending on the industry. Travel and hospitality leaders, for example, can share customized tips based on the weather forecast for the given destination. Or just mention what the temperature will be when the guest arrives, an easy way to provide concierge-level service through the power of automation.
Why Live Data Matters for Brands
Contextualizing your video has a couple key benefits.
- It’s always relevant for your customer. This is part of the reason why Personalized Video is so effective. Any time you customize a piece of content for a user, making it easier to consume or understand, you’re improving both the user experience and the likelihood of conversion.
- It’s easier to maintain. No need to go back to the drawing board to draft something new. With Living Video contextualization, you can create one video that automatically updates with both the latest data and based on the user context.
- It’s evergreen and affordable. When you don’t need to constantly produce new videos, you save money, fundamentally changing the ROI of video marketing. Imagine it — a timeless video that updates every season, continuing to drive sales years after you deploy it.
2) Interactivity
Interactivity is another Living Video functionality that’s part of our Next Generation Video Platform.
Not every video needs to be interactive, but if you’re looking to boost engagement or let customers convert directly from the video, Living Video interactivity makes it possible.
Interactivity can come in a variety of forms. Yes, a call-to-action button at the end (CLICK ME NOW) is definitely one of them, but more subtle — and creative — options are possible as well. Many of these options involve true interactivity, letting viewers control the story and even trigger actions in real time as the video plays.
Interactivity Example
Practical Applications for Interactivity
We don’t have the room to list everything you can do with interactivity, but these are some of the most popular forms of video interactivity brands can use.
- Shoppable scenes: Highlight items customers can buy. A customer can click the product and go straight to your online store with that item in their shopping cart or just hover over it to get extra info like a discounted price. (And with live data, remember that you can be sure only in-stock products are shown and clickable!)
- Clickable links: Wherever needed, add a quick link for users to get more information by visiting your website.
- Choosing the video story: You can let your customers decide what they want to see next based on their interests. They can click buttons to choose or answer simple questions to guide the flow of the story.
- Chapter markers: We offer these out-of-the-box in our platform or you can design your own. Chapter markers let viewers easily jump ahead or return to rewatch scenes.
- Gamification: Make your offer just a little harder to click and all the more enticing. If a customer is fast enough to “catch” the deal, they get the discount.
- Surveys: Let viewers rate their video or a section of the video right inside the player, giving you valuable feedback for future campaigns.
- User-triggered actions: Actions users trigger can go beyond just determining the scene they watch or the site they visit. Let customers click to schedule a call, send a text message, vote in a poll…. you name it, Living Video can do it.
Why Video Interactivity Matters for Brands
Making videos interactive can improve both customer experience and conversions. Here’s how.
- It increases engagement. It’s no surprise that interactive videos are more engaging, making for a better viewing experience where the customer is in control.
- It improves relevance. Viewers can easily navigate to sections of the video they need when they need them.
- It bridges the customer drop-off gap. Anytime you ask a user to take another step online, you risk them abandoning the process to do something else. Clickable elements directly in the video make it easier for your customer to convert.
3) In-Player Customization
This might be the most revolutionary of all the capabilities Living Video offers — not that we have a favorite.
With our Next Generation Video Platform, you can empower your viewers to become creators. They can customize their video right from the player to generate a brand new video. You select the customizable fields and how much freedom viewers have in creating their own videos. Then your customers get to let loose their imagination.
In-Player Customization Example
The video below is one we made to thank essential workers during the height of the pandemic. It allowed viewers to create their own thank-you video by simply clicking the lightning bolt icon inside the player toolbar.
Give it a try in the video below.
Practical Applications for In-Player Customization
You can allow your customers to update specific features in the video or even add their own information, including text, photos and video. What you choose depends on your goal. Here are a few use cases we love.
- Product design: Customers can design their product, from color to specific features, and see it — and the price — instantly when they click to update their video.
- Customized greetings: If you’re sending a personalized greeting to your customers, why not let them share the love? You can allow them to create their own personalized versions of the greeting and pass it along to friends and family, an easy way to boost reach.
- Highlight reels: Let your customers choose what they want to see in their year-in-review or recap video. They can choose categories for key stats or even upload their own media.
Why In-Player Customization Matters for Brands
Here’s where you really make magic happen.
Letting your customers create their own video is truly next-level CX, something most consumers have never done before. It’s a way for your brand to stand out, and it offers several practical benefits.
- It drives shareability. User-generated content thrives on social media. Because your customer made it, they’re more likely to share it. And it keeps going — anyone they share it with can adapt and share it as well, amplifying reach exponentially.
- It helps customers in real time. Allowing customers to input what they want and get a customized offer or answer right away is a seamless experience made even better with the “human touch” of a Personalized Video.
- It drives sales. Video lets customers visualize what they’re going to buy. If they can customize the product to their specifications and then see it right away in a new video, you’re making it that much easier for them to convert.
- It improves your customer data. When customers input their own information, it improves the quality of your customer data while respecting customer privacy with our certified secure platform.
Better Together
As you can see, these functionalities can be added individually to a Personalized Video or work together for a truly immersive experience.
For example, let’s say you’re selling a new smartphone.
- In the product video, you might add in-player customization so the viewer can choose the color and features they want.
- Then add interactivity so they can click to purchase directly from the video.
- Include time as a live data feed to let them know their offer expires in 24 hours. The countdown updates every time the customer watches the video, and the CTA button turns red when there’s less than one hour remaining.
We’d love to talk with you about all the ways our Next Generation Video Platform can help you reach your business goals. Click below to start the conversation.
