The way we create and consume content is constantly changing. Now, video takes precedence in digital marketing, but for most professionals, that’s no surprise. Interactive Video, on the other hand, is yet another layer in the engagement onion. The enhanced functionality keeps viewers more engaged and allows them to be actual participants, not just viewers.
Creating high-quality Interactive Videos requires tools and techniques that get the job done. The right tools let you add interactive content like clickable hotspots, quizzes and choose-your-own-adventures directly into your videos, making them more dynamic and personal. Of course, choosing the right Interactive Video platform is key to making the most of these features.
This article covers the best Interactive Video software, practical tips for creating these videos and the data behind why they work. By the end, you’ll be ready to get started with this popular digital trend.
Interactive Video Works — Here’s Why and How
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Unlike standard videos, Interactive Videos lets users click on parts of the video, make choices, and even personalize their experience in real time. Options include clickable hotspots, branching storylines, embedded quizzes and more.
The interactivity of it all promotes engagement, immersion and one seriously memorable user experience. How you make an Interactive Video depends largely on the platform you use, but the best platforms allow you to layer on interactivity after building your video content (and test your video before publishing it for the world to see).
How Interactivity Fuels First-Party Data
With the rise of digital privacy regulations and cookie restrictions, first-party data is more valuable than ever. First-party data comes directly from a company’s customers unlike third-party data, which comes from another source. And those sources are increasingly unreliable.
Although data privacy laws vary in different parts of the world, more and more, businesses prioritize data that consumers willingly provide directly to a company. And this makes sense. Regulations aside, 68% of consumers around the globe are concerned about their digital privacy, according to the Privacy and Consumer Trust Report from the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Using data your customers openly share with you can be yet another way to build trust.
Interactive Videos give you access to first-party because the viewer can enter information or make decisions about what to view next that ultimately helps you understand them better. This lets you provide a more personal experience, meaning you don’t necessarily need to have a strong dataset to work with beforehand. But it also gives you that essential customer data so you can personalize content more going forward. Ultimately, it’s a win-win for the customer and the brand.
Now, let’s get into the nitty gritty of what can help your Interactive Video campaign come to life.
Cutting-Edge Use Cases for Interactive Video (With Examples!)
Common uses for Interactive Video include net promoter score surveys, loan calculators, form fills, customer service self help and customizable highlight reels, just to name a few.
There are lots of different techniques out there to make the most of interactivity in any video format. Below, we’ll cover some of these, plus real-world Interactive Video examples for inspiration.
Choose Your Own Adventure Videos
This is gamification at its finest.
Branching storylines bring a “choose your own adventure” element to your Interactive Videos. Users can jump to a different position in the video to access information on the fly. Or they can even jump to a new video entirely, one that’s generated in real time based on data they directly input into the player.
Take U.K. mobile network and internet provider EE, for example. Their day-in-the-life video gives options for how to go about a character’s morning and evening, showing how the network supports them regardless of which path they take.
Another example is Lancôme, which gamified their employee training video.
This video is longer than a typical consumer-facing one would be, which makes interactivity all the more important — to keep employees engaged throughout the training process.
Survey Videos
Switch up the customer feedback process by using video instead of a stagnant form. Video can provide forms for customers to fill out as you walk them through the process in step using visuals, voiceover or both. These forms can collect different types of survey data, further fueling your first-party datasets.
Here’s an example of a post-shopping experience form via video, which serves the purpose of gauging customer satisfaction.
Interactive AI Videos
Did you know that more than 80% of consumers say they want more videos from brands? This puts a lot of pressure on marketing teams because videos take time (and money) to make. Fortunately, artificial intelligence is changing the way we do video marketing.
Here’s an example of an Interactive Video generated using Idomoo’s Enterprise AI Video solution. Note the interactive CTA at the end. Embedding calls to action increases the chance a viewer will take that crucial next step towards conversion and move them down the funnel.
Interactive User-Generated Content
User-generated content is “the modern form of word-of-mouth advertising,” says Dylan Duke, founder of influencer marketing platform Glewee. UGC combines with Interactive Video for a truly powerful force.
In an interactive UGC video, users can update the video with their own data right from the player as they watch. (Not to brag, but Idomoo is the only Interactive Video platform that does this — and we also support conditional actions based on user input.)
Interactive Ad Videos
Everyone and their mother is advertising a product or service on the web these days, it seems. That’s why it’s crucial to get creative to compete for consumers’ limited attention. Interactive advertising videos are one way to accomplish this.
Here’s an example: Netflix advertised a show called You vs. Wild with Bear Grylls using an interactive advertisement on YouTube. The technology is pretty basic because it uses YouTube’s built-in capabilities to accomplish interactivity, but it’s a good way to see how it can work on any platform you choose.
Hotspot Videos
Many videos are clickable, but some take it a step further using hotspot features.
When this happens, any element you want becomes interactive (think text, images, the video background — anything). Hotspots are ideal for ecommerce companies that want to create shoppable videos for a seamless online shopping experience, but they can also be helpful for customer support videos or sales videos across industries.
15 Interactive Video Tools To Know
The right software to support your Interactive Video campaigns will get you real results to upgrade your marketing strategy (and impress your boss — which is what we really want right? Just kidding…).
Here are 15 interactive video makers to consider.
1. Idomoo Interactive Video
As part of our Next Generation Video Platform, we offer Interactive Video capabilities for enterprises across a range of industries, from mortgage to healthcare. We have a fully open platform if you want to do it yourself, but our team can also create the video and the video interactivity for you.
Interactive features: Highlighted elements, CTAs, gamification, chapter markers, hotspots, branching, hover interactivity, swipe gestures, UGC and more
What to know: Idomoo clients have found that Interactive Video generates 10x more conversions and 2.5x more unique views per video. We can also sync with your CRM data to create Personalized Interactive Videos.
2. Vimeo
Vimeo’s platform allows users to create, share, and analyze interactive video content with features like clickable hotspots and customizable call to actions.
Interactive features: Overlays, time triggers, branching and more for videos that are educational, shoppable or gamified
What to know: Access to Vimeo’s interactive video features depends on your Vimeo plan type. Naturally, pricing varies depending on the plan. Also, Vimeo recently acquired interactive video platform Wirewax, bringing their capabilities in house.
3. Smartzer
Geared especially for retail, Smartzer allows you to create shoppable videos by adding interactive overlays that link directly to products, allowing viewers to shop while they watch.
Interactive features: Hotspots linked to further information, branching videos and CTAs
What to know: Smartzer specializes in the ecommerce domain. By definition, overlays aren’t native to the video, so be sure to understand what this can mean before choosing this route.
4. Mindstamp
Mindstamp lets users add interactive elements like questions, forms and links to any video, making it useful for engagement and lead generation.
Interactive features: Buttons, CTAs, hotspots, interactive questions and conditional logic
What to know: Access to Mindstamp’s interactive video features depends on your Mindstamp plan type.
5. Spott
Spott specializes in transforming videos into shoppable experiences by adding clickable tags that connect viewers directly to products and services.
Interactive features: Interactive templates for shoppable videos, 360-degree photo interactivity, interactive PDFs
What to know: Spott focuses on optimizing its product for use by marketing agencies.
6. Adobe Captivate
Adobe Captivate is a comprehensive e-learning authoring tool that allows creators to build immersive, interactive video-based courses with quizzes and branching scenarios.
Interactive features: Interactive slide videos with bookmarks and overlays, interactive live streaming on YouTube
What to know: Adobe Captivate serves the education sector. The goal is to optimize the student viewing experience and make teaching easier for educators.
7. Nearpod
Nearpod is an educational tool that integrates interactive videos into lessons, enabling real-time engagement and assessment in a classroom or remote learning setting.
Interactive features: Multiple-choice or open-ended questions, options available from the Nearpod library
What to know: Like Adobe Captivate, Nearpod is designed with teachers in mind.
8. Kaltura
Kaltura offers a platform for creating interactive videos with features like quizzes, polls and branching paths for corporate training and marketing campaigns.
Interactive features: Interactive video paths, video quizzes, hotspots
What to know: Kaltura recently acquired interactive video platform Rapt to integrate their capabilities.
9. Walnut
Walnut focuses on creating interactive product demos and experiences, allowing sales teams to tailor content based on viewer interaction and preferences.
Interactive features: Interactive demos on site or a live call
What to know: Walnut specializes in interactive product demos, targeting sales professionals.
10. ThingLink
ThingLink enhances videos with interactive hotspots, which enable additional content like text, images and links to enrich the viewer’s experience. They specifically focus on creating interactive tours, such as campus and real estate tours.
These take the form of 360-degree images and videos, maps, showroom exhibitions and more. Directionality and hotspots on video make the tours interactive.
Interactive features: Virtual tours with hotspots and directionality
What to know: ThingLink specializes in interactive tours, particularly for the real estate and higher education industries.
11. Wootag
Wootag enables real-time interactivity within videos, allowing viewers to click on tags for more information, to make purchases or engage with embedded content.
Interactive features: Interactive live streams as well as non-video interactive content like ads and landing pages
What to know: Wootag integrates with Zoom for interactive webinars.
12. Adventr
The Adventr platform offers a space for creating interactive streaming videos with branching paths, allowing viewers to choose their own journey within the video.
Interactive features: Polling, quizzes, in-video purchases
What to know: Adventr offers monthly and yearly packages based on the number of views.
13. Cinema8
Cinema8 is a versatile platform, with one area focusing on interactive videos using features like quizzes, forms and gamification elements for marketing and education.
Interactive features: Branching, gamification, quizzes, shoppable videos
What to know: There may be some restrictions on the number of videos you can create based on your specific Cinema8 plan. Key focuses for this platform include e-learning and ecommerce.
14. Eko
Eko specializes in creating interactive storytelling experiences, allowing viewers to make choices that directly influence the narrative and outcome of the video.
Interactive features: Branching plus non-video interactive product catalogs
What to know: Eko is best for ecommerce stores.
15. Stornaway
Stornaway helps you create interactive stories and branching narratives. You can design and share videos with multiple pathways and outcomes.
This tool takes scenario training, quizzes, tours, product demos, interactive video ads, presentations and interactive conversations and embeds them on a website, app, learning management system (LMS) or social media platform.
Interactive features: Quizzes, branching
What to know: Education is the largest, though not the only, industry Stornaway’s software works with.
The Power of Interactive Video Experiences
Have we convinced you just how powerful interactive experiences can be? If not, here’s one more fact. In-demand customer segments like Gen Z and high earners are the top cohorts to want interactivity, a recent digital communications report cites. And 81% of all consumers are interested in receiving Interactive Videos from brands.
Interactive Video significantly enhances customer engagement by transforming passive content into a two-way experience. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, integrating interactive marketing videos can set your brand apart and create more meaningful connections.
If you’re ready to optimize your brand’s potential, Idomoo’s Next Generation Video Platform is a great place to start. With its user-friendly tools and robust features, you can easily create personalized, interactive and engaging content that captivates your audience.
Whether you’re looking to enhance your marketing campaigns, improve customer retention, or provide interactive tutorials, we can help. Let’s chat?
