Interactive video: The future..
Whether for internal communication, training (e-learning video) or marketing, video is the ideal medium to inform, to explain, to on-board, to help understand, to inspire…
But it is vital to involve the spectator by giving him back the control… To do that, there’s nothing like an interactive video.
Below there’s a simple example of an interactive video.
Will interactive video become indispensable?
Before, it was simple; one was either the creator or the viewer of information.
But with the coming of the Web and smartphones, clicks, sharing, tweets and other possible interaction, the public is brought to act and participate and finds it hard to agree to be a good little docile spectator who will quietly watch your message to the end, without flinching or deciding to do something else…
This ‘power’ started with the TV ‘zapper’ 30 years ago.
Today, to capture and keep the viewer’s attention and to manage to communicate to the billions of minds immersed in their smartphones, you’d better be very good…
In fact, the key to success is to make them participate, to give them back the power!
The most major mistake in communication, advertising and marketing is to impose a communication. That’s the reason that advertising is going through tough times on the net.
If you impose your message and force the person to endure it right to the end, at the slightest opportunity, your public will leave you forever. All good communicators successfully apply the concept of permission-based marketing.
The relationship with interactive video then becomes obvious…
Before, the ‘solution’ to avoid the public leaving used to be to make videos as short as possible in the hope that most people would last until the end. Of course, the reality is that everyone uses the player’s ‘fast forward’ buttons to skip parts of the video, as soon as interest drops. Obviously, the result is that many switch off and that the solution pushed by advertising agencies is “always more aesthetics and originality”, which results in ads that are extremely expensive to make.
New features offered by interactive video
So, it is possible and strongly advised to give control back to the public when it comes to watching your videos, thanks to many intelligent, useful interactive features that will keep their attention, and will allow you to exchange, to investigate and to learn…
- Chaptering
The ‘contents’ section of a book has been used for hundreds of years to instantly find what interests us. So it seems obvious to offer the same thing in a video, in 2 clicks – the 1st to bring up the table of contents, the 2nd to jump to the desired spot. Of course, the longer the video, the more useful it will be. - Clickable Links
The interest is clearly present, especially at the end of the video. It is sensible to encourage the viewer to visit a specific Web page or suggest a choice to several pages/sites to find out more, but it is also useful to expand your knowledge of the topic or to go and like your pages on social networks. - Additional documents to expand knowledge
A video usually explains a topic with the aim to be understood by the largest number. So, it’s very sensible to exclude all ‘technical’ or ‘complex’ passages from the video, but to offer to the informed reader one-click access to PDF documents, diagrams, technical videos.. - Immediate access to a lexicon…
In order to define the complicated words. This means creating a small lexicon which defines the jargon, the initials, and the technical words – simply. The viewer opens it with a click and can understand a complicated word that he’s just heard. It’s a VITAL plus-point that will save you from abandons. It’s a fact that many of your viewers will lose interest in your video as a result of misunderstood words. - Final quiz, survey, etc.
The best way to involve your viewers and keep their attention is to involve them from the beginning to the end of the video. While it’s of course natural to integrate a quiz at the end of a training video in the case of e-learning, it may make sense, in the case of an explainer video, to ask a few simple questions, throughout the video in order to capture interest, to involve the viewer. You can also check that your audience agrees with your message by creating a simple survey – which is very useful for you. Just as we share with a click on Facebook, now it’s easy, even as the video is playing, to give feedback to the author. - Various interaction, games
It is possible to create an abundance of interaction scenarios. Imagination’s the key, while remembering to stay simple and obvious, so that it’s fun to use and useful for you..
Interactive video image
Interactive video to increase attention and communication with your audience
There are other interaction options of course, but seeing that interactive video is only in its infancy, at VideoTelling we consider that we shouldn’t try to use « gadgets/flashy stuff ». Putting in a little interactivity is not a passing fashion. It’s a real upheaval in the way of communicating in video that should be used wisely for the two points of view, both the spectator and the author of the video.
With an interactive video, it will be easier to keep attention, to involve your viewers, give them back control of the time that they grant you.
Just like good artists, onstage, who interact with their audience and encourage them to contribute, you too, can create a relationship with your audience, by encouraging them to participate and not just be « passive. » And one of the relevant ways to do this is to ask for the viewer’s opinion at the end of your video, for example to know if the information was clear, if it was useful, if it helped him/her, if he learned something, and if he would like to share it with others..
It is the appropriate use of the possibilities offered by interactive video that will democratize its use.
Talk to you soon – to work together to make your videos more engaging and more powerful while incorporating excellent interactivity at an extremely affordable price.
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