- Mar 24, 2021
Updated: Sep 7, 2021
Interactive video is set to become the biggest video content marketing format out there. With the market rapidly growing as 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool. This was 85% in 2020, 87% in 2019, 81% in 2018, 63% in 2017 and 61% in 2016.
Brands who use interactive video can track every interaction that occurs within the content. This means that videos are extremely valuable for evaluating marketing strategies and adapting material to achieve the most engagement and conversions possible.
So, here is a convenient list of the top 10 video interactivity tools for 2021.
1. SHOPPABLE VIDEO TOOLS - SMARTZER
Smartzer's tool shows brands how to make interactive video. It can turn new and existing video content into shoppable material. A interactive overlay is placed over content for brands to tag videos via images, text, product API's, URLs, product feeds or manually. When complete, a viewer will be able to click these tags to learn more, explore the video, customise items, 'buy now', 'book a test drive' or more via calls-to-action. The quick and easy software can increase engagement rates by 40% and increase conversions by 400%. Smartzer also provides a format to create shoppable live streams. Smartzer has helped brands like Missoni, Sephora, Valentino and BMW create interaction videos for campaigns.
2. LIVESTREAM, INTERACTIVE SHOPPING - BAMBUSER
Bambuser shows brands how to make interactive video via shoppable livestreams. These streams can be imbedded into brand e-commerce. Users can upload their product links and stream to the site via the app. Video interactivity is supported as customers can ask questions to the host via a chat room and shop products displayed from the carousel. Live shopping brings the benefits of in-person shopping online and helps build customer trust and loyalty. Bambuser's stream offerings include one-to-many or one-to-one videos. This is a great option for businesses looking to bring live shopping directly to their websites and build video interactivity into their content marketing strategy.
3. CHAT BOTS - HERO
The chat bot industry is set to be worth $1.34 billion by 2024. Customers love the way that the technology allows them to connect with brands and gain instant answers to questions. Hero helps to connect brands with customers via their app so that they can make confident and informed purchases.
Customers can text and organise calls with store assistants. This gives a human feel to computer driven bots. Customers can schedule store visits, 1-1 calls, creating a personal channel to connect brands and engage consumers. Hero has worked with ecommerce sites like Size?, Nike, Harvey Nichols, Chloe, Nike and more.
4. VIRTUAL REALITY - VRCRAFTWORKS
VRCraftworks offers viewers an immersive experience like no other. The virtual reality technology can be applied to online ads like the Royal Caribbean Cruises example above, or it can be applied brand tradeshows. The high-tech company has a range of packages from gamification, training and simulation to story telling. Royal Caribbean Cruises partnership with VRCraftworks created promotional sales tool to help up-sale to existing customers. Each menu 'orb' can be clicked on to visit a 360 degree holiday destination. This successfully transports the viewer to Greece while remaining in the comfort of their own home.
5. BRANCHING - WIREWAX
Branching allows you to add clickable decision points in your video that can jump or loop the viewer to another timestamp in your video, allowing them to craft a viewing experience that’s most relevant to them. It’s one of the easiest ways to boost engagement with your viewers and get real-time feedback on their preferences and choices. WIREWAX uses hotspot technology to allow brands input choices for viewers. Time triggers allow brands to set up loops, pause points, skips and more. The viewer can personalise their own experience in the ad, generating a bespoke, one of a kind experience that stays with them. See above for Football Manager's example. Branching videos like the one above can generate a 51% interaction rate with reduced user drop-off as viewers watch for over 71 seconds at a time. This means that the brand becomes more memorable and conversions become more likely.
6. QUIZZES AND POLLS - VIZIA
Vizia used to be an e-learning platform. Now, they have extended their platform to cater for businesses and brands for free! Using Vizia interface brands can insert multiple choice quizzes, polls, short answer questions into their videos and then embed them anywhere across blogging platforms, site builders, e-commerce and more. These quizzes are easily measurable and give a clear insight into the mind of the viewer. End of quiz CTA's encourage higher conversion rates. Videos can be easily shared across social media to achieve virality turning passive viewers into active participants.
7. INTERACTIVE SHOWROOMS - LE NEW BLACK
Le New Black helps brands to digitalise their wholesale. Through their sales order app for iPad, sales reps are able to capture orders online and offline, scan barcodes, add and sync styles and prices. Brands can showcase and sell collections 24/7 with a 360 degree, virtual, B2B, online showroom. Retailers can conveniently browse linesheets, place orders, reorders and book appointments. Taking inspiration from the 2020 Fashion week responses to COVID, Le New Black seeks to replicate the benefits of browsing collections in person, online through shoppable video. If you are looking to sell B2B virtually, Le New Black is a great solution to any challenge caused by the pandemic.
8. INTERACTIVE IMAGES - SPOTT
Spott shows brands how to make interactive videos and images. Although this example isn't explicitly to do with video interactivity, it does show how you can give your images a dynamic facelift. Let your visitors ‘shop the look’ by tagging your products in images. Spott's product recognition software lets brands easily tag images. The product database automatically imports products and keeps offers and prices up to date. Easily embed your interactive images on your website in a couple of clicks. Turn your website into an interactive experience and increase its SEO performance thanks to the interactive metadata.
9. INTERACTIVE EVENTS - TWITCH
The Amazon owned gaming platform has extended its reach to interactive events. Here, brands can live stream their shows to thousands of viewers, interacting with them via a chat room and allowing them to shop by uploading product links. Twitch has started to partner with luxury fashion brands to take fashion shows live to audiences in the face of the global pandemic. The unique online experience provides a community feel to online events, bringing together fans and brands virtually. Brands are also starting to take their products live via Amazon Live. Here, gamers, beauty and fashion brands and more are selling items to the masses.
10. INTERACTIVE AND SHOPPABLE RECIPES - NORTHFORK
Northfork allows food and culinary brands to create shoppable recipes by providing all the ingredients alongside the tutorial in a shoppable carousel. This makes food shopping easy, entertaining and engaging for customers. The quick add to cart call to actions encourage consumers to buy instantly increasing conversion by 20%.
Summary
Each interactive video platform has specific product offerings to help you to create a variety of interactive material. Before choosing, make sure you have considered exactly what video you want to create and where you want you consumers to see and interact with it. If you set out a clear plan and strategy, you can create an exciting, immersive interactive experience to drive engagement and conversion.
The use of interaction video in content marketing is growing exponentially with many major luxury brands using it for campaigns and fashion shows. So, how is the fast fashion industry responding to this?
85% of people said that they would like to see more video from brands in 2021. With the average person scrolling through 300 ft of social media content a day, brands are reimagining their video content marketing to be interactive and shoppable to standout.
Shoppable videos are a type of interaction video that allow consumers to find out information about products and make a purchase without leaving the window. Clickable hotspot technology allows brands to upload links to product pages, ecommerce sites, e-mail signups and more.
By using interaction video in video content marketing, brands can increase engagement by 3-4 x. This prevents viewer drop-off and shortens the path to purchase. Implementing clickable calls-to-action that let viewers add products to cart turns viewers into customers in one click.
Here's how fast fashion brands are taking advantage of this effective new technology to drive sales.
ZARA X WIREWAX
This interactive and shoppable video provides three different campaign videos in one. Viewers can choose one of three different chapters to explore various products in different storylines. This exciting, interactive video allows the viewer to choose their experience and be a part of the campaign themselves.
This video resulted in 3.1 interactions per viewer and achieved a 257% interaction rate.
Interact with the video here.
ADIDAS X SMARTZER
Adidas partnered with Smartzer to create an interaction video on their e-commerce site. The campaign was entirely shoppable as viewers could click on products to view more details and buy now via the call to action. The action packed video featured a shoppable carousel that consumers could browse without leaving the video. The dynamic content engaged viewers, allowing them to easily find their favourite products and make purchases instantly.
Smartzer's interactive videos can help brands increase their conversion rates by 400%.
Watch the shoppable video here.
ASOS PRESENTS: COLOUR CONTROL FT JUCE!
ASOS implemented interaction video into their video content marketing strategy by creating a customisable and shoppable music video with Juce! Consumers could click various hotspots in the video to view products in more detail, then follow links to the ASOS ecommerce site to buy. The exciting music video grabs the viewers attention with bright, refreshing colours that make the products pop.
Click the video above to explore!
MONKI & H&M X BAMBUSER
H&M owned fast fashion brand, Monki, has started to take full advantage of shoppable livestream using interactive software by Bambuser. Here, consumers could shop live as the host demonstrates a variety of products and how to style them. Monki editor-in-chief Eleonore Nygårds and buyer Nina Gomes filmed and broadcasted to users across the H&M-owned brand’s 19 markets. Viewers could interact with the hosts by asking questions in a chat room and shop live by adding products to their basket from a shoppable carousel. To complete checkout, shoppers leave the video to key in their payment details. Monki has repurposed livestreams on their e-commerce site so that customers can view at anytime.
Watch Monki livestreams here.
These examples prove that it isn't just luxury brands who are making content interactive and shoppable.
To take your content to the next level, visit Smartzer's website here!
- Mar 23, 2021
You may have heard of shoppable video, currently the most talked about technology between marketers. However, have you heard of applying it to cookery shows?
55% of people watch videos everyday and 78% of people watch them every week. So, it isn't a shock that gradually, more and more culinary brands are taking advantage of interactive video platforms to incorporate shoppable video into their cooking tutorials. By monetising content and creating an immersive interactive experience, brands can increase engagement and conversion.
Your intro to shoppable video:
If you are new to the concept of shoppable video, here's a quick run down.
Shoppable video is interactive content that can be used across e-commerce or social media platforms. Brands tag videos with product information to encourage video interactivity. Viewers can see varieties of the product, click to find out reviews, pricing, contact info, product details and even add them to a basket to purchase straight from the video. This drives direct and instant sales. Interactive video platform, Smartzer, lets brands tag videos via a clickable overlay using URL's, images, text, product feeds, product API's or by inputting info manually. These videos are entirely trackable, producing powerful metrics that brands can measure and monitor to adapt their strategies.
Shoppable videos take advantage of customer interest, engaging thoroughly to generate rapid conversions.
Livestream videos can also be made shoppable. Brands upload links of products they wish to showcase before the stream then imbed the stream link onto the streaming platform for viewers to join. The excitement of real-time shoppable tutorials encourages quick and direct purchases. In China, Viya Huang partnered with Kim Kardashian on a Taobao shoppable livestream and managed to sell 15,000 bottles of perfume in minutes. Crazy.
How can culinary brands incorporate video interactivity?
It's easy to use an interactive video platform to make new or existing videos shoppable. By adding links to cooking utensils or food products used in the video, brands can give viewers direct access to purchasing items. This makes cooking tutorials even more dynamic and immersive!
Here are some incredible examples of shoppable cooking shows!
Arnotts Cooking Club X Smartzer
In this video chef, Donal Skehan, shows the audience how to make spicy harissa lamb meatballs with crispy flatbreads. Arnotts used Smartzer's interactive video platform to make the tutorial shoppable on their e-commerce site. Viewers can buy all the products that Skehan uses by clicking on the hotspots to show a group popup featuring all of the products in the video frame. The 'add to bag' call-to-action encourages consumers to purchase straight from the tutorial. This engaging, immersive and memorable video generated a 71% engagement rate and a 14% CTR.
Find the shoppable tutorial here!
Walmart X Buzzfeed's Tasty App X Northfork
Walkmart and Buzzfeed partnered with Northfork's interactive video platform to create shoppable cooking tutorials in the US. On the Tasty app there are 4,000 cooking videos that you can shop directly from thanks to video interactivity. By clicking on products shown in a shoppable carousel, users can be directed to the Walmart e-commerce to order products for home delivery or for store click and collect. Finding the perfect recipe AND ingredients has never been easier!
Not only this, Walmart has also introduced shoppable livestream cooking shows. The Walmart Cookshop videos include a special starring actress Sofia Vergara and her son, along with new episodes of "Veggie Boost with Jamie Oliver," and "Over the Top with Patti Labelle" and more! The videos let viewers order recipe ingredients and featured products for pick-up or delivery from Walmart. The shows generated a click through rate of 8.7% compared to the industry standard 2%.
Culinary and food brands are slow to pick up the latest shoppable trend in video content marketing. But, from looking at the successes of these two examples it is clear that tag videos can help foodies to discover, engage with and buy products quickly and easily.
By being able to see products in action, customers are more immersed in the content, remembering the brand and buying with confidence. Brands should jump on this trend asap to avoid being left behind!