- Jan 20, 2021
Updated: Feb 12, 2021
Photo: The British Fashion Council's interactive content for London Fashion Week June 2020
Interactive video has come a long way since the explosion of the number of users consuming video online. In 2021 alone the average person is expected to spend 100 minutes every day watching online videos (Zenith). Depending on the type of content being watched, much of the video content can be consumed passively by users who are favouring a lean-back approach online however many people watching online videos are leaning forward and actively browsing the web while consuming content. Particularly with these users in mind, making a video interactive can unlock a whole new area of engagement that has been previously often overlooked.
The world of interactive video can be a challenging place to navigate, with a wide variety of tools available on the market that each specialise in doing different things. Here’s a quick summary of some of our favourite methods out there that can add interactivity to videos for various use cases online:
Adding further information to EDUCATE users
When users are consuming content there might easily be further information that you could include about what is on show. Perhaps it’s the stats of the sports game that is playing or even the actors that are on screen. This type of information could potentially easily be added to your content to educate your audiences. One stand-out tool is EDpuzzle, which allows you to easily add educational information to your content.
Make your video SHOPPABLE
For branded content, in particular, interactive video can be used to help drive sales of a particular product that is featured within the video. Tagging your video with the items that are featured, and enabling users to click on the content to find out more, as well as purchase the product, can boost conversion and engagement rates in one fell swoop. When it comes to shopping, Smartzer can be used to easily create highly engaging content that presents your products in a professional and fully optimised interactive video player. With over 5 years of experience, working closely with some of the world's largest brands, our tool is now available for any business to use for their own content. Find out more on how Smartzer can support your business goals here.
Allow users to pick their path through video BRANCHING
Video branching is a good way to gamify your video content and enables users to pick their own path and storyline when watching a video. The greatest example of this was Netflix’s Bandersnatch, Netflix’s first ‘choose your own adventure’ series that took the world by storm. The production of Bandersnatch cost over $76 million dollars, which is not surprising given the sheer amount of different options available to the user, and therefore subsequent scenes that had to be filmed. Regardless of the expense, video branching can be a great way of adding interactivity to a good storyline that matches. One tool worth looking at is eko, which was the tech behind P&G’s Interactive Super Bowl ad for 2020.
Updated: Jun 18, 2021
Smartzer's interactive video platform can now also be used to make livestreams shoppable. Here is a step-by-step guide to building live shopping experiences using Smartzer.
Step 1: Set up your products
The first step to build your live shop is to prepare the items that will be featured in the live shopping stream itself. Therefore before you start, be sure to plan what products you would like to talk about and cover during the stream. Once you have the items, it’s now time to add them to the Smartzer editor. This can be done by connecting your product catalog to the editor and requesting the information by SKU or simply by adding the products manually. Speak to your account manager for more information here on what solution would work best for you.
Step 2: Build the shoppable carousel
So you have your products ready to go, check! Now it’s time to build the shoppable carousel that will feature as the live stream is playing. This can be done with a few simple clicks: first by adding the carousel then selecting add all products to the carousel. Once created you can reorder the items in the carousel as you see fit. With the carousel created, the Smartzer overlay is ready to go. Now it’s time to connect the player to your broadcasting service of choice.
Step 3: Connect the interactive player to your live streaming service
Each new interactive video project has a stream key and RTMP link associated with it. These can be used in a wide range of live stream broadcasting software to connect the Smartzer player to the stream. Stuck for choice? Here’s a list of a few Smartzer recommended services you can use to broadcast your stream:
OBS Studio (Desktop encoder & free)
Wirecast (Desktop encoder & paid)
Larix Broadcaster (Mobile APP & free)
Wirecast Go (Mobile APP & paid)
Step 4: GO LIVE!
Having input the stream key and RTMP link into your broadcasting service of choice, you can now go live with your live shopping stream. Simply distribute the Smartzer player URL via Social media or embed the player directly onto a webpage of your choice using the Smartzer embed code.
Following your live experience, the video can then be converted into a fully shoppable video using the Smartzer editor for on-demand viewing and to add to an online repository.
Interested in learning more? Please feel free to get in touch.
Updated: Feb 12, 2021
How brands like Valentino, Ralph Lauren and Zimmermann drive online conversion through video content by turning it into an interactive and shoppable client experience.
Photo courtesy of Valentino
Today in 2021, we look over the past year as the year that disrupted Luxury more than ever before, forcing brands to accelerate on digital and omnichannel strategy, ensuring that products were available anywhere and anytime, in the channels where their customers preferred to seek them.
Maintaining the appropriate brand image and experience across platforms, while tapping into the different sales channels to engage clients and drive conversion continue to be at the forefront of challenges for brands this year.
The rise of video campaigns in luxury has been an increasingly popular tool for brands to communicate key messages, as well as showcase product launches and collections following their own creative direction, has allowed them to connect with their audiences in a more immersive way. Video is seen as the key driver for e-commerce for luxury brands in 2021.
Since almost all major players are using video in their digital marketing strategies, it’s important that content is unique and stands out, but with 2020 boutique closures and global pandemic measures, customers are having to rely on the content they see online to influence their buying decisions.
Creative teams are therefore having to change the way they work on content, ensuring that they convey the correct brand image in a way that would also appeal to an online consumer audience.
Luxury brands are using a range of video experiences fro shoppable videos of Valentino, to personalised video shopping by Gucci, and
Brands like Valentino, Ralph Lauren and Zimmermann are allowing their audiences to purchase products directly from video campaigns by sharing shoppable videos where an interactive overlay has been added to existing content. Through this immersive video experience, viewers can directly click on the brand’s video to instantly explore the detail of the product, as well as adding products straight to their online shopping cart.
Sharing this live shopping video experience on their website, as well as across channels such as Instagram and Facebook, has enabled the brand to drive qualified traffic to desired product pages on their website, to increase on-site engagement and to drive additional sales online.
Shoppable video is proving to be the perfect marriage of brand experience and the virtual boutique and as 2021 is already set to be a difficult year for brick and mortar businesses, video content and online user experiences will continue to be key elements of this year’s luxury market’s strategy.