Personalize your content on viewer behavior – Discover the power of interactivity

If we had to choose one word to describe the future of digital marketing, this word can only be “personalization.” 

Behind the word “personalization” lies a radical breakthrough, a real paradigm shift that has already affected most of the communication processes of companies in every sector. 

In short: we’re talking about a future that is already present, and one that still has opportunities for bearing more fruit. 

In this post, we want to focus on one of the most interesting “fruits” of this turning point: we’re talking about interactivity, with a specific focus on interactive videos, i.e.,  videos that are able to adapt to the characteristics and navigation choices of individual viewers in real time.

Interactive videos: what are they? How do they work?

The revolution triggered by personalized digital marketing can be summarized as follows: from classic one-size-fits-all communication, we are moving to one-to-one communication.

And with interactivity?

We’ll go even further.

From a single monologue we are moving to an equal dialogue with the recipient. 

From one-way linearity we are moving to a two-way conversation, a true exchange between company and customer, with benefits on both sides.

It’s a truly decisive shift, one that can (and should) be exploited in many different ways…ways that will multiply exponentially in the future.

In the case of interactive video, how does this translate, on a concrete and operational level?

What elements of interactivity can be implemented? 

Here are some examples.

– Data entry fields: fields that the viewer can fill in, such as biographical information or an email address to subscribe to a newsletter, a phone number and address for a shipment, or more.

– Questions directed to the viewer for closed or open-ended answers (even if for limited use in the second case)

– Quizzes and polls: very useful for probing the sentiment and preferences of your recipients.

– Branching Paths (branches): “turns” and “forks” that create personalized viewing paths for each user; this is where user-oriented storytelling comes from, which we will touch on later in the post.

– Personalized call to action: a decisive moment and the step that leads to conversion. Personalizing this touch point has the direct consequence of making it more effective, increasing the click-through rate.

Interactive videos: some data on their effectiveness

We started out with a look at personalized marketing and on the revolution that is triggered by the dynamics of interactivity. 

We explained what interactive videos are. 

And we looked at the possible two-way touch points that can be included in a video.

In the next section, we will isolate the main benefits and most interesting opportunities that companies can expect from using interactive video. 

Before doing so, however, we want to leave a little space for numbers. Numbers that, more than many words, perfectly tell the power and effectiveness of interactive videos.

– Traditional, one-way marketing videos record conversion rates that stand, on average, below the 1% threshold. With interactive videos, the surge in conversions is truly impressive, reaching an average of 11% (marketingprofs.com).

– According to research by DemandGen, campaigns based on interactive videos record an average doubling of engagement rates compared to traditional campaigns (demandgenraport.com).

– Also on average, viewing times for interactive video are 47% longer than for linear video (marketingdive.com). And we all know how important it is to lengthen these times while keeping the attention of the target audience high.

– Not only that. Interactivity demonstrates long-term benefits as well, making one’s communications stick in the minds of recipients even long after the fact. 

Specifically: an interactive video is 32% more memorable than a linear video (wyzowl.com).

– Finally, here’s a very summarizing fact for you: according to a survey by Spiel Creative, about 90% of marketers noticed a growth in sales after implementing interactive videos in their campaigns. And 85% of them said they plan to create even more interactive videos in the future (spielcreative.com).

Interactive video: the benefits and opportunities

As anticipated, we’ve arrived at the heart of our post. Now, we will look at the main benefits and opportunities that come from exploiting interactive video. And we will do so by grouping them around 5 basic themes.

1) Stand out from the crowd

Videos are the most effective media in digital marketing and online communication generally. 

So, it’s not surprising that they are everywhere. 

There is a downside, though: amidst this crowding, it’s increasingly difficult to make your videos stand out and get users to click “play.”

Interactive videos are a formidable ally in this regard. 

First, because they are less widespread: therefore, they get noticed more. 

Above all, because they address individual users directly, communicating directly with them and giving a feeling that we might call “intimacy.”

The attention challenge is not won by “yelling” louder than others, but by trying to establish an equal exchange.

2) Tailored storytelling

Interactive video storytelling is not rigid and established upstream. It takes shape in real time, based on the choices and behaviors of individual viewers. 

It is data-driven and user-oriented storytelling.

This has important consequences: 

– the surge in the engagement rate; viewers are transformed from passive users into active participants in the exchange; 

– the increase in the retention rate and prolonged viewing times—this increases engagement;

– the increase in long-term memorability.

These are all benefits that are supported by the numbers and statistics we listed above. They stem from the fact that interactive video storytelling is a matter of collaboration, something that the brand and users create together.

3) More leads, more conversions, more revenue

Creating a participatory and engaging storytelling is functional in increasing the concrete (and economic) results of any campaign. 

We’re talking about marketing, not pure entertainment.

Interactive videos are invaluable also – and especially – in this sense. 

The statistics that tell the story of improved performance in terms of conversions and return on investment are very clear; we saw this in the previous section.

And the reasons are very simple: when the “path” is built collaboratively, the user will be much more likely to choose to continue to the “goal”…thus to the final call to action that leads straight to conversion.

4) Better data mining

Here we come to a decisive point, one that sometimes risks being overshadowed. 

A quick premise is needed here: the fuel of personalized digital marketing is data; that is, the information that makes it possible to have an accurate snapshot of one’s target audience (to be broken down into many micro-targets) and that helps keep track of campaign performance in order to continuously improve them and make them more effective.

That said, why do interactive videos allow for better data extraction? And what do we mean by “better”?

The answer lies in the increase of touch points. 

The viewer is directly and repeatedly called upon. 

This means that he directly expresses his preferences, that his choices are explicit, that he can decide to directly provide personal data (which for companies becomes valuable “First Party Data”).

Thus, “better” data mining means: 

– data with very high granularity

– non-brokered data

– very deep, very targeted data related to individuals

5) More efficient testing

The final point of this list is closely related to the previous one. 

Having better and more surgical data at our disposal means being able to evaluate the results of each campaign much more accurately.

Beware, however! 

You can also collect valuable data in a testing phase before the actual launch of the campaign.

The granularity and depth of information that is gathered by creating A/B tests from interactive videos is an asset that you must take advantage of.

We have dedicated a blog post to the topic of Video A/B testing, how it works and what the key factors to take into consideration.

Babelee’s Video Interaction Platform

After reviewing the numbers on the effectiveness of interactive videos and focusing on the benefits and opportunities, all that remains is one final question: how to produce interactive videos tailored to each individual recipient? And how to do so while optimizing resources and aiming for the highest quality?

The answer, in this case, is very straightforward: by relying on specialized video production platforms, such as Babelee’s Video Interaction Platform.

The creation process is simple and intuitive. Once you have chosen a video template, you can edit and customize it based on your needs and goals, creating a path that unravels through different interactive touch points, all the way to the custom call to action.

To learn more about all aspects of Babelee’s Video Interaction platform, we refer you here.

One decisive technical detail to mention in closing: the interactive videos of Babelee are in HTML5 format. This format will increasingly be the must-have standard for all sites and platforms.

Learn more about the HTML5 video revolution in this post.