In a nutshell, interactivity can include any elements that allows the viewer to influence the video directly. 

Traditional videos let viewers press play, pause and stop – that’s it. Interactive video takes it further by creating different paths for viewers to take or adding clickable links to other pages and resources. Once you starting looking into it, there are so many ways for people to engage with a video. 

Recent studies have shown that the more interactive you make your video, the more engaging it will be. So whether you are making video for marketing, sales or learning, there are plenty of advantages to going interactive.

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular and engaging interactive elements for video.

Branching Narratives and Pathways

Allow viewers to choose alternative pathways through a video, letting them control their own narrative. 

Respond to viewer’s choices and tailor individual experiences to suit people from all backgrounds and interests. 

For example, branching scenarios have really taken off in learning and training. Learners can respond to real scenarios and explore alternate perspectives in a safe environment that adapts to their knowledge level.

Clickable Hotspots

Let viewers click directly on specific areas of the video to jump elsewhere – maybe to another video clip, to external resources or to provide more information about an on-screen object.

Very handy for shoppable adverts – direct viewers to a product page – or scenario training – get learners to click on safety hazards or select the right tool for the job.

Overlays and Onscreen Elements

There are so many little ways to make a smooth and easy viewer experience. For example, overlays avoid overwhelming the audience with too much information at once. Add extra text, images or calls-to-action when the viewer is hovering over a hotspot or has reached a specific moment in the video.  

This is just one of the onscreen elements that can make your viewer’s lives that little bit easier. There are so many more to explore.

The future of video is interactive. Here’s why:

Better Engagement

Interactive videos create active viewing experiences. If viewers must make decisions, they are more focused, actively engaging in the video to inform their next interaction.  A big boost to brand and information recall.

Increased Conversions

Recent research has found that interactive video converts at a higher rate than other types of video ads. It has a click-through rate of 11% compared to less than 1% of click-throughs on YouTube annotations and Google Ads.

Trackable Interactions

It can be hard to measure the impact of a linear video. View rates and length are typically used to measure success. However, without the data to show a correlation between video activity and conversions, it can be hard to prove a video’s value.

Interactive video allows you to gather much more data and insight – letting you to accurately assess a video’s impact on business goals. Track clicks and analyse popular pathways through the interactive video and you’ll get a keen insight into how your audience engages with your brand. You can read more about this here.

Improved User Experience

Interactive video doesn’t rely on behavioural data to personalise experiences. It opens a two-way dialogue with viewers to personalise their experience on their terms. Customers who are in control of their own viewing experience will be more invested in your video. It can also add some delightful elements and fun to more complex and serious topics as your viewers explore your video.

Interactive videos can improve a diverse range of functions and experiences. From scenario training exercises to interactive conversions and explainer tutorials, here’s a selection of our favourite examples:

Quizzes

An interactive quiz is a dynamic tool that challenges users with questions on specific topics or facts, leading to a personalised result based on their responses. Add gamified elements to your interactive video to customise viewer results in a way that linear video could never do – and discover more about your audience in the process.

Migration Run – a visa quiz for the UN: For the UN’s International Labour Organization, Green Bamboo Pictures created an interactive explainer and quiz to test people’s knowledge of migrating to the EU with a work visa – allowing them to access the information and questions most relevant to them.

Training & Education

Engage learners with enriched courses and e-learning materials through interactive video. Educators can measure interactions effectively and promote active participation in the learning process.

The Illuminated Text – Shakespeare learning experience: Dive into Shakespeare’s words in four dimensions! This interactive video studies Shakespeare from four different angles. Using a verse from Hamlet, the video puts the exploration in your hands. Choose an angle to approach the text, choose a line and find out more!

“Choose-Your-Own-Path” narratives

Connect videos into an immersive choose-your-own-path experience where viewers decide how their story unfolds. Utilise hotspots and seamless video transitions to make it easy for audiences to click and control what happens next in their interactive experience.

Devogame – Scenario-based cybersecurity thriller challenge: Leading IT consulting firm Devoteam produces a Devogame every September, testing students’ technical knowledge and validating the skills they need. In 2021, Devoteam created an interactive video game in Stornaway.io. This scenario-based learning challenge tested the students’ soft skills; concentration, decision-making, adaptability and leadership.

Shoppable Videos

Deliver smoother and shorter paths to purchase. Allow customers go straight from creative content to product page with a couple of clicks. Add interactive calls-to-action within your videos and you’ll quickly improve the customer experience with your brand.

Shoppable Video: Created by the Stornaway team, this project uses button images to highlight areas of a room that links out to an example e-commerce store when clicked. Directly add items to a basket or cart using our external URL feature to personalise the shopping experience and improve conversion.

Tours and Place Explorations

Well-crafted tours and walkthroughs drop viewers right into the action. Wander through real places so viewers can explore a new place in their terms or take a tour with a knowledgable guide. Take it one step further with a virtual reality headset, and viewers can be transported to another place and time.

Endless Adventure – virtual tour with a twist for Canadian heritage park: Engagement levels soared for the interactive living history museum Fort Edmonton Park in Canada. Creative agency Sticks and Stones even nabbed an Innovative Use of Technology award for this immersive virtual tour.

Plan, produce and publish your adaptive interactive video experience with Stornaway. The perfect platform to deliver high quality scenario training, interactive quizzes, product demos, ads, hybrid presentations and more. Embed your interactive video on any website, app, LMS or social media platform so that it fits seamlessly into your wider brand experience. Delve into Stornaway Analytics to get invaluable insight into your interactive video’s impact on key aims and goals. 

Here are a few features that are creator community tell us they love: