Content that grabs your audience by the lapels and pulls them into an experience is a holy grail for marketers. One of the best ways to find that elusive prize: Invite them to lean in and actively help tailor your narrative just for them.

Interactive videos are a popular — and proven — way to make that happen in these distracted, digital-first times. Interactivity creates a dialogue between the brand and the audience. It asks for something from the viewer and gives something back in the form of information they want and a richer content experience. So, share the wheel and let the audience drive for a while.

The key difference between linear, aka traditional video, in which everyone gets the same passive ride, is that interactive video offers a dynamic, gamified experience. Instead of asking your audience to lean back and sit through a 2-minute video on, say, retirement planning, an interactive video invites that audience to lean in. With their clicks or taps, they choose whether they learn more about investing beyond their 401(k)s, creating retirement income streams or saving for their children’s education while planning for retirement. At various points along the way, they pick what they want to see more of — and the content is there for them.

Give them the controls

Everybody loves a story — especially if they had a hand in creating it. And everybody wants solutions that feel hyper-relevant and personal.

If you’re considering going the interactive video route, consider whether your goals match up with some of these outcomes:

• Speak personally to your audiences
• Give them some control of the content they consume
• Encourage engagement, information sharing and e-commerce
• Know your audience better

As audiences click, scroll and “play” with your interactive video, you can accomplish all that.

Make it engaging 

Have you ever streamed a movie and checked the news or taken a whack at Wordle simultaneously? Then you know you’re living in a multiscreen world. Interactive video increases the odds your audience will give you their undivided eyeballs, providing that you give them compelling reasons to focus and concentrate on your messaging. Interaction makes the message your brand is delivering more memorable.

The key to maintaining that magnetism is creating interactive content that encourages them to stay with the video. That includes interactions in which viewers can stop the video, choose to delve into different content or varied views, even polls and quizzes they can take part in. As a viewer, say, chooses whether they want details on the pizza recipe instead of the tacos, they’re clicking and choosing and leaving a trackable trail of powerful digital breadcrumbs.

That data, delivered in real time, helps you learn valuable information about your customers: what they need, what they’re interested in and what they’ll respond to in the future.

Takeaways worth the “play” time

Make no mistake: Interactive videos require thoughtful planning. They need a logical and clearly stated purpose. A choose-your-own-adventure video is only valuable to your audience if the choices give them something they’re truly into.

So successful interactive videos are built on a deep knowledge of these consumers — what they like, what they need, what challenges they face. Only then can you clearly give them the solutions and the experiences they want in exchange for their precious time and participation.

Make sure that each time viewers click, they’re opening another door to something truly valuable. If you don’t, they’ll understandably shut down your content and move on. But if you do — now you’re getting closer to that holy grail.

We’d love to help you understand how interactive video can get you closer to your audiences. To learn more, please send us a message.