How to Make an Interactive Video: Step-by-Step Guide

Interactive videos are quickly becoming the future of marketing, whether it’s to create awareness about your brand or to convert sales of your products.

These videos seem like the usual marketing videos you find online, but provide engagement and lead generation by embedding interactive elements into the video. These can include clickable buttons, product page links, or quizzes and polls to ensure that your audience actively engages with the video.

This is in stark contrast to generic videos where audiences mostly watch and spectate, providing them with a more passive experience. In fact, according to studies by idomoo, 81% of people are interested in receiving interactive videos from brands. Plus, one of the most important emerging demographics, Gen Z, has 94% of their respondents interested in interactive videos!

These stats highlight the importance of interactive video in modern marketing, and it’s high time that you jump onto the bandwagon too!

So, we’ve created a step-by-step guide to tell you everything about interactive content marketing, replete with video engagement strategies, benefits, and more.

Let’s begin

Benefits of Interactive Videos

Before we dive into the interactive video creation steps, let’s understand the benefits of interactive videos in a bit more detail, shall we?

• Higher Engagement: The interactive nature of these videos keeps a higher percentage of audiences engaged for longer periods. They allow your audience to actively participate in the video and give them a sense of control.

• Better Conversion: If your audience is more curious and engaged in what you’re offering in the interactive video, they’re more likely to be converted into paying customers. With shoppable videos, call-to-action buttons (CTAs), and other interactive elements, you stand a better chance of improving your conversion rates.

• Excellent Customer Experience: Consumers love a guided awareness and shopping campaign. Not only do interactive videos pique their curiosity, but they also make the entire customer experience more immersive and memorable.

• Accurate Data: With customers participating in the video experience, you get better real-time data about their behavior. This also helps you make better data-driven decisions to optimize your campaign and their buying experience.

• Stronger Brand Visibility: Interactive videos, while popular, are still a novel concept for some brands. Due to this, the brands are unwilling to adopt a new strategy. So, if you’re one of the first movers on interactive video creation for your niche, you’ll set your brand apart from the rest. Plus, videos are meant to be shared; leading to higher chances of virality and brand visibility.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Interactive Video

Now that you know what interactive videos are and how they can benefit you, it’s time to dive into creating them. Check out the steps below:

Step 1: Planning Your Video Concept

First and foremost, you have to understand that creating interactive videos isn’t the same process as creating ordinary videos. You need to branch narratives in your video storytelling to provide audiences with the opportunity to engage.

So, begin by planning a video concept that gives you plenty of flexibility to reach out to different aspects of your brand or product.

For example, if the video is about creating brand awareness, think about videos where the founder answers different questions and shares the brand’s vision. 

Step 2: Shooting the Video

With branching narratives, you’ll have to shoot different videos in such a way that they seamlessly blend in the final cut. Avoid sudden changes in the background or setting, as this can come off as jarring to the viewer and reduce their interest.

However, this is allowed in different contexts. For example, if you’re creating an interactive video about your workspace, and if the interactive element talks about amenities, you can shoot the next video throughout the office to showcase the office’s offerings. 

Step 3: Choosing the Right Software

Now that your video planning and shooting are completed, it’s time to use the interactive video software to bring them together. There are plenty of interactive tools in the market, and it’s advisable to try their free trials before making a long-term commitment.

Not all interactive video software provide the same type of interactive elements. For example, one software might offer unique clickable video elements for shoppable videos, while another is better for data collection through forms.

Choose your software wisely before you start the editing process.

Step 4: Adding Interactive Elements

Once you’ve chosen the interactive video software, it’s time to dive into the editing process. Collect all the videos (if more than one), edit them into a single video, and start adding the interactive elements.

Bear in mind the interaction points and add your interactive elements accordingly. For example, a product video should have a CTA button at the very end to entice the viewer into checking out the product’s landing page or purchasing it.

The points where you add your interactive elements, and which elements you add, will vary greatly based on the type of video you’re creating. It may also have elements that provide branching narratives for the user to engage with, especially in the case of awareness creation or multiple products.

Step 5: Editing and Optimizing for Different Platforms

After the interactive elements are added to your video, edit it to provide a seamless viewing experience. For example, moving from one shot to another (through an interactive element) shouldn’t reduce the video’s bitrate.

You’ll also have to change the video formats for different platforms, as publishing and social media platforms often have different requirements for interactive videos.

Try to uphold the video’s resolution and overall quality as much as possible, as low-quality videos will detract from the customer experience.

Best Practices for High-Engagement Videos

Great job on creating your first interactive video!

We’ll now discuss some of the best procedures to follow so that you’re consistently creating videos that deliver high-engagement videos.

• Set Clear Objectives: Before creating the video, understand what the video’s goal is. Remember that interactive videos are essentially audience participation videos, and they will only interact with the video if your clickable elements align with the video’s ultimate objective. Decide if your video is for sales, learning, shopping, lead generation, or something else entirely.

• Simplicity Wins: Interactive videos are all about navigation—smooth and intuitive navigation will always win your audience over. Based on the video length, keep as less interactive elements as possible. Too many interactions will overwhelm your viewer.

• Personalize: You have to tailor your video and goals based on the target demographic. If you’re targeting more than one demographic, keep branching storylines to cater to their requirements.

• Don’t Force the Engagement: With interactive content, you have to mandate the engagement without forcing it. You can include elements like CTA buttons, quizzes, and forms for interaction, but don’t forget to add a “Skip” button as well. The viewers should always have a sense of control over the narrative.

• Mobile-first: Everyone uses their smartphone today more than their personal computers. So, your videos need to be optimized for the smartphone audience. The design elements on your video must be responsive and touch-friendly, at the very least.

• Keep it Short: Videos that are longer than 90 seconds will feel like a chore to every viewer. Audiences today have shorter attention spans and demand more information to follow the path of least resistance. The ideal interactive video duration should be anywhere between 30 to 90 seconds.

• Data and Analytics: Ensure that the interactive video platform you’re using has the ability to track performance metrics like drop-off and interaction rates. This will help you optimize future videos for better engagement.

Niklas Kekonius

Co-founder

“The most common mistake people make with interactive video is overcomplicating the branching logic before they've validated that viewers actually want to engage. Start simple — one or two decision points — and let the analytics tell you where to add depth.”

Common Mistakes to Avoid

If you’re new to interactive video creation, you’ll be prone to making mistakes—it’s one of the best ways to learn what NOT to do for the next video.

But there are a few common mistakes that you can avoid from the get-go. This way, you’ll make better progress in the early stages and set yourself on the path to success.

• Poor Video Optimization: Before putting out the video onto your social handles, test them out on your own devices. This will tell you whether the videos have poor load times or low resolutions. This step is crucial as low-quality videos with slow load-times will immediately frustrate the user and hamper chances of engagement.

• No Accessibility: The videos will eventually reach audiences with different requirements. Make sure to include solutions for their challenges. This can include screen-reader-friendly elements, subtitles, or closed captions.

• Too Many Gimmicks: Your video doesn’t have to be flashy, but it has to provide tons of value. Don’t use too many effects in the videos as this can overwhelm viewers. After all, they just want to know how your brand, product, or service can help make their lives easier.

• Unintuitive Data Collection Practices: Never include long, detailed forms that will require the viewer tens of minutes to fill out. Keep the data collection simple, short, and minimalist.

• No Follow-ups: After users interact with the video, they would want to see the results of their interaction. Make sure to provide some level of post-engagement actions to keep them interested in your brand or product.

Conclusion

Interactive videos might take you some time to master for maximum engagement. However, they’re the cornerstone of modern marketing, and it’s important to make the effort for understand this format. This will put you leagues ahead of your competition, giving you an edge in reaching out to your audience and converting leads.

Follow the steps we’ve provided for video storytelling, bearing in mind the caveats, best practices, and common mistakes. This will help you streamline your interactive video marketing journey and elevate your brand experience to the next level.

If you’re ready to start, Life Inside is the best interactive video platform available today. Sign up for a free trial to understand how we can help you make interactive videos at scale, for multiple use cases and industries!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. #### 1. How can I add interactive elements to a video?

Adding interactive elements to a video will require you to use interactive video tools. You can find these tools online, each providing different interactive elements based on the use case.

1. #### 2. What industries can benefit the most from interactive videos?

1. Industries like sales & marketing, real estate, finance and banking, healthcare, and education can benefit greatly from interactive videos.

1. #### 3. How long should an interactive video be?

1. An interactive video should be no longer than 90 seconds. However, education-centric interactive videos can be longer, based on the requirement.

1. #### 4. How can I measure the success of an interactive video?

1. Interactive video software often come bundled with data & analytics features to measure the performance of the video. They track multiple metrics, such as engagement levels and interaction points/rates.

1. #### 5. Can I create an interactive video without coding skills?

1. Yes, of course! Interactive video platforms like Life Inside provide multiple interactive elements that can be easily added to your video funnel—no need for coding knowhow.

1. #### 6. How do I optimize interactive videos for better engagement?

1. To optimize your interactive videos for higher engagement, you can include a strong hook, relevant interaction points and elements, and perform optimization tests on different browsers and devices. Remember to keep the video short, with simple interactive elements, and add effective post-engagement strategies to keep your audience interested.