Online video ads already offer some of the highest engagement metrics around; people simply prefer to watch an ad or marketing message than to read it. But if you really want to increase the power of your marketing videos, consider turning your videos into interactive apps. By adding custom Flash or HTML applets directly within video ads, marketers can now allow viewers to interact with the ad without ever leaving the player.
Whether you add interactive elements to in-stream or in-banner video ads, these “souped up” ads will engage viewers in a way far beyond traditional video ads, which are more like TV commercials online than true interactive video experiences. Unlike the passive medium of video-only ads, interactive video ads enable advertisers to directly engage their customers. Interactive video ads also instantly measure viewers’ responses by tracking their real-time interactions, instead of just measuring the old standards of views, clickthrough, and conversion.
For viewers, the ads deliver immediacy of interaction: instead of having to click through to a website, users can often get all the information they need directly from the interactive ad. And when you make it easy for potential customers to get the information they need, they are much more likely to follow through on a purchase.
But what type of interactive elements should you add, and how? The answer to the first part of the question is simple: any type you want. The sky’s the limit as to the type of applets you can add to your video ad. Some ideas include:
- Taking a virtual house tour after seeing an ad for new homes for sale;
- Seeing a Flash tour of a car interior and requesting a test-drive;
- Displaying a map to find the closest store location;
- Sharing the video with a friend and adding your own commentary;
- Showing a series of video clips for a concert tour;
- Participating in a trivia contest or quiz to win a discount;
- Requesting a quote for an insurance policy or home loan
Here is a great example of a video ad that uses custom interactive elements.
You can add these app-style ads to your marketing mix by using a service like Jivox. With Jivox’s custom interactive element feature, you simply develop a small applet in Java or Flash, and then click to add it to the video ad.
By adding custom interactive elements to video ads, companies can change their ads from a passive to an active medium, boosting direct response, social recommendations, and immediate product discovery via the video advertising channel. The end result is a better-informed, more engaged customer, improved ad performance, and, ultimately, higher ROI on video ad campaigns.
Tags: interactive ads, interactive video, internet videos, jivox, marketing videos, online advertising, Online Marketing, online video advertising, online video marketing, video creation tool, video marketing
