Using video is a great way to engage your customers and prospects—but how do you channel engagement into action? Interactive CTAs (calls-to-action) or ‘events’ are one great way to drive specific, desired outcomes from your viewers and encourage them to step further down the funnel.
What are interactive events and why should I care?
“In a nutshell, interactive events are areas of the player that have been created specifically to actively engage your viewers,” says Stephanie Yi, Solutions Consultant at Vidyard. “They are meant to drive a specific desired action from the viewer while they are watching your videos.”
Instead of passively consuming your video content, interactive events allow you to point your viewers to a specific action you’d like them to take. This action could be filling out a form, visiting a specific webpage, watching another video, or even requesting a demo. This video provides a brief overview of what interactive events are and how they work in the Vidyard platform.
Certain kinds of events work best with certain types of content—let’s have a look at how you can determine what kind of interactive event is right for your video.
How to leverage interactivity in your video marketing strategy
There are three main pieces you have to consider when creating an interactive video strategy:
The nature of your contentYour viewer’s ideal next stepThe kinds of interactive events that are going to drive the best-desired outcomes
We’ll tackle each of these questions in turn. Let’s dive in.
What is the nature of your content?
Think about your video content. What audience is it meant to reach? What role does it play in your funnel?
Here’s a quick primer on how different kinds of videos might fit into your buyer’s journey:
1. Awareness Stage (Top of Funnel) Videos
Videos in the awareness stage are designed to generate just that—awareness. Think of things like company overview videos, thought leadership content, or any kind of short “info bite”-style videos.
2. Consideration Stage (Middle of Funnel) Videos
Videos in the consideration stage can be a little more in-depth. Here’s where product overview videos can come into play, as well as how-to videos and solution-based webinars.
3. Decision Stage (Bottom of Funnel) Videos
Videos in the decision stage help your buyer take the final leap and make a purchase. These can include things like customer testimonial videos, along with in-depth product demos.
Once you’ve determined the nature of your content, you can start thinking about the kind of action you want to use it to drive. And that takes us to our next question:
What are your viewers’ ideal next steps?
Do you want to encourage them to consume more content? Identify themselves to you through a form? Initiate an opportunity? Consider the stage of your videos and how you can nudge your viewers closer to the next stage—or closer to a purchasing decision. Which leads us to our final consideration:
Which interactive events are going to drive the best outcomes?1. Awareness Stage
In this awareness stage, you want to focus on softer CTAs that will encourage your viewer to explore more of your content and product offerings. Some examples might be links to other pieces of content, newsletter subscription forms, or links to learn more about your products.
2. Consideration Stage
In the consideration stage, you can start using more in-depth lead capture forms to profile your buyer. Here you can also use multiple links on a “choose-your-own-adventure” event to allow buyers to identify their intention or persona.
3. Decision Stage
The decision stage is the point at which you want to encourage your viewer to initiate an opportunity—so make it easy for them! Here’s where you can use forms that allow them to reach out to you. Think demo requests, links to pricing information, or CTAs that allow them to book a meeting with an expert on your team.
We hope this post has been helpful and has inspired you to delve into your own interactive events strategy! If you’re ready to start setting up your own interactive events, check out our guide to events in our knowledge center that will help you get started. You can also check out our handy SlideShare presentation for additional information:
How to Generate Leads with Interactive Video CTAs from Vidyard
Are you already using interactive CTAs? Excited to get started? Let us know in the comments below!
The post Interactive CTAs: An Introduction appeared first on Vidyard.
Read more: vidyard.com
