Beyond Engagement: How interactive video marketing brings another dimension to the user experience
We’ve been talking about video marketing a lot lately. It’s important and increasingly so. What you make, where the user views the video, the story you tell, and where the user ends up are all important.
Another step you can take to make the most of your efforts is to make the video interactive.
Here are some excellent tools that can help you turn your videos into an interactive experience:
Adventr
Adventr is a free tool though it has tiered pricing options for those looking for more. This system allows the user to choose based on selection offered during the video putting the user in a position to enjoy more than one outcome and more than one story.
The drag and drop administration puts you in control of the narrative you create. When the video pauses at certain points you offer the user choices that then determine the outcome!
For those looking to draw the user in or convey a message that requires interactive elements this tool is ideal and you can try it free before committing to anything.
Klynt
Klynt is another great tool that makes interactive video making easy. They also offer drag and drop video creation that offers up neat opportunities such as adding in specific paths the user can take from or from within the video as well as adding clickable icons that link to pages within your website that may provide further insight into the subject matter for your user. It’s like linking from within your video!
There are more great ways to use this service as seen in this demo example of a dynamic landing page menu to start your video. Now you just have to get creative.
Pageflow
A somewhat more advanced tool this one will take you a few hours to toy with but if you’re interested telling stories in your videos then this is ideal.
This system allows for inserting everything from audio tracks to adding fade in text effects and more. If you have a certain point in your video you want linked to a url within your site just add it as a hotspot linked by either text or an image.
Add a map and make it interactive to allow the user to choose where to go and when they get there have a video about that section or locality.
It depends on how much time and effort you’re willing to put in but if you want to really make a splash and excite your users this could be a great way to do it.
Odyssey
Odyssey is much simpler than the rest,Though you might be intimidated by words like documentation and .js this one is in fact quite easy to use with 3 options to tell your story with.
Slides, scrolling, and torque are the 3 types of videos you can make with this system,By taking your time and reading the documentation you can use this one quite easily to make your videos a journey for your users.
While mostly map based this system does offer options on how to get your user to engage with your content and if you’re stuck that same documentation is there for easy reference.
Social Media marketing Is a Toxic Mirror
We’ve long understood that movies, magazines and television damage teens’ body image by enforcing a “thin ideal.”
With the rapid aging down of social media marketing and smart phone ownership, most parents spend “digital parenting” time on character coaching, making sure their kids think before they post and refrain from cyber-bullying.
Not anymore. Social media has also become a toxic mirror:
Earlier this year, psychologists found robust cross-cultural evidence linking social media use to body image concerns, dieting, body surveillance, a drive for thinness and self-objectification in adolescents. Note: that doesn’t mean social media cause the problems, but that there’s a strong association between them.
Visual platforms for social media marketing
like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat deliver the tools that allow teens to earn approval for their appearance and compare themselves to others.
The most vulnerable users, researchers say, are the ones who spend most of their time posting, commenting on and comparing themselves to photos.
One study found that female college students who did this on Facebook were more likely to link their self-worth to their looks. Interestingly, while girls report more body image disturbance and disordered eating than boys—studies have shown both can be equally damaged by social media.
All this provides an illusion of control: if I spend more time and really work at it, I can improve at being beautiful. “I don’t get to choose how I’m going to leave my apartment today,” one young woman told me. “If I could, my body would look different. But I can choose which picture makes my arms look thinner.”
But invariably, the line between a “like” and feeling ranked becomes blurred.
What teens share online is dwarfed by what they consume. Pre-Internet, you had to hoof it to the grocery store to find a magazine with celebrity bodies,or at least filch your mother’s copy from the bathroom. Now the pictures are as endless as they are available.
“wellness” industry (social media channel)
The meteoric rise of the “wellness” industry online has launched an entire industry of fitness celebrities on social media. Millions of followers embrace their regimens for diet and exercise, but increasingly, the drive for “wellness” and “clean eating” has become stealthy cover for more dieting and deprivation. Both contained strong language inducing guilt about weight or the body, and promoted dieting, restraint and fat and weight stigmatization. “I had found wellness,” she wrote. “I was not well.”
Many teens are media-literate about movies and magazines; they take in digitally altered images with a critical eye. Less clear is how social media literate they are. The older adolescents I work with often shrug off conversations about the perils of social media with a “duh” or “I know that already.” That doesn’t mean they’re not listening, or feeling worried that their bodies don’t measure up. (Besides, this population is hardly famous for gushing gratitude for parental advice.)
So what can parents do? Ask teens their opinion of the ways people modify their own appearance online: Why do people do it? What do they gain, and from whom? Sometimes just naming a feeling as normal can make a young adult feel less alone. It never hurts to tell your teen they matter more than their looks.
Social media platforms
When it comes to choosing which social media platforms you need to select those that offer the best potential for reaching your ideal audience and broadcast the type of media you’ve decided is best suited for your company. Most people and companies can’t be amazing on every platform; that takes a huge amount of bandwidth and resources. Instead of having a sub-par representation in a lot of places, be awesome on a few of them.How do you decide which platforms are best for your needs? Here’s a brief overview of the most significant platforms as they pertain to your business needs.
Platforms types and forms are (Pinterest-Linkedin-Youtube-Twitter & Fac
Pinterest
Pinterest is billing as a content-sharing service that allows members to pin or post photos, videos, and other images to their pin boards.
The site, which has a predominantly female audience, is ideal for businesses for which visual imagery is a main feature or selling point.
If you focus on travel destinations, interior decorating, fashion or foods, you can say a great deal about your products and services through your stunning photos or videos.
In essence, Pinterest has a niche market and serves it very well. You can comment on people’s boards, share imagery and click onto the webpages from which the images came. You can also like what you see, or “pin it.” Each board is links to the pinner’s profile page so people can see the person, business or brand behind the photos or videos.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the consummate networking site. Even before the term “social media” became fashionable, we had social networking, and that clearly defines LinkedIn. It’s a way of growing connections in the business world and utilizing them as necessary.
It’s great for reaching out to people and getting into their Rolodex, so that when they need your services, there you are.
It also includes groups and discussions where you can politely discuss your interests. show that you’re transparent, solicit advice, ask questions and answer questions, letting your expertise impress others.
Service providers are more prevalent than manufacturers or retailers, because it’s easier to talk about what you do or what your business does, and it’s not a very visual medium.
other social media platforms that people communicate with
YouTube
YouTube is a very powerful tool, visually driven and potentially very exciting. It has become synonymous with homemade or company-made videos. It’s worldwide watch channel, and people post videos with hopes of going viral.
The key to using YouTube effectively is to feature your product or service in an unforgettable way, and with millions of people now using YouTube, the bar is set very high. No one will watch a boring video.
Like Pinterest, you can use YouTube to capitalize on our innate love of visuals. It’s a good idea to watch a number of of hits.
Written social media applications:
Twitter
Twitter is an ongoing conversation that, like text messaging, has become widely popular. Unlike Facebook and other social media platforms, where people can choose what to look at on your site, or respond later, Twitter is more “in the moment.”
It’s a marvelous tool for businesses that want to reach out to people now and expect–and are ready for–people to reply.
If you have breaking news, updates, questions for your followers, or if you want opinions now or even need to announce a recall, Twitter is the way to reach out to people. It’s for the business that has things to say frequently and prefers to reach people directly.
Facebook
Facebook is one of the most powerful social platforms in the world. It’s size alone is a positive for any business, because you can assume most people are on it.
Unlike Twitter, you can choose what to look at and what to share. This gives businesses more opportunities to represent themselves in various ways. Facebook is about a long-term commitment and building relationships, although there’s some immediacy as you can reply directly to people’s comments or questions.
Almost any business can benefit from having a Facebook page. But Facebook isn’t about selling. Your goal in using Facebook for business is to let customers get to know the people behind the logo.
ex:photos should illustrate not just you at your desk but your dog at a company event. If you make it correctly, your fans become loyal followers and Facebook can be a very significant lead generator.
, and torque are the 3 types of videos you can make with this system,By taking your time and reading the documentation you can use this one quite easily to make your videos a journey for your users.