I love the show MythBusters. If you’ve never seen it, the basic idea is to take on popularly accepted beliefs or urban legends, then attempt to “Bust the Myth” through any means necessary. They don’t always succeed, but it’s always fun to watch.
I can’t shoot wheels of cheese out of a cannon, but I do have a few myths around interactive video I’d like to bust. While advancements in technology have brought interactive video to surprising places, the broad perception remains that interactive video content is difficult, expensive, or unnecessary for B2B marketers. These are all myths! The logic no longer holds, and we have some great data to back this up. So, let’s bust these myths, together!
Myth #1: Interactive Video is Expensive to Produce
Myth busting always starts with a lot of questions. Run through an experiment with me. Imagine an interactive video – whatever you might think that looks like. How did that video get made? Was it interactive from the get-go, shot by video producers imagining a “choose your own adventure” video experience? Is it a normal video, with overlaid text elements and graphics the viewer can click on and change?
Depending on what you’re imagining, your perception of how expensive it was to create might differ. It might be informed by simply not using interactive video regularly, so what do regular interactive video users think? An interactive video study by Brightcove and DemandMetric found that the top reason cited for not using interactive video was “budget constraints.” Contradicting this is that current users of interactive video ranked cost 10th on the list of challenges that keep them from implementing interactive video.
The ability to use interactive video effectively is dependent upon the toolset you choose. Increasingly, the tools and platforms for creating interactive video make costs more transparent and contained, avoiding the risk of a custom development project getting out of budgetary control.
Myth #2: There’s No B2B Use Case for Interactive Video
It’s easy to see why most people might think an interactive video is just for consumer-facing marketing. But B2B marketers are actually adopting interactive video quite quickly. The DemandMetric and Brightcove research targeted specifically B2B or mixed B2B/B2C organizations, and one-fifth of respondents were already using interactive video!
Interactive video can be utilized in numerous ways. Half of survey respondents used interactive video for four or more of the use cases below:
Myth #3: Interactive Video Is Only For Top-Of-Funnel Marketing
This is possibly my favorite myth about interactive video, because busting it is so much fun!
The Brightcove and DemandMetric study looked at the efficacy of interactive video for both engagement and conversion. While only 15% of respondents weren’t sure how well interactive video engages, more than one-third didn’t know how well interactive video converts – and an additional 30% were neutral. While this might sound alarming, read on.
The study also found that marketers using interactive video extensively ranked “better conversion” and “more sales” as benefits much more often than light users of interactive video.
As you can see by the chart below, once conversion measurements and campaign KPIs are put in place, marketers may discover interactive video is a more efficient conversion mechanism than they once thought.
Myths, Busted. Give Interactive Video a Try!
Be a video marketing Mythbuster! Be adventurous and do your own field research on interactive video. You’ll see big returns on video engagement, and just might boost conversions and sales. You won’t know until you try!