One of the most valuable elements of a video is its engagement. This isn’t a ground-breaking statement. However, many e-retailers still equate online video with behaviors associated with television watching, or more succinctly: passivity. They put their faith in engagement through entertainment. With video commerce, many other tools are available that empower users to interact. Adding interactive elements to product videos engages the audience; something TV is still struggling with.
When we talk about interactive video elements, there are a lot of examples: text links, annotations, product “fly-outs”, etc. One of the most effective, under-used, and truly interactive features is the “hotspot”. Hotspots enable users to create ‘clickable items’ in a video. For example, a product video featuring a model wearing a shirt could allow a viewer to click the shirt, delivering them to the product page where the item can be purchased.
Hotspots start and end at precise times. They can either have text associated with them or be completely invisible until the user mouses over the item.
Here at Liveclicker, there are two types of hotspots:
- Static motion
- The “dot-spot”
Static motion hotspots
For static motion hotspots, the area that is clickable on the video does not move between the start and end times. This is best used when you have a presentation video with one fixed camera angle. See this OneStopPlus example at 18 seconds.
Dot-spot hotspots
Dotspots are arguably the most powerful. With a dotspot, a blinking, spherical light (think: LED) is placed over the desired object in the video in the color of your choice. With the constant blinking, not only is the user’s eye naturally drawn to the product, but they are compelled to take an action and interact with the video. See some examples below:
The inclusion of these various hotspots gives users a more personal experience with the videos. They get to play with the video, not just passively watch it. Their attention is drawn to the vehicle for the message being presented, and they are not distracted by other lower converting elements on the page.
The online video experience is now more than TV, more than video on the internet, it’s a fully interactive shopping experience. For more best practices on interactive video, you can check out Liveclicker’s recent webinar with Abt Electronics: Making the Most of Interactive Video and Video Commerce Analytics.
