Just as the digital revolution changed the way people consume music, photographs and text, a similar transition is happening in the lucrative niche of videos.

Just as the digital revolution changed the way people consumed music, photographs and text, a similar transition is happening in the lucrative niche of videos. This time, the change will be from passive viewing to interactively watching a video with control over what happens next, like clicking to buy the shoes worn by models from right inside the video.

The online shopper of the past watched videos, jotted down information or took snapshots, and then searched the web to find similar garments, accessories or products shown in the video. The interactive video technology, such as the one presented by online video creation platform, Cinema8, makes it much simpler – simply click on the product, which will take the user to the online store page where that product can be bought.

This new way of consuming video content has sparked a new trend among marketers to put their videos in the interactive mode by adding rich, embedded information, links, maps, and more. However, for both experts and newcomers, the technological challenge of creating interactive videos is huge. Cinema8 has made it simpler, as simple as drag-and-drop, type text, move layers around, or embed a hyperlink anywhere one wants.

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The video marketing industry is huge, and everyday millions of videos are consumed, bringing streams of visitors every hour and minute to target websites. With interactive videos, experts estimate the impact will be much larger – 44% more viewing times, 3x more engagement, 10x higher click-through rates, and an 11% rise in their ROI.

Almost everyone, 95 out of 100 video makers in a short survey, saw interactive videos and considered them superior to conventional video technologies. At their best, the latter could include a few action calls or deliver some user data, but allowed for little interaction.

Some consider interactive videos as a natural evolution of technology, similar to augmented reality, metaverses, additive manufacturing, and so on. With an interactive video, one could embed an entire storyline into a travel journey, marking spots, interlinking them with official websites, or asking the user to decide which part of the journey they were interested in. Users could then leave feedback, answer a small quiz, or participate in a contest, all from within the video itself.

At Cinema8, the quest is to offer the best tools in the market to create interactive videos, so that anyone could do it. For this purpose, the designers have assembled a large number of tools, widgets and options in familiar ways to add overlays, text effects, visual effects, embed links, and so on. There are features intended for E-commerce (buy what you see), Gamification (making videos fun), Learning (with quizzes), AR360degree (interactive augmented reality), and Marketing and Sales (rich user data and analytics).

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“Over 95% of companies that have used interactive videos consider them highly effective. Cinema8 is a powerful tool to simplify interactive video making at an affordable price,” says a spokesperson.

For newcomers, there is drag-and-drop and widgets, and for programmers, a full suite of video production with html, CSS and Java to make the desired features and functionalities. Expert users will love the dynamic dubbing feature, and the storyboarding tool where little snippets can be collected. The result is a 360-degree video story carrying more information for viewers than a conventional video.

The simplest way to use Cimena8’s great capabilities is to integrate one’s YouTube account with the platform. The interactive videos can be linked and shared on social media. Enterprise uses can create an account for their very own Enterprise Tube on Cinema8 itself, as it is also a video hosting platform. For live streaming, Cimena8 provides a good facility where data analytics and insights are far superior.

More control, more fun, better memorization, instant feedback… the outcomes of interactive videos have made them preferable across industries, especially learning and education, e-commerce, travel and so on. There seem to be no limits to what can be achieved with interactive features and gamification. For Cinema8, it is merely the beginning of a long journey to fulfill their mission of making interactive videos a cool and easy way to learn, promote and earn.

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