How Interactive Smart Videos are Providing Innovative Solutions to the Marketing and Advertising Ecosystem A 180 degrees shift is happening in marketing as consumers spend more time on mobiles, tablets, and laptops.

Rampant video content generation and consumption have made digital video the most prominent form of media, and it has become an imperative for marketers, to select and apply suitable techniques for video publishing, distribution, and marketing campaigns, as digital video platforms gain more significance than other platforms. With the audiences "attention turning away from the traditional advertising mediums of TV and print and towards internet-connected devices, the emphasis on video content marketing and advertising increases manifold.

According to David Powell, Director, Online Partnerships and Development, YouTube, APAC, "The content ecosystem has matured in the last year due to improved internet access. With over 300 million smart-phone users in the country, creators are coming from tier-2 and -3 cities.

A 180 degrees shift is happening in marketing as consumers spend more time on mobiles, tablets, and laptops. The challenge for brands is to connect with customers through all these devices in real time and create campaigns that work across social media, and display advertising. The attention span of a user on digital media is 8 seconds, according to New York Times.

The recent advancements in the technology are enabling the audiences with greater choice over the nature of the content being consumed by them. Interactive and smart videos provide effective solutions to the ongoing issues with which the advertising industry continues to struggle with. The recent technological advancements allow the viewers to have far greater control over their viewing experience, wherein they can watch that segment of the advertisement, which they are interested in while skipping the rest of the information.

The retention of the viewership is enabled by this technology and valuable insights can be drawn about consumer behavior and choices through the same. This approach ensures quality viewership and returns on investment for companies. On the other hand, long and stretched-out video content along with the falling attention spans leads to the vast majority of viewers dropping off within the first few minutes. Smart videos allow you to convert passive viewers into active consumers.

Smart videos contain multiple levels of interactivity designed to give viewers a holistic experience. They can test their knowledge by answering questions, get their voice heard by taking polls and submit information all on the video screen itself.

According to Wyzowl statistics, 76% of businesses say that video provides a good return on investment. Even though video production is not yet the easiest nor cheapest task, it surely brings great returns. Besides, online video editing tools are constantly improving and becoming more affordable.

Advertisers are making great use of such technologies. Social media platforms or micro-blogging websites, have established themselves as a significant advertising platform in the last decade, by placing ads on the content available and integrating them in the newsfeeds of the users.

Disruptive and innovative technologies are now entering the market which can emerge as the game changer. In case of a 30-second advertisement, a company will be able to use the technology to not only allow selective viewing, for example, features of a car, but each part of the ad can be further utilized to show details or benefits of the product. Gradually, publishers/advertisers/enterprises will have the ability to unleash the potential of their existing linear video libraries to deliver an interactive smart video experience for their target audiences who are looking for customization, if not hyper-personalization.

For marketers, smart and interactive videos are a boon. Existing Linear videos can be converted into Interactive Smart Videos by using the Design Room. The interactive smart videos engage the user for a longer period of time. In the video, call-to-action hotspots which can be added by content creators with a link to the video, leading directly to a transaction is a great tool, which can be leveraged by the marketing industry.

For a personalized experience, smart videos lead the viewer from one section to another, within the same video, on consumer's demand. This is enabled with the help of our patent-pending technology, which compiles the desired sections of the video in real time. Using the design room, our cloud-based software any video, either a TV soap or even an advertisement, can be modified. Smart videos give users control over their viewing experience. Viewers can directly access the content they enjoy, instantaneously by just tapping on the videos. No video platform can deliver this experience today.

By and large, the advent of smart and interactive videos will change the mechanism of the marketing and advertising world from the micro to macro perspective in the next few years. The in-depth and powerful insights and data offer a far more insightful understanding of the lifestyle of a consumer, deciphering the emerging trends and patterns of consumer behavior in real time, to bring a dynamic shift in the industry as a whole.