Maybe you’re one of the few, the proud, the people who’ve learned to make a web video or a screencasting video and add them to your website. But, do you know how to make other websites accessible from inside your video?
My point is, what do you think you could do with a call to action button or opt in form inside your web video?
That is, as soon as the video is done playing, let’s say it displays an opt-in form within the frame of the video player so that your visitor can immediately fill it in right when they’re “in the moment” with your call to action?
This isn’t actually a new technique. Technically, this has been possible for a few years. But, the operative word is technically. The fact is, opt-in forms, buttons and redirect actions associated with a web video has been do-able for a few years. But, very few people actually do it in regular practice because the code-level know-how of pulling that off has been a bit, well, cumbersome. Some software programs facilitated some of that for you, but by and large it was all very clunky.
Until now.
How to Easily Make Web Video With Interactive Buttons and Forms In Them
If you’ve followed me for a while, then you’ve probably seen some of the non-YouTube videos I’ve used on my site.
These, so-called, action videos — or interactive videos — like the one above can actually contain social buttons and forms inside the video. Including: email opt in forms, buttons (including “buy now” buttons), redirect actions, embedded html, hyperlink text, and more.)
In fact, since it’s basically html code, when you start thinking along the lines of embedding a PayPal Buy button, or automatic redirects to a shopping cart page or some other landing page, the marketing implications become even more powerful.
From an eLearning perspective, short of having your own LMS (Learning Management System), you can implement a rudimentary sequence of training videos where the user automatically redirects to the next video in a guided sequence. This can be made to work automatically or after the push of a button that appears within the frame of the video player.
They had me at hello. But here’s where it truly rocks.
The application is platform independent (i.e., it works with PCs just as well as Macs) because the software installs on your server.
But, where it truly rocks is that there’s an option that allows your visitors to swipe the embed code of your video and place it on their site. Wait for it, wait for it… but it does this in a way that also displays your opt-in form (or whatever other call to action object you’ve embedded in the video) on their website when the video plays.
Now, I want you to pause and think about that for a moment.
When the marketing/lead generation aspect of that sinks in, your eyes should appropriately widen.
That’s almost unfair in its power.
From a list-building perspective alone, anybody else who has embedded your video onto their site will essentially operate as a list-building outpost for you. What other applications can you think of for functionality like this?
If you want to see a working version of it, watch the video above. (Spoiler alert: there’s a list-building tactic at the end. But, nothing sinister, I assure you. You can choose to opt-out later if you want.) Anyway, you’ll see the opt-in form at the end of the video.
Check it out. Let me know what ideas come to mind about how you think you — or I — could additionally use a feature like that.
Get the player I use for my self-hosted videos. If you found this article helpful, and want to start hosting your own screencasts and training videos for sale or in a members’ only site, then you’ll want to check out Easy Video Player. It’s on my “Recommends” list.
