Clickable video buttons: what they can do beyond opening a link

What is a clickable video?

People use the phrase for three different things, and each gives you different options.

Three kinds of clickable video (YouTube details checked October 1, 2026)

Kind	Where viewers click	What a click can do
Linked thumbnail or GIF	Anywhere on the image, in an email, ad, or web page	Open one page, usually the page where the video plays
A host's built-in links, such as YouTube cards and end screens	Card teasers during the video, and end screen elements near the end	Open a video, playlist, or channel. Links to outside websites need YouTube Partner Program membership.
Interactive video	Buttons, hotspots, images, and text at any timecode	Run one of many actions, from a jump in the video to a download, with each click recorded per viewer

YouTube allows up to five cards per video. An end screen holds up to four elements in the last 5 to 20 seconds of a video that runs at least 25 seconds. Neither works on videos set as made for kids. Our guide to interactive YouTube videos covers what YouTube can and cannot do on its own.

In email, a clickable video is usually a thumbnail with a play icon that links to the page where the video plays. Our guide on embedding video in email explains what each email app supports. On social networks, the platform's own player decides what is clickable. A video file uploaded to a social network plays as a flat video, with no Mindstamp interactions, so post the share link instead.

What can a video button do?

Each interactive button in Mindstamp has one click action, and you pick it from the Click Action list when you edit the button. Hotspots, images, and text use the same list.

Click actions for Mindstamp buttons, hotspots, images, and text (from the Mindstamp Help Center, October 1, 2026)

Click action	What happens	Good for
Continue	Records the click and keeps the video playing. New buttons start with this action.	"I'm ready" check-ins, and polls where the click itself is the answer
Open Link	Opens a web page, in a new tab by default, and pauses the video	Product pages, sign-up forms, documentation
Open Link Modal	Opens a web page in a window on top of the video. Some sites block this, so use Open Link for those.	Booking calendars, short forms, pricing tables
Change Time	Jumps to another time in the same video	Skipping ahead, replaying an explanation, a table of contents
Switch Video	Branches to another video, with an optional start time	Paths by role or interest, choose-your-own-adventure stories
Switch to Previous Video	Returns to the video the viewer came from	A "Back to menu" button after a detour
Show Message	Shows a message. The video pauses until the viewer closes it.	Feedback after a choice, a definition, a short instruction
Show Article	Opens an article from your assets	Reference text that is too long for the screen
Show Image	Opens an image	Diagrams, maps, spec sheets
Show Card	Opens an info, media, or product card	Product details with a next step
Play Video Clip and Play Audio Clip	Pauses the video and plays a short clip	A word from an expert, a deeper look at one topic
Start Email	Opens the viewer's email app with your address filled in	Questions to sales, support, or an instructor
Start Call	Calls your number on a phone. On a computer, it shows the number.	Support lines and local sales teams
Collect Feedback	Shows your prompt and a box for a short response	Quick comments without a full question
Copy Text	Copies text you choose to the viewer's clipboard	Discount codes, commands, reference numbers
Add to Cart	Adds a product to the in-video cart. Needs the Shopify integration.	Shoppable product videos
Download File	Downloads a file you choose. On Pro and higher plans.	Checklists, slides, worksheets
Open Genie AI	Opens Genie, which answers viewer questions from the video. On Core and higher plans.	Long training and product videos
Ask ChatGPT	Opens a ChatGPT window inside the player	Questions that go beyond the video
Open Magic Menu	Opens the video's menu of links and resources	A small "Menu" button that stays on screen
None	Shows the item, but it cannot be clicked	Labels and pictures that should do nothing

The click actions reference in our Help Center lists the same actions with setup notes. Two settings change what happens around the action. Capture Lead asks for the viewer's details before the action runs, so you know who clicked. On supported plans, a button can also set a variable when it is clicked, and later interactions can read that value.

Send each viewer to the right page

Click values can include variables, so one button can open a different page for each viewer. Say an earlier question asks which feature matters most and saves the answer as interest. A button that opens https://example.com/features/{{interest}} takes a viewer who chose "security" to the security page. Store fixed values from answer choices or buttons, not free text, so every value matches a real page. Personalization variables are on supported plans.

Turn several buttons into a choice or a menu

Any number of buttons can share the same time range. In the editor, Save & Add Another copies a button's timing and style, ready for new text and a new action. For a clear choice, use two to four options that exclude each other. To make the video wait, set one button's Pause to At show time with Pause Length set to Until Interaction. Do not use Require Click on every option of an either-or choice, because the video then waits until each required button is clicked.

Buttons with Change Time or Switch Video move the viewer away, so the choice happens once. For a set of options that stays available for the whole video, use a menu instead. Our guide to interactive video menus covers chapter menus and the Magic Menu, and interactive video branching covers longer paths.

Keep the viewer in the video

Open Link puts the viewer in a new tab while the video waits, paused, in the old one. Before you choose it, check whether the viewer needs to leave at all. A booking calendar can open on top of the player with Open Link Modal (see calendar embedding). A diagram can open with Show Image, and a discount code can go to the clipboard with Copy Text. Save Open Link for the end of the video, or for a destination that is the goal, such as checkout.

How to add a clickable button to a video

These steps are for Mindstamp. If your video is already on Vimeo, Wistia, or another supported host, create the Mindstamp video from its link. You do not need to upload the file again. A YouTube link works for testing only, so upload the file before you publish.

1. Open the video and select Interactions in the video menu.
2. Move the playhead to the moment the button should appear, then click Button in the interaction bar. The new button starts at the playhead and shows for 10 seconds.
3. Under Content, type the button text. Name the result, such as "See pricing" or "Book a call".
4. Choose a Click Action and fill in its value, such as a website link, a time, or a video.
5. Under Timing, adjust Show and Hide. Hover a time field to see quick controls, including Start and End.
6. Drag the button on the video to place it, and drag its edges to resize it. Change its colors, font size, and roundness under Styling.
7. Click Save Button. Then open the share link in a private browser window and click the button. When you play your own video as its owner, Mindstamp does not record normal viewer data and skips some actions, such as redirects.

The button setup article shows each screen, and our guide to adding call-to-action buttons to your videos covers where to place a call to action.

Make the video wait for a click

The Pause setting under Timing controls what the video does while the button is on screen. Say a button shows from 0:05 to 0:10:

• None: the video keeps playing, and the button disappears at 0:10.
• At show time: the video pauses at 0:05. With Pause Length set to Until Interaction, a click on any interaction on screen continues the video. You can also set a pause of 5 to 60 seconds.
• At hide time (Require Click): the video plays while the button is on screen. At 0:10, if the viewer has not clicked this button, the video pauses until they do.

Require Click only acts when playback reaches the hide time. To stop viewers from dragging the seek bar past a required button, turn on Prevent passing required interactions in the video's Settings, on supported plans. The article on requiring a click has the details.

Buttons, hotspots, images, or text?

All four take the same click actions. Pick the one that fits what the viewer sees on screen.

Which clickable element to use

Element	Best for	What to know
Button	A labeled action, such as "Download the checklist"	It is a real button, so keyboards and screen readers can use it.
Hotspot	A clickable area over an object in the frame	Track motion makes it follow a moving object (not available for YouTube videos). Give it a caption that names the object, because screen readers announce it.
Image	A logo, product photo, or icon	Its caption is the alt text. See how to create image buttons.
Text	Clickable words, notes, or formatted text	Text accepts HTML, so you can format it and add icons (HTML in interactive videos).

Design rules for video buttons

• Write labels such as "Download the checklist" in place of "Click here". Viewers know what will happen, and your click reports are easier to read.
• WCAG 2.2 sets a minimum target size of 24 by 24 CSS pixels at level AA, and 44 by 44 at level AAA. A phone shows the video much smaller than your editor does, so check button size on a real phone.
• Keep buttons off faces, captions, and the player controls, and put a button that stays up for the whole video in a corner.
• Time the button to the line that gives the reason. If the presenter says "grab the checklist", show the button on that sentence.
• Use one style for the main action and one for secondary actions, and do not use color as the only signal. Set default colors and roundness for every new button under Design.
• Post Click State can show progress: Change Colors marks visited items, Hidden removes a finished item, and Disabled shows a choice that is already made. See post-click states.
• Put extra detail in a tooltip, which shows when a viewer points at the button. Keep the label complete on its own, because phones have no pointer to hover.
• If a layout is too crowded on a phone, make a smaller copy of the button, set its Visibility to Mobile Only, and set the original to Desktop Only.

Transitions and animations are on supported plans. The button styling article lists every option.

Plan a clickable video before you record

If you are recording new footage for a clickable video, plan the decision points in the shot list.

• Keep one side or the lower corners of the frame clear at decision points, so buttons have room, and keep burned-in titles out of those areas.
• Have the presenter name the choice out loud, then hold the shot for a few seconds.
• Record a short segment that can loop while the video waits for a choice. A Change Time navigation repeats it. Pick start and end points where the picture and sound match, so the jump is hard to see. See how to loop part of a video.
• Decide between one file and several: sections of one file use Change Time. Separate videos use Switch Video, and variables set in one video carry over to the next.
• Keep calls to action that may change out of the picture. You can edit button text and links after you publish, while words in the footage need a new export.

If you would rather hand off the work, the Mindstamp team can produce the video and build the interactions as a scoped, quoted project (how production projects work).

How to measure button clicks

Mindstamp records each click against the viewer, the button, and the timecode. That lets you compare placements: move a button, or change its label, and see whether more viewers click it. To see names next to clicks, turn on Capture Lead for the button or add lead capture to the video. Views you make in the editor preview are not stored as normal viewer data, so test from the published link. The reporting overview shows what each report contains.

Common questions

What are clicked-to-play video views?

They are a Facebook Page metric, and they do not count clicks on buttons inside a video. Meta's Page Insights reference defines page clicked-to-play video views (page_video_views_click_to_play) as the number of times your Page's videos played for at least 3 seconds, or nearly their full length if shorter, after people clicked play. Post clicked-to-play video views (post_video_views_clicked_to_play) count the same thing for one post. Autoplayed views are counted separately. Meta's reference also says some Page Insights metrics were set for deprecation by June 15, 2026, so check whether your report still lists these.

Can I add clickable buttons to a YouTube video?

YouTube itself offers cards and end screens, with the limits above. To put buttons anywhere on the timeline, upload the original file to Mindstamp and add them there. You can test an idea from the YouTube link first. Viewers then watch through the Mindstamp share link or embed, where the buttons show. Hotspot motion tracking is not available for YouTube videos.

Can one button do two things?

Each button has one click action, but it can also record the click, set a variable, or ask for the viewer's details first. For example, a button can jump the timeline and set a variable that later interactions use.

Can a button stay on screen for the whole video?

Yes. Under Timing, set Show to Start and Hide to End, and set Pause to None. Keep Post Click State at No Change so the button stays after a click. To keep it clickable after the video ends, set the End Screen to None: Pause on Last Frame. For several links that stay available, a Magic Menu is tidier than a row of buttons.

Do video buttons work on phones?

Yes, in the Mindstamp player on a phone browser and in the built-in browsers of social and chat apps. Test on a real phone, held upright and turned sideways. Tap every button, and check that each one responds to one tap. If a button is missing on the phone, check that its Visibility is not set to Desktop Only.

To start, open a video you already have and find the moment where viewers most often ask what to do next. Add one button there with the action that answers that question, share the video, and look at who clicked it a week later.