A call-to-action, also known as a CTA, serves as the visual or auditory cue that encourages someone to take the desired action. Incorporating a CTA is meant to elicit an immediate response from your customers based on your goals. Depending on what action you would like your viewers to take, CTAs can be tailored to make them subscribe to a mailing list, go to your website, or download content, for example.
There are various benefits of including a CTA in your next interactive video, including guiding customers through the sales funnel, improving your KPIs such as conversion rate, or increasing overall engagement with your video. Without a CTA, your viewers won’t know what next steps to take. You can encourage your viewer to stay connected by providing a clear message that prompts them to act immediately.
Most videos have (or at least should have) a CTA at the end of the video, which is great to give people who watched your entire video clear next steps. However, adding a CTA to the START of your video is a great way to keep your audience engaged and drive action right from the start.
For example, you could add a low commitment CTA within the first few seconds of your video that sets the tone of your video that each viewer will be an active participant in the video viewing experience, such as "Let's get started!"
Or you might want to add the main CTA you want your audience to take, such as “Request a Demo” or “Start a Free Trial” in the top corner of your video that shows up right from the beginning. A CTA that’s displayed from the start allows your viewers to take action whenever they're ready, instead of waiting until the end of the video—therefore improving click-through rates with your interactive videos. This is especially important if you have a long video, as you don't want to lose your audiences' interest before they take action.
A customized CTA can be added to any Mindstamp interactive video to elevate your content to its full potential. There are many different options for choosing an interactive feature for your CTA, including buttons, hotspots, or even images.
Step 1: To start adding interactive features to your videos, upload or link your existing video to Mindstamp’s interactive video platform. Check out this tutorial for more information on how to upload your video to Mindstamp.
Step 2: Click ‘Add Button’ -- You’ll have access to update settings such as conditional logic, button text, font size, rotation angle, show time, hide time, and click action. Make sure that the show time is set to within the first 10 seconds of your video.
Step 3: Add the text of the button for your CTA that matches your goal. E.g. - ‘Let’s Get Started’ or ‘Subscribe Now.”
Step 4: Under ‘Click Action’ you’ll decide where you want the viewer to be directed to once they click on your CTA button. This could be a webpage where they can buy a product, switch to a different video that gives them more information, or even start an email to encourage them to start a conversation—this will all depend on the goal of your CTA.
Step 5: Mindstamp offers you the ability to design some aspects of your buttons, including text, background, and border color. The design of your CTA is just as important as the copy, so you’ll want to customize your button to ensure that viewers are inclined to click—elements like contrasting colors and size of the button can increase engagement.
Here’s how to customize your CTA button design:
A powerful CTA is one of the Top 10 Best Practices for Interactive Video in 2021— To see the remaining best practices and learn more tips on creating successful interactive videos, visit “The Top 10 Best Practices for Interactive Video in 2021” or start your 14-day free trial with Mindstamp’s interactive video platform to see these video best practices in action.
