How do I add a call to action at the start of a video?

Q: How do I add a call to action at the start of a video?

Add a Button, Hotspot, Image or Text interaction and set its Show time to the start of the video. To ask for a name or email first, set Lead Capture to At start. Then decide whether the video keeps playing, pauses for a set time, or waits for a click.

Add a Call to Action at the Start of a Video

Short answer

Add a Button, Hotspot, Image or Text interaction and set its Show time to the start of the video. To ask for a name or email first, set Lead Capture to At start. Then decide whether the video keeps playing, pauses for a set time, or waits for a click.

How to do it

Select Interactions and click Button (or another interaction) in the interaction bar.
Under Timing, hover the Show field and click Start to set it to 0:00.
Set Hide to the moment the call to action should leave the screen.
Under Content, write the text and choose the Click Action.
Set Pause to None, At show time, or At hide time (Require Click).
Save, then play the share link from the start in a private browser window, on a phone and on a desktop.

Timing section of a Mindstamp button with the Show field quick controls open and Start highlighted — Hover the Show field and click Start to show the interaction from 0:00.

Lead Capture page in Mindstamp with the timing options At start, First interaction, At time and On interaction, the Custom field button and the Required column highlighted — Lead Capture: choose when to ask, pick the fields, add a custom field, and mark fields as required.

Choose the right kind of opening ask

Let viewers pick a path, such as “I’m a manager” or “I’m new here”. Give each button a Change Time or Switch Video action.
Identify the viewer before the content, for training or gated content. Use Lead Capture.
Ask for a sale or a meeting. This works better after the viewer gets some value, so consider placing it later.

Make the video wait for a choice

Set Pause to At show time and Pause Length to Until Interaction. The video stops as the buttons appear and continues when the viewer clicks any interaction on screen. An interaction that pauses at show time cannot start before 0.1 seconds, so Mindstamp moves a show time of 0:00 to 0.1 seconds.

Ask for details first

Open Lead Capture in the video menu to ask for a name, email, phone number or custom ID. Choose At start to show the form before the video plays. The other options are First interaction, At time and On interaction. See how lead capture works.

Keep the opening easy to watch

Do not cover the title, a face, or the first thing the viewer needs to see. If the layout does not fit on a phone, make two versions and set Visibility to Desktop Only on one and Mobile Only on the other.