Video is rapidly becoming the most popular type of content on the internet. It's more engaging, shareable, and has a higher conversion rate than any other type of content. However, creating high-quality videos can be a time-consuming and costly process.

That's where repurposing comes in. By repurposing your existing video content, you can create new content in different formats or for other platforms, saving time and money while still reaching a wider audience.

In this article, we'll explore the top 5 reasons why repurposing your videos is a smart move for your business.

Reason 1: Expand Your Reach

Repurposing your videos can help you reach a wider audience. By creating different formats of your existing content, you can appeal to people who prefer different types of content. You can turn your video into a blog post, an infographic, or a podcast, allowing you to reach people who may not be inclined to watch videos.

RELATED READING: Best Video Repurposing Tools In 2023 To Skyrocket Your Content

Reason 2: Save Time and Money

Creating high-quality video content can be a costly and time-consuming process. You can create new content by repurposing your videos without starting from scratch. You can also repurpose content for different platforms, saving time and money on platform-specific content creation.

Reason 3: Boost Your SEO

Repurposing your videos can also improve your website's SEO. By embedding videos on your website, you can increase visitors' time on your site. This is important because search engines like Google use time on site as a ranking factor. Additionally, by hosting your videos on platforms like YouTube, you can optimize your videos for keywords and improve your search engine ranking.

Reason 4: Increase Engagement

Repurposing your videos can increase engagement with your audience. By creating content in different formats, you can appeal to different types of people and increase the likelihood that they will engage with your brand. For example, you can turn your video into a social media post or a newsletter, giving your audience more opportunities to interact with your content.

Reason 5: Reinforce Your Brand Message

Your brand message should be consistent across all channels. Repurposing your videos can help you reinforce your brand message across multiple platforms. For instance, if your brand is known for its humor, you can create shorter clips of your videos that showcase your humor and post them on social media. By doing so, you're reinforcing your brand message and increasing brand recognition.

RELATED READING: 5 Best Text To Video Converters To Create Engaging Videos

Video Repurposing FAQs:

Q: Is it okay to use the same content on multiple platforms?

A: Yes, as long as you tailor the content to each platform and its audience.

Q: How do I know which types of content to repurpose for my videos?

A: Consider your audience and where they spend their time online. Create content in formats that appeal to them.

Q: How often should I repurpose my videos?

A: There's no set frequency for repurposing content. It depends on your business goals and the needs of your audience.

Conclusion:

Repurposing your videos is a smart way to get more mileage from your content. By expanding your reach, saving time and money, boosting your SEO, increasing engagement, and reinforcing your brand message, you can take your video content to the next level.

Don´t know how to start? Check the Ultimate Content Repurpose Guide from the guys at Repurpose.io

A video repurposing tool is a cloud-based software that transforms an existing video into a new and unique piece of content. This can involve editing, cropping, resizing, and adding new elements, such as text and music, to enhance the video's appeal.

Video repurposing is about turning long videos into shorter clips to share on social media sites. The idea behind video repurposing is to get the most out of existing video content by making it more relevant and appealing to different audiences.

Videos are a powerful tool in digital marketing and brand promotion. They are engaging and provide a creative and effective way to convey a message. However, creating fresh and new videos every time can be both time-consuming and costly. That's where video repurposing comes in.

When repurposing your video content, you can reach new audiences, boost engagement and make your brand and content more visible on social media.

We have listed below the best repurposing tools available in 2023. Each one offers a different level of automation and customization.

Let's take a look;

Repurpose.io

Repurpose.io is the leading video repurposing tool in the market. It is a complete platform that makes it easy to repurpose your existing content into multiple formats and social media sites.

A wide range of templates allows you to publish or schedule your content to any social media site. This automation feature makes Repurpose.io stand out from its competitors.

The system downloads and publishes your videos to your chosen platforms by setting the appropriate workflows for each social media site.

Repurpose.io key features

• Integrations with Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, and social sites.
• Automatic converts videos into vertical and square formats.
• Burn captions and headlines.
• Live streams and podcast repurposing.

Repurpose.io pricing

• Podcaster plan: $12.42/month yearly billing for podcasters to convert podcasts into videos.
• Content marketer plan: $20.74/month yearly billing for video creators and streamers.
• Agency plan: $104.80/month yearly billing for agencies to manage clients' repurposing.

Free 10 videos trial available without credit card.

Our take

Powerful automation makes Repurpose.io the best platform available. This is an excellent repurposing tool with many tutorials, videos, and resources to get you started and reasonable pricing

Chopcast

Chopcast is a video repurposing tool with a compelling approach. Once you upload a video, it suggests clips based on your content. But since this platform features automatic captions, you can search your keywords or topics and clip them.

These clips are fully editable with a built-in editor, an interesting feature to adjust the final result to your needs.

Chopcast key features

• Auto subtitles.
• Automatic transcripts and podcasts.
• On-demand services for tailored content repurposing.

Chopcast pricing

• Mini plan: $9/month, 60 upload mins/month, and unlimited exports.
• Basic plan: $13/month, 90 upload mins/month, and unlimited exports.
• Pro plan: $25/month, 180 upload mins/month, and unlimited exports.

Free 7-day trial available.

Our take

Chopcast does an excellent job. Using AI detects vital moments in your videos but lacks the whole automation Repurpose.io offers. Their on-demand service is a perfect option for outsourcing your repurposing work.

RELATED READING: 5 Best Repurpose.io Alternatives To Grow Your Audience

Vidyo

Vidyo is another exciting video repurposing tool to consider. Using AI (artificial intelligence), the software automatically identifies chapters and the most engaging moments from your video without any effort.

Vidyo key features

• Video resizing and clipping.
• Auto video chapters using AI.
• Automatic captions.
• Full built-in editor.

Vidyo pricing

• Free plan: 75 mins/month and 720p rendering with standard templates.
• Pro plan: $29.99/month with 300 video upload minutes, branded templates and 1080p
• Pro plus plan:$49.99/month with 500 video upload minutes, branded templates and 1080p

Our take

Vidyo is an AI-based repurposing tool with quick processing and rendering times. The included editor is a plus since you don't have to go out for an external editing tool. Their free plan is unbeatable.

Type Studio

Type Studio is a video repurposing tool that you can use to convert long videos into short clips. This tool automatically transcribes audio to text and features a text-based video editor so you can highlight which text you want to cut or edit.

You can create a template for every social media site to speed up the repurposing process. An editor with no bells and whistles helps to get the desired outcome.

Type Studio key features

• Auto subtitles and subtitle styling.
• Mobile functionality.
• Text-based podcast editing.
• 30+ languages support with accurate transcriptions.

Type Studio pricing

• Free plan: 10 min/month to edit videos up to 10 minutes long.
• Starter plan: $12/month with 5 hours/month to edit videos up to 30  min long.
• Pro plan: $20/month with 10 hours/month to edit videos up to 2 hours long.
• Team plan: $36/month with 40 hours/month to edit videos up to 2 hours long.

Our take

The text-based video editor makes editing fast, making the whole platform intuitive and easy to use. We would like a more complete editor, but a solid product indeed.

Contentfries

Contentfries is a repurposing video tool that turns your long-sized videos into shorter clips. Whether your content is a webinar, podcast, video interview, Facebook Live, or any other source, this software splits it and generates lots of shorter rich content clips.

A slider asks you how many pieces of content you want to cut out, a useful feature that gives a lot of control and we couldn't find in other tools.

Contentfries key features

• Automatic captions generator supporting many languages.
• Bulk import and export videos.
• Automated intros and outros.
• Context editor with fonts, logos, progress bars, and custom fonts.

Contentfries pricing

• Junior plan: $9/month with 30 min captions and 5 hours of video exports/month and unlimited custom templates.
• Cook plan: $18/month with 75 min captions and 15 hours of video exports/month, and unlimited video templates.
• Masterchef plan: $27/month with 120 min captions and 120 hours of video exports/month.
• Superb plan: $49/month with 720 min captions and unlimited hours export/month.
• Platinum plan: $79/month with 1500 min captions and unlimited hours export/month.

7 days free trial without credit card.

Our take

An effective tool with lots of options. A more than interesting roadmap announces many new features to enrich the platform. A solid option to follow.

Conclusion

Video repurposing is a valuable technique for getting the most out of your existing video content. By using one of the above video repurposing tools, you can save time and money, reach new audiences, enhance engagement, and increase visibility. Whether you're a professional video editor or just starting out, there is a video repurposing tool that will meet your needs and budget.

All of these tools offer free trials, so you can test them to get a glimpse of which is the best for your needs.

The video review process can be tedious and time-consuming, especially when trying to keep track of feedback and comments from many clients. Sending emails with written timecodes and multiple attachments isn´t the more efficient way to manage feedback.

Collaboration is vital in a video review, and having a tool that allows for seamless collaboration can save you time and improve the quality of your review process.

Today several tools help streamline the video review process, cut costs, avoid deadlines, and offer a better service to your customers.

This article will dive into the eight essential features of video review tools that every person in the video creation business should consider.

Let´s check them out:

1-User-friendly interface and navigation

Since you will need to share revisions with clients and stakeholders, a user-friendly interface is a crucial feature to look for. Keep in mind that clients are not always techies and will appreciate a simple feedback system.

The ideal video review tool must offer comprehensive proofing functionality so reviewers can give feedback with a pair of clicks.

The idea is not to overload people with many non-essential features but to work with a simple and efficient system.

2-Compatibility with multiple video formats and files

It is essential to know beforehand if you will work with other file formats than video. Video review tools usually support numerous video file formats, but many allow to review of other files too.

For example, in live website reviews, clients and team members can give feedback about menus, banners, and animations.

Specific platforms also allow you to review images and PDFs, a crucial feature to consider if you are into graphic design.

RELATED READING: 10 Best Video Review Software To Speed Up Feedback

3-Advanced marking and annotation tools

Annotation tools are essential when it comes to reviewing visuals. Certain software allows freehand annotations; with others, you can insert pre-defined forms (like arrows and globes) to point at a part of the image. Check how easy it is to mark and leave comments on any portion of a video file and how the system keeps track of users´ comments.

The side-by-side comparison is a valuable feature of a video review. The system splits the screen showing the original video and reviewed video, so you don´t have to guess where the changes are.

4-Real-time collaboration and commenting

This is the foundation feature of a video review tool. Many platforms offer email notifications when someone leaves a comment on your design and/or real-time editing. You also can get notifications via integrations with other software like Slack.

It is always possible to download all comments in PDF format; and some systems also allow audio comments.

5-Integration with other workflow tools

Video review tools offer two main types of integrations:

• Integration with productivity software like Trello, ClickUp, Airtable, Asana, and Zapier. Zapier integration assures you that you can connect with the video review tool no matter which other software you use in your workflow.
• Integration with video editors, like Adobe Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and similar software. This kind of integration is mandatory, and you should check before buying if your video suite is on their list.

RELATED READING: 5 Best Ziflow Alternatives For Better Feedback and Approval

6-Storage and max file size

Storage is a key factor to take into account. It is always considered against users and increases as you level up your plan adding more users.

You should carefully check storage and file size specs before choosing a pricing plan because running out of space on specific plans is not difficult.

7-Mobile apps

If you need to review video files on the go, it is important to go for a platform that works with mobile browsers or offers native mobile apps.

Remember that screen size will limit video file review, and mobile apps are not as functional as web versions.

8-Security and data protection

Check for two-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security to your passwords.

You can find SSO, Digital Rights Management, and 3rd party audits on specific platforms only on higher plans.

Conclusion

The above points are the essential features of video review tools. This quick overview guides you through the main features to consider before choosing this kind of software.

It is important to notice that most of these platforms offer free plans and trials, so you can test them and check which is the best to fit your needs.

AI text to video generators are the new stars in the video marketing business. These platforms offer the possibility to create a video from a text script, adding images, music, videos, and more assets to create a professional-looking video.

Today, a person without prior experience in video production can make a video for social media or personal use in just minutes. And using AI-generated human avatars, there is no need to hire actors, external localization studios, or expensive video equipment.

However, these platforms are relatively new and have some limitations you must know when considering AI text for video for your next project.

Let´s check them out:

Limitations in video design

AI text to video is still limited regarding its ability to add custom images, videos, other graphic assets, music, and sounds. As a result, your video may need more design, animations, and transitions.

Personalization

AI text to video generators are often limited by a set of pre-defined templates, styles, and animations. This may result in a generic look without the unique touch a human could create.

Pre-made templates

Every AI text to video generator software provides plenty of pre-made templates that are also customizable. This saves lots of time during the creative process because you don't have to start from scratch. But customization options might not be good enough to match specific branding styles and requirements.

Still, AI video editors are growing and adding new features regularly.

RELATED READING: 19 Best AI Video Generator Text To Video in 2023 Free and Paid

Resources library

Additional design assets and resources are limited and can not compare to all the variety of tools and add-ons standard video editing software offers.

Integrations

If you make a video occasionally, integration is not essential. But integration with your existing workflows and systems is mandatory if you are into video marketing.

Not every AI video generator offers integrations, and some feature proprietary APIs with different levels of functionality.

Rendering time

All videos created with these platforms need rendering; the time to render depends on the specific platform. Since these are cloud-based systems, rendering times usually vary depending on visitors' usage and workloads and don't have a standard duration.

Voiceovers accuracy

Since it is easy for these systems to read a text script, things usually get worse when you hear auto-generated voices, pauses, and intonation. Specific platforms offer voice moods,  pitch and rate control, and intonation options with acceptable quality. However, there is still a lack of opportunities for less popular languages and dialects.

Realistic avatars

Even though many platforms currently feature human avatars with excellent resolution, there is still room for improvements regarding graphic quality.

Custom avatars

Custom avatars allow you to create a human avatar of yourself (or others) using your cell phone or a green screen. These results are usually very good, and it is nearly impossible to distinguish a custom avatar from a natural person in still mode. But custom avatar gestures are not polished enough and may look artificial and unnatural.

RELATED READING: AI Text to Video: A Step By Step Guide

Natural movement

AI text to video generator platforms try to pair human movements and gestures with acceptable quality. Still, there is a long way to go before avatars meet natural movements, and this is mostly noticeable with lip-synching.

Conclusion

While AI text to video generators are emerging with new features and tools for video creation, it is crucial to be aware of current limitations.

This technology improves regularly using AI algorithms. And based on existing software and user feedback, we can expect more robust systems soon that will help to create incredible videos with only a few clicks.

Text to video converters are an excellent option for creating engaging video content. Video production can be expensive and requires lots of time. Still, these online tools allow making a video at a fraction of the cost of a standard video.

A text to video converter is software that takes text as input and converts it into a video format. Of course, it is not a professional video editor. These platforms are suitable for social, marketing, explainer, course videos, and many other uses.

The process of using a text to video converter is straightforward. You enter your text, choose a template, add images or videos if you want, and then hit the "convert" button. The tool will automatically generate a video based on your input, complete with transitions, animations, and background music. You can then preview the video, make any necessary tweaks, and download it in the format of your choice.

These platforms allow you to use images, music, and logos. They also provide plenty of pre-made templates that are fully customizable to match your branding.

Types of text to video converters

There are two types of video converters:

1-Standard software: You input your text script, and the system adds images, music, and subtitles.

Some examples: InVideo, WaveVideo, and Flexclip.

2-AI text to video generators: You input your text script, select a human avatar, and the platform creates a video.

Some examples are Synthesia, Elai, Yepic, and many more.

RELATED READING: AI Text to Video: A Step By Step Guide

In this article, we will focus only on standard video creators. Let's check the best 5 best text to video converters.

If you are looking for a Descript alternative, we got you covered. This article is about the best five similar apps we could find.

As you may already know, Descript is a popular cloud-based transcription tool that uses advanced AI algorithms to transcribe audio and video files in real time. It offers a range of features, including automatic punctuation, speaker identification, and the ability to export transcripts in multiple formats.

But Descript excels when it comes to video editing. Unlike traditional video editing software that works around timelines, this platform handles video editing like a word document. So if you want to cut a scene in your video, you delete the text related to it, and Descript erases it.

Descript is easy to use and offers beginners an exciting way to get started in the video edition.

In terms of pricing, this platform has a limited free plan. To get all the features, you will have to pay $24 per month (on an annual basis)

Now let's check the 5 best free and paid Descript alternatives.

TypeStudio

TypeStudio is a good Descript alternative to consider. It offers word-based video editing capabilities and also collaboration options. This software features speech recognition and multi-language transcription, an invaluable resource for localizing videos for different speaking countries.

TypeStudio key features

• Multi-language transcription.
• Auto-subtitles and subtitle styling.
• Word-based video editing
• Video transcription.
• Screen recorder and editor.

TypeStudio pricing

• Free plan: up to 10 minutes/month, auto-subtitles, 10 minutes max video length, 1 GB storage, and TypeStudio branding.
• Starter plan: $12/month with 5 hours of video editing/month, 30 minutes max video length, and 50 GB storage.
• Pro plan: $20/month with 10 hours of video editing/month, 2 hours max video length, and 100 GB storage.

Our take

TypeStudio makes video editing straightforward. Suitable for podcasters and for editing videos with many voices and dialogues.

Reduct.video

Reduct.video is one of the best Descript alternatives available. This complete collaborative platform allows users to edit videos as easily as text.

As a distinctive feature, this platform offers human transcription. This is necessary when your video is noisy, or multiple speakers are talking over one another, and the system can't provide an accurate transcription.

Reduct key features

• Computer transcription and human transcription.
• Audio and video with many file formats.
• Auto-captioning and caption styling.
• Easy to use beginner-friendly video editor.
• Team collaboration, including reviews and comments.

Reduct pricing

• Standard plan: $25/month with all features, 20 hours of transcription per month, and unlimited storage.
• Enterprise plan: adds SSO integration, SOC2 pentest reports, and GDPR compliance. Contact sales for pricing.

RELATED READING: 19 Best Video to Text Converters

Our take

Reduct is the way to go if you need professional quality because nothing unsurpasses human transcription. Review and collaboration features make this platform an excellent product for agencies and teams.

Piktochart

Piktochart is another Descript alternative to consider. You can edit videos like text documents; cutting a long video into a shorter clip is only a matter of highlighting a specific part of the transcript and deleting it.

But this is not only a video editing platform. Piktochart is a complete featured platform for creating infographics, presentations, flyers, reports, social media graphics, and more assets.

Piktochart Key Features

• Automatic captions in 60+ languages.
• Generous free plan with all features but including watermark.
• Webcam and screen recorder.
• Plenty of tutorials and "Piktochart Academy" on their website.
• Only integrates with Zoom and Google Drive.

Piktochart pricing

• Free plan: 20 minutes/month of video with unlimited storage, downloads, and watermark.
• Pro plan: $14/month/user with 90 minutes/month of video and all features.

Our take

Since Piktochart video editor offers basic features, this is a good choice if you need to create and edit simple social media videos with no special requirements. It may be your choice if you seek a web-based graphic design platform. Pricing is unbeatable.

Otter

Otter is another attractive Descript alternative. This platform is focused on real-time transcriptions at affordable pricing, and a Chrome extension does a decent transcription job.

Otter only works in English, which is not the best option if you need another language.

Otter key features

• Live and recorded transcriptions.
• iOS and Android mobile apps.
• Editable text and speakers tags.
• Real-time annotations.
• Speakers identification.

 Otter pricing

• Basic plan: free with 300 monthly transcription minutes (only real-time)and 30 minutes per conversation.
• Pro plan: $8.33/month billed annually with 1200 monthly transcription minutes and 90 minutes per conversation, import pre-recorded meetings.
• Business plan: $20/month billed annually with 6000 monthly transcription minutes and 4 hours per conversation.

RELATED READING: 10 Best AI Video Upscaling Software

Our take

One of the best transcription platforms with a generous free plan and populated with many features. We would like to see a manual transcription service and broader language support. Excellent pricing.

Sonix

Sonix is a Descript alternative with real-time collaboration and many integrations. This full-featured platform has many admin tools, improved security, full search and content analysis, team collaboration, and automated translations.

Sonix key features

• 35+ languages are available.
• Fully automated subtitles.
• Advanced search transcript.
• Zapier, Zoom, and many integrations.
• Strong security options.

Sonix pricing

• Standard plan: Pay as you go $10/hour.
• Premium plan: $5/hour plus $22/user/month.
• The first 30 minutes are free.

Our take

This is a robust Descript contender, although manual transcription would be an interesting add-on.

Conclusion

Only Piktochart, Reduct, and TypeStudio offer word-based video editing when considering a Descript alternative. We include Sonix and Otter because these are top platforms to consider.

Any of the above offer freemium plans, so you can evaluate and test them yourself.

The rise of digital media has changed the way business organizations and customers interact. In this digital journey, videos are emerging as a pathbreaker for businesses. Unlike print media, which has limitations in reaching customers, videos prepared as digital media offer unprecedented opportunities by reaching a wider audience.

Statista says the number of digital video viewers worldwide is estimated to reach 3.5 billion by 2023, and it will keep rising yearly. Videos are evolving as an essential tool for businesses to enhance customer experience at every touch point of their life cycle. Marketing, sales, or customer support- videos make team members more innovative and impactful in their operations.

Organizations not including videos in the customer life cycle are losing huge opportunities in converting leads into customers. It is the most cost-effective way to capture customers' attention and drive business ahead. In the past, video creation was expensive. It required trained professionals, but with technological advancements and tools like video-making software, it is easy for anybody to create videos.

Business owners can create numerous types of videos, such as promotional, demo, marketing campaigns, etc., but strategically using them in the customer-life cycle is critical. This article sheds light on how videos can optimize each customer journey stage.

How Videos Can Deliver Value to Customer Journey Stages

1)    Awareness:

In this stage, customers know their problems and look for ways to solve them but do not know the right product or service. Educational and explainer videos showcasing the services or products are an ideal way to familiarize customers with the product. In this stage, the brands try to establish trust and a positive image with customers. Videos offer multiple options for brands to build bonds with customers emotionally and bring brand awareness. Business owners can create documentaries, Vlogs, storytelling, etc., to attract customer attention.

Users can include a call to action at the end of the video for customers that take customers to the company's website or related educational videos. Remember, the goal here is to educate the customers, so CTA should be strictly a knowledge-base guide or learning resource. In short, low-commitment videos are perfect for the awareness stage. A great video editing tool can be pretty helpful in curating videos and including elements that alleviate the video's visuals.

2)    Consideration:

In the consideration stage, the prospects consider the company's product but still evaluates the product for its reliability and deliverables. Buyers look for more information, like why they should buy the product, does it align with business needs, and whether it is worth investing in. In such circumstances, an informative video about the product and how the product is different from others could be pretty helpful. Business owners can post videos about product-review, testimonials, comparison charts, podcast interviews with customers, case studies, social proof, etc. Business owners can mention links in videos about the how-to guide, whitepapers, industry reports, etc., to help customers dig deeper into the product. All these approaches reduce the burden of support staff and save costs. At this stage, business owners need to be careful not to become pushy in offering their products.

3)    Purchase/decision:

This is the stage where the buyer shows readiness to convert into customers. At this stage, buyers look for a small product tour or a quick demonstration of how the product would behave in the natural environment. Business owners can include live demo videos or FAQ videos explaining all essential features, sub-features, and installation processes. To make the video more interesting, users can use a screencast video. Business owners can even consider sharing videos about the company's journey, leadership, and mission. It helps to convince users that they are buying a genuine product. In videos, users can include CTAs like a free trial, buy now, pricing plan, etc.

4)    Retention/ post-purchase:

Customer retention is a significant segment of the customer journey. Brands must establish long-term relationships with customers as they make the purchase decision. Business owners can use personalized videos, share brand announcements, or even thank you videos for subscribing to the service. Along with the thank you message, let them know how to reach customer support if there are any issues. Business owners can also share self-learning guide videos to help customers use products or services conveniently.

5)    Advocacy:

Customer advocacy works as a magnet and influences other buyers to buy products. Undoubtedly, video has enormous engagement potential. Both, when combined, could do magic for businesses. Business owners can create short user experience videos covering customers' success stories, case studies, or customers' views about the company. Business owners can post these videos on their social media sites and other online channels. Business organizations can even ask customers to post it on their social media handles.

Tips for creating compelling customer journey videos

• Consider the video length. Business owners should be strategic on video length for each stage. For instance, in the awareness stage, customers don't want a detailed product overview; they skim the content. Business owners can include more content in the consideration or purchase stage.
• Communicate in a way that is easy to conceive. Include analogies or examples to explain industry challenges and how products solve them.
• Research the target audience before creating videos. It helps business owners to make instant connections with customers.
• Use the right call to action in each stage of the customer journey.
• Posting videos is just one part of augmenting the customer journey. Still, it is equally essential to track the performance metric of these videos. It allows business owners to create more result-oriented videos.

Conclusion

In the digital world, businesses capable of optimizing customer experience throughout the customer life cycle can enhance business prospects. With the rising popularity of video marketing, it has become the most preferred way to drive customers. Videos allow customers to decipher product information in the most comprehensive way and connect with brands emotionally. Videos embedded in the customer's journey echo brand messages succinctly and exhibit a high conversion rate. Businesses investing and using video technology mindfully can help them to nurture long-term relationships with their customers.

YouTube interactive video publishing is growing year by year. It is a perfect platform for casual users and content creators who need to grow their audience for free.

With 2.2 billion monthly active users, 38 active million channels, and 122 million daily users according to Invideo , this platform is undoubtedly an excellent channel to grow your audience.

As you may already know, interactive video is a powerful tool for increasing viewer engagement. The switch from a passive to an active role makes the viewer an active protagonist, and the possibility to choose between branching options adds additional value to the viewer´s experience. Keep in mind that the click-through rate in interactive videos is 10x higher than in standard passive videos. Needless to say, a formidable marketing tool.

On the other hand, YouTube interactive videos are not fully interactive. YouTube doesn´t want users to exit their platform and puts a firm limit on third-party options. This is why interactive videos on YouTube are limited and offer a poor experience to the viewer. The same applies to Vimeo.

That is the main reason you should consider using an interactive video platform. These offer tons of options that allow engaging viewers within a sales funnel, an onboarding session, or a learning experience.

RELATED READING: 18 Best Interactive Video Platforms

How interactive video works

To fully understand the difference between passive and interactive video, you need to know how interactive video works. To turn a regular video into an interactive one, you first need to create a video (or get it from YouTube, Vimeo, or your PC) and upload it to an interactive video platform.

Once the video is uploaded to the platform, you can add a content layer. This layer can have hotspots, quizzes, forms, branching options, questions, and more assets.

These assets will depend on your marketing strategy and the kind of video you are creating. For example, dynamic or static hotspots on featured products in a sales video can guide the viewer into the sales funnel. Or if you are making an interactive video for education, quizzes and forms might be the right choice.

Here is when the magic happens. The final video will have a set of interactive elements designed to engage the viewer throughout its duration. These interactive assets are not fully functional on a YouTube interactive video.

YouTube interactive video Vs. native interactive video platform

If you Google for "Best interactive YouTube videos" the search result will show you the following video:

Not bad , but interactive options are basic and with no pretentions.

Now check how an interactive video platform works with this example from Vudoo:

As you can notice, the difference between the experience a viewer gets from a video created with a native interactive video platform is lightyears away from the experience YouTube can provide.

For example, Hihaho features more than 20 interaction types, like questions, forms, tables of contents, ratings, buttons, hotspots, images, iframes, and more. This is a fantastic set of tools for creating interactive video content.

And what about analytics? An interactive video platform gathers valuable analytics to track how your viewer interacts, such as views, devices, clicks, answers, response time, and more data.

Furthermore, some platforms like Stornaway have developed a hybrid integration within YouTube interactive videos. However, these are not fully functional.

Spott.ai makes a different approach by trying to include interactivity through YouTube cards. Still, the final result is not a full-featured interactive video.

YouTube interactive videos in education

When creating an interactive video for education, YouTube is not again the best option.

YouTube suggestions are always active and add distractions that can shift students from their focus. Within an interactive video platform, students are in a controlled environment and not subject to information overload.

Furthermore, analytics data collected about every student can help the teacher to improve individual learning. Also, some platforms like Hihaho provide direct integration with LMS (Learn Management Systems)

Notice that none of these options are available on an interactive video published on YouTube.

Check this video created with Hihaho:

YouTube interactive videos in e-commerce

YouTube has rolled out shoppable video features in a strategic move to face Facebook´s, Instagram and TikTok competition and to attract brands to Google´s ecosystem. But the overall user´s experience is far away from the quality and engagement rates you can get with a dedicated platform.

Check this shoppable video created with Spott

Conclusion

Although you can make YouTube interactive videos, the option to create an interactive video with dedicated software is still better.

You will have complete control over your content, with the possibility to add your own branding with customizable video players, privacy, manage monetization options and maintain the intellectual property of your video.

But the best part is how interactive videos help to improve your video marketing strategy. With the granular analytics an interactive video platform can provide, you know who watched the video, when it was paused or forwarded, and more data that can help to fine-tune your video marketing strategy to get the best results.

In this post we will cover six type of interactive videos to boost viewer´s engagement. Whether you are in the HR and recruitment area, onboarding, sales or education, an interactive video can help to get better conversions and results.

Interactive video is changing the relationship between retailers and consumers, teachers and students, companies and employees. By the end of 2022, online videos will represent more than 82% of consumer traffic.

One of the interactive video's most significant advantages is increased engagement ratios. They convey a unique experience and improve the viewer's journey using items like hotspots, buttons,  overlays, questions, and quizzes.

We have listed below the main six types and uses for interactive videos. Check them out:

Interactive recruitment videos

Recruitment has dramatically changed since 2020, and remote working has shifted job searching and talent recruitment to a new standard.

Now recruiters must work to build personalized communication and trust from people looking for professional opportunities. A company may have exciting job openings, salaries, and excellent work/life balance. Still, these are pointless if they can't attract the right talent.

This type of interactive videos can play a central role in your effort to hire the best talent.

Interactive videos are an attention-grabbing tool for candidates to get a better glimpse of your company. The video should describe your company values, career opportunities, employee benefits, and specific position-related benefits. At the end of the video, include an option to encourage viewers to share the video with their contacts.

You can add interactive questions and branching options to better understand if your candidate is a good fit. Adding questions and quizzes will help collect specific information and data to hire the better candidate.

A recruitment video can be posted on your website, your social media platform (here Linkedin is a must), or a job listing website

Interactive e-commerce videos

Interactive videos or "shoppable videos" are redefining the retail and e-commerce business. These videos add hotspots, buttons, and call-to-action items to improve the customer journey with a fully customized experience.

Related reading 9 Shoppable Video Platforms

There is a growing number of brands using shoppable videos. These can also produce a live stream to an audience of few viewers or thousands of people. Viewers can add products to their shopping cart and make payments without leaving the stream.

Considering the robust analytics that interactive video platforms usually offer, it is easy to explain why shoppable videos and eCommerce are a perfect match.

Taobao Live is Alibaba´s live e-commerce channel. They managed to build a simple app to help small merchants and big brands live stream. Last year 430M+ people entered the platform, and 36% of them made a purchase.

Interactive onboarding videos

The onboarding process must provide new employees with the tools they need for a good start. This includes job training, and knowledge of  company policies and values.

A good onboarding process is vital to increase employee retention and cut recruiting costs.

Using interactive video for employee onboarding can accelerate the time for people to know your company and gives them essential clues about values and inner company processes. Adding forms, tutorials, and multiple-choice questions with interactive videos can improve the onboarding process, with benefits for both companies and employees.

All feedback you can collect from the onboarding process can also be applied to improve the recruitment process.

Related reading: Best Interactive Video Platforms

Interactive education videos

Interactive videos can turn a passive education environment into an interactive one. Using this type of interactive videos, you can give students an active role by participating in quizzes and answering open and multiple-choice questions through highly-personalized experiences.

To use these platforms you first need to find a related video on YouTube, Vimeo, or make your own from scratch. Edpuzzle also offers a vast library of teacher´s generated content to use, but you can eve modify it to suit your needs. Then an easy drag and drop dashboard lets you add questions, forms, pauses and more interactive items. The final video can be shared with students through a LMS or other integration to watch later or in live mode.

A crucial contrast with a regular passive video is that these software offers granular analytics, and educators can track every student's effort and progress as they answer with text or audio.

There are many  specific platforms for creating interactive videos in education, and most of them integrate with popular tools like Zoom, Google Classroom, Blackboard, Canvas and other LMS.

Watch this interactive lesson about the solar system created with Hihaho:

Interactive training videos

Training can get enormous benefits from interactive videos. Suppose you need to train employees, technical personnel, health assistants, and many others. In that case, an interactive video offers the correct information and evaluates the viewer in a friendly and engaging way.

And since videos are responsive, viewers can watch them on any device and sometimes with their own schedule.

People do not feel intimidated or observed because they get into the story and can even change the course of the video. You can add many interactive items to the video, like quizzes, questions, timed activities, and more, to give the viewer the best experience.

Viewers' individual progress and performance are trackable; this feedback is a crucial metric to know how well they are doing.

Related reading: 3 Best Interactive Video Platforms for Education

Watch this video made with Hihaho about employee training:

Interactive marketing videos

80% of marketers are using videos for their campaigns. Interactive videos can boost customer engagement and offer viewers a personalized experience that no other marketing tool provides.

You can create content by adding buttons, quizzes, forms, questions, overlays, and more items. These tools turn viewers into customers, boost response rates, grow consumer loyalty and get valuable analytics data.

Like any other marketing strategy, you must create, customize, publish your video, and measure results to optimize video performance. But the big plus is the granular analytics that interactive video platforms provide since you can track how the viewer responds to every second of the video.

Conclusion

The different types of interactive videos listed above can make the difference in your marketing results.

Nowadays, passive video plays a crucial role in communication, as video consumption grows yearly. But interactive video goes a step further with distinctive advantages for both the viewer and the publisher.

It offers the viewer a unique and personalized experience, with the possibility to change the course of the video and the final outcome based on previous actions.

From the publisher's point of view, interactive video is an invaluable tool to boost engagement and build loyalty.

Are you using any of these? Let us know in the comments below.

If you are looking for a Lumen5 alternative, we have tested many options and gathered the five best choices we could find.

Lumen5 is a well-known online platform for creating videos, with a smooth learning curve and a simple dashboard. You can create a professional-looking video in minutes, even if you are a beginner or a seasoned video creator. Lumen5 uses AI to create videos from text input, which makes it an excellent tool for repurposing content.

RELATED READING: 15 Best AI Video Generator Text To Video – Free and Paid

But suppose you are on a budget and need an online alternative for creating videos and graphic stuff. In that case, you may take a look at the tools we are  listing below.

Check them out:

Invideo

Invideo is an excellent Lumen5 alternative with an intuitive video editor that helps to create professional-looking videos in minutes. This platform is a proven video maker with tons of assets, voiceovers, transitions, and effects.

Who is Invideo for?

Anyone who needs to create a video for personal use, small business, influencers, marketing agencies, and teams.

Invideo key features

• Automatically convert text to video: Convert an article into a video in a pair of clicks.
• 5000+ fully customizable templates: From real estate to marketing, intros, social media, and every design need.
• Add your own branding: Create multiple branding kits and apply them to any video.
• 8M+ stock assets: No need to search media on external sites.
• Unlimited team members: Useful to edit and approve videos on the same platform.

Invideo Vs. Lumen5

Invideo offers far more customization and features a unique mobile app for editing videos on the go.

As for pricing, Invideo's highest Plan (with tons of features) is $30/month, a good number compared to the $149 of Lumen5.

Check how to convert an article into video with Invideo:

Invideo pricing

• Free Plan: 40 min video duration, 5000+ video templates, automated text-to-speech.
• Business Plan: $15/month adds 60 HD video exports/month, 1M+ premium media, mobile app.
• Unlimited Plan: $30/month with unlimited video exports/month.

Wavevideo

Wavevideo is a solid Lumen5 alternative that features live streaming, video hosting, video editor, and recording in one platform

Who is Wavevideo for?

Wavevideo fits personal users who need to create videos and an excellent choice for video streamers. It is also a powerful tool for agencies needing to scale up their video production.

Wave video key features

• Multi-streaming: Full flexibility to create unique broadcasts with multiple cameras and screen shares.
• 1000+ templates: Vast library for any industry, social media, live streaming, tutorials, and many more.
• Visual effects: Transitions, frame videos, intro video maker, progress bar, lower third graphics, text animation, and video filters.
• Free-stock libraries: Full set of 200M+ stock videos, 300K+ music, and 3M+ images.
• Free thumbnail maker: Remove photo backgrounds and add text to create catchy video thumbnails.
• Video hosting: Host your videos and embed them anywhere. Design your customizable video player and password-protect videos.

Wavevideo Vs. Lumen5

Lumen5 lacks streaming and hosting options that Wavevideo offers with excellent pricing. To get 1080p resolution, Lumen5 charges $59/month, but you obtain it for $24/month in Wave.

Check most popular Wavevideo features in this video:

Wavevideo pricing

• Free Plan: Basic video editor for up to 15-minute videos, live streaming, thumbnail maker, and 2M+ assets and templates.
• Streamer Plan: $8/month, basic video editing, and video recording.
• Creator Plan: $12/month, text-to-speech, image background removal.
• Business Plan: $24/month, text-to-speech and advanced live streaming.

Visme

Visme is a good Lumen5 alternative for creating presentations, videos, infographics, and designs. Easy to use and powerful, Visme is an exciting option that goes beyond video creation and editing.

Who is Visme for?

A tool for individuals, freelancers, and small businesses that need to manage their graphic and video production in a single platform. Marketing teams can also use Visme to take advantage of collaboration tools.

Visme key features

• Create many content types: Presentations, infographics, documents, social media graphics, mockups, printables, videos, charts, and brandable templates.
• Interactive menu: Link slides, pages, and content blocks for an interactive experience.
• Video creation: YouTube intros and outros, social media videos, explainer videos, and more.
• Full asset customization: customize icons, characters, illustrations, and animated assets.
• Collaboration: Team collaboration for sharing feedback into the platform without external tools.
• Tons of templates: For videos, presentations, social media, videos, GIFs, website graphics, proposals, invoices, ebooks, and more.

Visme Vs. Lumen5

Visme is a tool that covers a whole bunch of design needs, while with Lumen5, you can only edit and create videos. Furthermore, Visme features many integrations rarely seen in these platforms, and customization options are almost endless.

Check how easy it is to create content with Visme:

Visme pricing

• Free Plan: 100MB storage, basic templates, and design assets.
• Starter Plan: $12.25/month 250 MB storage, entire template library, and download.
• Pro Plan: $24.75/month with 3 GB storage, brand kit, and integrations.
• Team Plan is available upon request.

Steve AI

SteveAI is a Lumen5 alternative that uses AI (artificial intelligence) to make a video from text input. You only have to paste the text, and the AI picks the best assets to create the best video in a breeze.

This tool is from the creators of Animoto, a solid name in the video creation arena.

Who is SteveAI for?

SteveAI is an excellent option if you need to create videos for social media. Plans start as low as $15/month with the option to pay $5 for each additional video download. With this pay-as-you-go feature, you don't need to move to a higher plan in case you need to create more videos.

Steve AI key features

• AI Text-to-video: Create a video from text input using built-in AI. Repurpose your blog content by pasting the URL of your post and make a video in minutes.
• Repurpose audio content: Extract text from your audio files and make short videos in a snap.
• 100M+ free-royalty assets: No need to go for an external searching for the right image.
• Tons of templates: Animated and live-action templates for marketing, education, infographics, explainer videos, and more.
• Create cartoon videos: 1000+ animated characters, 1000+ backgrounds, and 1000+ props to create engaging and professional cartoons.
• Full collaboration features: From the basic Plan ($15/month), you can access collaboration for seamless team communication and feedback.

Steve AI Vs. Lumen5

SteveAI can create animated videos, offers a fantastic, generous free plan, and also auto-generates script templates. Lumen5 doesn't have any of these.

Check how AI works in Steve.AI:

SteveAI pricing

• Free Plan: 3 downloads per month, millions of royalty-free assets, watermark, text speech, and more features.
• Basic Plan: $15/month with 5 downloads per month, no watermark, multiple video styles, and animation, $5 per extra download
• Starter Plan: $45/month with 15 downloads, 1080p, 10 English voiceovers, and $5 per extra download.
• Pro Plan: $60/month with 40 downloads/month, 2K resolution, 20 voiceovers in English, and advanced security.

Wevideo

Wevideo is a Lumen5 alternative that focuses on education, offering a vast library of templates for every need with a simple drag-and-drop interface.

Who is Wevideo for?

Wevideo is the right tool for educators and schools since it provides many templates for education videos, school newsletters, and related stuff. Anyway, it is also suited for the regular user.

Wevideo key features

• 1M+ royalty-free assets: Videos, audio, and image files.
• Mobile apps: iOS and Android apps for editing on the go.
• Education assets: Vast library of templates for schools and educators covering lots of themes. Unique pricing plans for teachers and schools or districts.
• Branding: upload logos and brand elements to keep a consistent message across all your video production.
• Add audio to video: Add multiple audio formats for free; AIF, MP3, M4A, OGG, WAV, and WMA audio files and 3GP, 3GPP, AVI, DIVX, DV, FLV, M4V, MJPEG, MKV, MOD, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPG.

Wevideo Vs. Lumen5

Although you can use Wevideo to create any type of video, this platform is focused on education. Wevideo lacks the AI that powers Lumen5. Still, it is an excellent video creator and editor.

Check Wevideo Classroom in this video:

WeVideo pricing

• Free Plan: 5 mins/month, 480p, and 1GB storage.
• Power Plan: $9.99/month, 30 mins/month, 720p, and 1GB storage.
• Unlimited Plan: $15.99/month with unlimited video mins/month, unlimited storage, and 1080p. Voiceovers and greenscreen.

Conclusion

Any of the above are excellent Lumen5 alternatives. Each one has its strong points, and since most of them provide free plans, it is easy to try and test what is the best for your needs.