Having a video message in advertising is one thing — but taking it up a notch and making it interactive is another, it seems. A pair of reports have popped up, indicating that interactive video isn’t just a crucial element in today’s marketing game — it’s actually a must.

First up is this report from Social Times, which shows that, based on stats provided by 17 Production, interactive video is greatly effective — even more so than regular video.

For instance, the team indicated that 60 percent of people prefer video over reading text as a whole, and also keeps visitors on a website longer. It also provides better memory-based content than the written word, thanks to a more stylish display.

Interactive video, however, goes a level above, as users can click, swipe and engage with call-to-action overlays and elements, according to the article. The band Coldplay made a good example of this with their recorded clip for “Ink,” which can be found here. It did so fundamentally well, it earned a 2015 Webby Award for Best Use of Interactive Video.

The notes point out that a combination of imagination and the right technology partner can help marketers succeed with interactive video. It noted that a number of eCommerce brands have already benefitted from huge traffic spikes, particularly ASOS, a site that provides a “view catwalk” button on its product pages, so that consumers can actually see what they’re buying in motion – not just a static picture.

Brands can benefit in a number of ways, including these key factors, according to 17:

  • Audience target/content type — we already know video is most engaging, so take it up a notch
  • Ad content and brand goals — you get to decide how consumers interact, and being creative gives you an advantage
  • Degree of difficulty of the “ask” —the easier the better, right

Part of the popularity of interactive video has come from YouTube Annotations, as users could easily interact with videos. The Annotations in themselves have proven to be far more effective than the typical tags, descriptions and titles that have come with said videos.

More details on this particular report can be found here.

As for the second source page that points out the popularity of interactive video, eMarketer recently published numbers that indicate that this format is watched through all the way to the end.

As you can see from this chart, the rates for a started, halfway viewed and fully viewed interactive video are through the roof, particularly in Australia and New Zealand. The United States’ stats aren’t too shabby either, with 84 percent of viewers starting a video, and 70 percent watching them all the way through to the very end.

As a result, more and more companies are tackling such campaigns, putting more dollars towards ad channels of this type. eMarketer estimates that U.S. digital video ad spending will increase 41 percent overall this year to $5.9 billion, and will go even beyond that by 2018 to $12.3 billion. And interactive will take up a good chunk with that.

Now it’s just a matter of seeing how many more companies jump on board.