Why 2025 will be the year of interactive video

Since the first television commercials aired in 1941, video has been a cornerstone of marketing for its ability to capture attention and tell stories. Over the decades, it’s evolved from traditional television commercials to now include mobile-friendly formats, live-streaming, and ephemeral content.

But video continues to push boundaries—most recently, through the introduction of interactive video.

By creating an immersive experience that goes far beyond traditional video storytelling, interactive video (also known as shoppable video) transforms how businesses engage with audiences. And as we look ahead to 2025, it’s clear that more companies are catching on. Below, we explain why interactive video is poised to explode in popularity next year—and how you can take advantage of it for your own business. 

Why invest in video marketing?

According to Wistia’s 2024 State of Video Report, 93% of businesses view video as a crucial part of their marketing strategies. This is probably no surprise considering the latest research on consumer behavior:

• Consumers watched an average of 19 hours of online video content per week in 2022.
• Nearly half of Gen Z (48%) and millennial (47%) consumers use short-form video to discover new products. 
• Online video advertising spending has steadily increased and is projected to reach $120 billion by the end of 2024.
• Over the past two years, watch time for shopping-related videos on YouTube has grown by more than 5X in the U.S., with over 50% of shoppers saying online video has helped them make purchase decisions.

But while these numbers demonstrate video’s staying power, many brands remain stuck in a traditional mindset—using video solely for storytelling and awareness. 

The problem with treating video as a primarily top-of-funnel tool? 

The format has evolved tremendously, with interactive videos giving consumers a way to engage directly with content. For businesses, that means more actionable insights, increased conversions, and better data for understanding customer behavior.

The bottom line: Brands that continue to view video as just a tool for awareness miss out on its potential for more engagement and measurable results.

The interactive video advantage

Interactive videos allow viewers to actively engage with products, services, or experiences directly within the video itself. This format shifts video from being a passive storytelling medium to an engagement-driven, action-oriented tool that bridges the gap between brand awareness and conversions.

While many think of interactive video as a strategy for e-commerce or marketing physical products, it’s also highly effective in industries like travel and tourism. Imagine letting potential travelers click directly on locations within a video to learn more, book tours, or explore personalized travel options—all without leaving the video interface.

The point is, no matter your industry, interactive video content is a worthwhile investment. It offers three key benefits in particular:

1. Stronger engagement
2. Rich customer insights
3. Enhanced ROI

Let’s take a closer look at each.

Stronger engagement

One of the biggest challenges with traditional video is understanding how engaged viewers truly are. A passive viewer might have a video playing on their desktop in the background while multitasking on their phone, barely paying attention until something momentarily catches their eye. Unfortunately, with traditional static videos, you can’t differentiate between these passive viewers and genuinely engaged ones.

Interactive video changes this by turning passive viewers into active participants. Because it’s designed for interaction, it naturally distinguishes between those who are simply observing and those who are fully engaged. The result is deeper viewer involvement all around.

Rich customer data

According to HubSpot’s 2024 Video Marketing Report, the top three most prioritized metrics for video marketing are:

• Engagement, defined as likes and comments
• Watch time
• View count

Notice anything funny about these measures? 

They oversimplify customer data into a flat binary. Someone could enjoy the first three-quarters of a video but, disliking the last part, decide not to click the “like” button. Meanwhile, watch time fails to differentiate between meaningful and passive engagement—think about how some people put on music videos for their audio, without a true intent to watch. View count runs into a similar problem, especially whenever autoplay is turned on.

Interactive video addresses these shortcomings by introducing more meaningful engagement metrics like:

• Interactions: The number of times content within a video was clicked or tapped on
• Location clicks: The exact points at which users clicked within a video
• Clickouts: The number of clicks that led users to an external site

These metrics provide a much more nuanced view of audience behavior and preferences since they reveal whether users engaged with the content and if so, at what point. This translates into a lot more granular data that can be used to refine your video strategy and optimize future campaigns.

Proven ROI

Because traditional video campaigns often struggle to establish a clear link between content and sales, measuring return on investment (ROI) has always been a challenge for video marketers. 

Interactive video, however, changes the game by eliminating friction and enabling direct actions within the video itself. Features like add-to-cart functionality in shoppable videos allow viewers to move from watching a product video directly to checkout. By removing several manual steps between interest and purchase, this makes sales attribution simpler and more precise.

With its ability to generate more quantitative insight, interactive video makes it far easier to connect video performance to business KPIs like lead generation and sales. In fact, at Clicktivated, we’ve seen a 5-10X increase in viewer engagement when clients adopt interactive video, proving its potential to drive measurable results.

Why 2025 is the year to lean in

For brands looking to tie their video content directly to measurable outcomes, interactive video is a game-changer. Several factors make 2025 the perfect time to start:

• Advancements in technology: Tools for creating interactive video, like Clicktivated, are now more accessible and intuitive than ever, allowing businesses of all sizes to adopt this format. 
• Changing consumer expectations: Today’s customers demand convenience and immediacy, especially while using their smartphones. Interactive video meets these expectations by making it easy for users to move directly from content consumption to purchase.
• Competitive edge: Early adopters of interactive video have the opportunity to stand out in crowded markets like tourism and e-commerce. By integrating interactivity into their video strategies, brands can differentiate themselves and provide unique value to their audiences.

Ready to embrace the future of video?

Video is no longer limited to inspiring viewers. As the next frontier for marketers seeking to unlock its full potential, interactive video transforms video content from a storytelling medium into a conversion powerhouse.

With Clicktivated’s patented interactive technology, you can turn passive viewers into active shoppers. Let your audience click, shop, and buy directly from your videos, all with the cleanest UX on the market. Reach out to start exploring the potential of interactive video with Clicktivated today.