A complete guide to interactive video advertising

Question 1

What is interactive video?

Answer

Interactive video is a digital advertising format that allows customers to interact with video content rather than simply watching it. Interactive videos turn passive viewers into active participants, allowing them to engage with a brand or product through features like QR codes or remotes.

Question 2

What is interactive video marketing?

Answer

Interactive video marketing is the use of interactive video formats to help viewers engage directly with video content. By allowing customers to become active participants in video content they can engage directly with brands or products, helping to increase awareness, consideration, and conversion.

Question 3

Why is interactive video important?

Answer

Interactive video is important because it helps increase viewer engagement and provides valuable insights by transforming passive viewers into active participants who make choices and interact with the content. Interactive video is particularly important as the number of digital video viewers continues to grow worldwide. According to Statista, 92% of internet users worldwide watched online videos on a monthly basis in 2024.¹

Question 4

What are the benefits of interactive video?

Awareness

Interactive video ads can help boost brand recognition through active viewer engagement. According to a 2024 Kantar study, brands experienced a significant 30% uplift in brand awareness when using Amazon Ads interactive video formats compared to non-interactive control groups.²

Consideration

By allowing viewers to explore product features and benefits through interactive elements, they can become more interested in learning about offerings. According to a Kantar study, brands saw a 28% uplift in purchase intent when using Amazon Ads interactive video formats compared to non-interactive control groups.³

Conversion

Interactive video can increase conversion through immediate calls-to-action embedded within the content and by creating a more engaging path to purchase. Brands using Streaming TV ads with interactivity observed 4.1x more add to carts and 1.7x more orders vs. Streaming TV ads without interactivity.⁴

Answer

Interactive video can benefit both brands and viewers by providing a more engaging and active experience. This higher level of engagement leads to better brand recall, longer viewing times, and improved conversion rates compared to traditional video content.

Question 5

Interactive video vs. traditional video

Answer

Interactive video ads transform streaming into a participatory exchange that gives customers the choice to engage with an ad in the moment or on their own schedule. They also come in a range of formats, allowing customers to learn, play, and shop while watching their favorite streaming content. And by allowing deeper engagement beyond the first impression, brands are not only able to supercharge ad performance, but also gain access to lower-funnel insights based on customer engagement—helping further fuel campaign strategy. Interactive videos have been shown to increase unaided brand awareness by 2.2x, brand favorability by 1.2x, purchase intent by 1.3x, and 36% more orders compared to non-interactive ads.⁵

Question 6

How do you make an interactive video?

Answer

Interactivity is a powerful feature that you gain access to using Amazon’s Streaming TV ads. These ads run on popular video supply across Prime Video, Twitch, and Fire TV channels (including TV shows, movies, and live sports broadcasts), as well as third-party streaming TV apps like A&E, Lifetime, and Crackle. Interactivity is now enabled as the default across streaming TV inventory, meaning it’s easier than ever for brands to activate an interactive campaign.

Question 7

Interactive video examples

Case Study

How Booking.com engaged travelers with an interactive The Idea of You Prime Video campaign

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Booking.com wanted to shift customer perception to be seen as a top destination for all types of accommodations. At the time, the brand had observed the trend of audiences booking vacations inspired by the shows and movies they love. By connecting with audiences through premium content, Booking.com wanted to showcase the power of their search filters and the breadth of accommodations they offer while connecting to the brand's "Book whoever you want to be" campaign, which invites people to see travel as a reflection of their identity.

Booking.com identified Prime Video as an ideal place to reach millions of audiences alongside the content they love. Brand Innovation Lab and Booking.com launched the “Travel the Screen” campaign alongside the Amazon Original movie The Idea of You. The first-of-its-kind interactive experience lets users follow 40-year-old Solène Marchand, played by Anne Hathaway, as she embarks on her transformative journey post-divorce when she falls for the lead singer of the biggest boy band on the planet, taking her on a whirlwind tour from Coachella to the Côte d'Azur. Each city on the tour spotlights a different Booking.com accommodation inspired by scenes from the movie.

Between May 2 and June 10, the campaign reached 22.3 million unique users and drove positive brand impact for Booking.com. Booking.com saw a 10% increase in aided brand awareness and a 9% increase in brand opinion.⁶

Case Study

DiGiorno captures the sass of Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine to reach fans across Amazon

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DiGiorno teamed up with Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine, now streaming on Disney+, to combine ‘Pool’s sass with the irreverent attitude of DiGiorno for a limited-edition pie. DiGiorno worked with the Amazon Ads Brand Innovation Lab to amplify this super duo and reach more customers through IMDb.com, Prime Video ads, an in-person activation during Comic-Con, a custom Brand Store, and more.

For the campaign, the Amazon Ads Brand Innovation Lab created a video ad that appears to be a routine Amazon delivery of a DiGiorno-branded box until it turns into a surprising brush with Deadpool himself. The video ad ran across online video placements, streaming TV, Prime Video, Amazon DSP, and IMDb.com, and drove to a custom Brand Store that showed the perfect night in with DiGiorno pizza. Inspired by each limited-edition pie, the Brand Innovation Lab curated items for epic nights in that deliver the perfect hang-out with nods to Deadpool & Wolverine, making it easier for customers to maximize any occasion. By the conclusion of the campaign in September 2024, DiGiorno saw a +6.6% offline sales lift among non-brand buyers and a $3.5 million incremental offline sales lift.⁷

Case Study

How Jeep reached streaming audiences with “The Women Era” and cultural storytelling

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In 2024, Jeep launched "The Women Era," a five-episode series created in collaboration with Freeda and Amazon Ads, aimed at increasing brand awareness among women aged 25–54. The series, hosted by Diletta Begali and Lucrezia Milillo, showcased stories of Italian women breaking barriers in society, drawing parallels with Jeep's legacy of overcoming challenges. Using a multi-channel advertising strategy across Prime Video, Fire TV, and Amazon DSP, the campaign achieved impressive results with 42,100 unique streams, 514,000 total viewing minutes, and 96.3 million total impressions. The campaign's success was further demonstrated by exceeding benchmarks with a 1.2% CTR on Fire TV and a 93.1% video completion rate, proving the effectiveness of authentic, culturally relevant content in automotive advertising.⁸

Question 8

Interactive video solutions from Amazon Ads

Interactive pause ads

Interactive pause ads allow a brand to create high-impact moments of engagement when a viewer pauses their stream.

Interactive video ads

Interactive video ads transform a brand’s Streaming TV ad into an immersive experience via remote clickable overlay.

There are a variety of interactive formats for a brand to choose from, inclusive of varying CTAs and headlines, depending on their objectives:

Shoppable formats

Shoppable formats are intended for advertisers who sell on Amazon, driving on-Amazon shopping, purchase intent, and conversion. They enable customers to add the featured product directly to their Amazon shopping cart. New this year, this offering also includes real-time retail insights pulled in automatically from the Amazon store, including deal badging during high velocity retail events like Prime Day.

Discovery formats

Discovery formats are ideal for brands who don’t sell on Amazon. These formats are intended to help drive off-Amazon engagement, consideration, and lead generation. Brands may choose from a variety of headlines tailored to their intended outcome, including “want more info?,” “get a quote,” “book an appointment,” “sign up today,” and more. When a customer interacts with this overlay, they are able to send themselves an email or push notification with a link to the relevant brand landing page.

Answer

Enhance the viewing experience by inviting customers to engage more deeply with a brand or product by taking a simple action. Interactivity allows customers to link directly to the Amazon shopping experience or to engage with brand experiences beyond Amazon. Customers can use their remote or phone to learn more or add a product to their cart right in the moment. Interactivity helps transform Streaming TV ads into an immersive, actionable experience. From discovery to shoppability, audiences can engage with a brand in new and exciting ways, helping boost full-funnel campaign impact.