by Jen Bergen | Aug 6, 2014 | Company News
It’s a big day here for Rapt Media. We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve closed $3.1 million in venture financing led by Boulder Ventures. We’ll be using the funding to build out a presence in New York and Los Angeles so that Rapt Media will be in the hearts of the two largest cities where brands, agencies, and production companies thrive. The new round brings Rapt Media’s total funding to $7.5 million.
“Video is the fastest growing format in branding and advertising, and mobile is the fastest growing form factor in the consumption of content,” said Peter Roshko, General Partner at Boulder Ventures Ltd. “Rapt Media’s interactive video platform enables content creation for the next generation of mobile video, and has captured mindshare among leading consumer brands.”
As part of its business-focused drive to convert viewers into users and customers, Rapt Media also announced the launch of its integration with marketing automation system Eloqua. Enterprise-level customers can now collect more valuable information about leads by using Eloqua’s marketing automation suite to capture user interactions within an interactive video experience. This essentially lets companies monitor how people are traveling through interactive videos the same way they monitor how people travel through their website.
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by Jen Bergen | Jul 28, 2014 | How-Tos and Tips
So you’re interested in creating an interactive video? That’s great! After all, interactive video experiences see completion rates of 90 percent and above, which is much higher than the completion rates of linear videos.
We recently posted our 11 tips for creating a successful and engaging interactive video, but before you jump into building an interactive video with the first platform you find, know that there are two critical pieces to the interactive video puzzle that you must consider before building your project. To us, being able to build an interactive video that’s mobile-friendly as well as scalable is crucial to creating a successful interactive video that will give you the results you’re looking for in an online video campaign.
Below, we lay out why mobile matters, as well as why it’s so important to choose a technology that allows you to iterate easily when it’s time to update your video.
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by Jen Bergen | Jul 22, 2014 | Company News, Project Examples
Marketing a cloud-based contact center solution in a fun and entertaining way might seem like a feat to some, but digital marketing agency Room 214 found a way to make an engaging and informative video to promote its client inContact’s product. Using Rapt Media’s interactive video platform and piloting a new marketing automation system (MAS) integration, Room 214 and inContact created video content that not only speaks to each viewer but also allows them to gather valuable information about those viewers.
InContact was looking for a way to promote its Workforce-Intelligent Contact Center solution in a new and cutting edge way. It wanted to create an interactive video that could integrate with its MAS to help capture and score leads. “When inContact came to Room 214 with this idea, we pitched them on Rapt Media’s tool with Site Paring…knowing that it was the right solution and team of people to accomplish this,” said Room 214 producer and editor Jen Casson.
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by Erika Trautman | Jul 15, 2014 | How-Tos and Tips, In the Media
This article was originally published by The Next Web on July 13, 2014.
Between Pharrell’s “Happy” music video and the video for Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” interactive video ) is undoubtedly hot this year. Interactive video breaks through the noise, gets people talking, and gets more views. The real value, however, is that those views are longer and more engaged.
But with interactive videos like Pharrell’s and Dylan’s setting the bar high, it’s easy to assume that only rockstar creative teams with monster budgets and months upon months of planning can create an interactive video, leaving those new to interactive video wondering where to even begin.
As one of the first companies in the interactive video industry, we’ve seen interactive videos of all types created – some with deep budgets and large production crews, and others with leaner budgets and just a few smart team members – and we know that with the right knowledge and tools, any company can create a powerful interactive video quickly and easily.
So what do you need to know to build your own interactive video? From choosing an interactive video platform that’s right for you, to figuring out where to put your first choice point, here are our 11 top tips to keep in mind when creating interactive video that is both successful and engaging.
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by Jen Bergen | Jun 30, 2014 | Company News
Though the Rapt Media blog is the best place to stay up to speed with news, as well as your go-to place for Interactive Video tips and tricks, Rapt Media is branching out to other spaces on the web, including Tumblr and SlideShare.
Tumblr
If you’re one of the many Tumblrers who use the site’s unique social platform to follow the goings-on of companies and people, you’ll want to add Raptmedia.com/Tumblr to your list. Our Tumblr includes key content from our blog, as well as interesting case studies, and links to our SlideShares (more on that below). (more…)
by Jen Bergen | Jun 27, 2014 | How-Tos and Tips
As we predicted at the start of the year, shoppable video (an online video that allows viewers to buy products while watching the video, similar to the one we did with Kara Ross) will be used more frequently for mobile sales in 2014 and beyond – and especially on tablets. During last year’s Cyber Monday, 17 percent of sales came from mobile devices, and that number will continue to grow each year. For forward-thinking brands interested in shoppable video, there are a few things to know before diving right in – especially for those interested in reaching audiences on mobile devices.
Below, we cover the basics of mobile-optimized shoppable video, from pacing and structure to technical and SEO best practices. (more…)
by Jen Bergen | Jun 23, 2014 | Company News
Between launching cool projects like our interactive gamified contest for Martini Racing and summer roof deck barbecues, we managed to find time to revamp and launch our brand new website. It’s been an exciting year for Rapt Media – rebranding from FlixMaster last July, launching projects with the likes of Cinemax and Deloitte, and introducing our patent pending Site Pairing technology – and we’re thrilled to announce the launch of our newly redesigned website.
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by Jen Bergen | May 30, 2014 | Company News
We admit it. We’re biased. We think Interactive Video as a medium is pretty cool. And our customers – the innovative people we love at brands, companies, agencies, and publishers – are making some amazing video experiences using our products.
But it turns out we’re not the only ones who think so. And we’re thrilled to have received two recent honors from Gartner and EContent Magazine.
Earlier this month, information technology research and advisory firm Gartner released its annual Cool Vendors Report, choosing Rapt Media as one of five companies included in the Content Management category. “Cool vendors for content management provide IT and business buyers with innovative solutions to help them secure, share and facilitate complex content creation,” Gartner says on its website. “Content is becoming increasingly complex along with the processes that use it, so enterprises need to consider new tools.”
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by Brannan McGill | May 27, 2014 | How-Tos and Tips
Brands are using Interactive Video more than ever now to engage customers. The online shopping experience is no longer relegated to a static website of color and price filters; with the use of interactive elements, customers can self-segment themselves to create a shopping experience that’s personal and unique to them.
At Rapt Media, we’ve gained a great deal of experience by working directly with our customers and by watching how they engage with our product. E-commerce is one of Interactive Video’s most popular uses, and to take some of the guesswork out of the creative process around building an interactive e-commerce video, we’ve outlined a few common Interactive Video patterns. Last week, we talked about turning viewer interaction into smart product placement. In this post, we’ll explore mirroring the structure of an e-commerce website with Interactive Video.
We’ll use the Rapt Media editor to help visualize the structure, so we urge you to sign up for a free account to follow along.
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by Jen Bergen | May 14, 2014 | Company News, Press
“Gamification designer” is listed as one of Mashable’s “10 Crazy Jobs that will Exist in the Future.” While “combining game logic with everyday activities, events, services and products to make the world a more playfully challenging place,” might seem like a silly job description to some, we don’t think it’s too farfetched. In fact, innovative companies are using gamification more and more to create interactive experiences for their customers.
Taking front stage in 2014, gamification is becoming the new norm in online Interactive Video. From high-end beverage companies like Martini to professional services firms like Deloitte to consumer electronics makers like Philips, smart brands and businesses of all types are making the move to interactive content.
One of the latest and greatest examples of gamification comes from Martini Racing and London-based creative agency Mr. President who recently launched an interactive and gamified experience for the Formula One™ Italian Grand Prix. Powered by Rapt Media’s patent-pending Site Pairing technology, the interactive contest portion of Martini’s campaign brings the heart-pounding action of racing to users’ PCs and mobile devices through a game of agility.
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