“Power to the Veeple” – Interactive Video Analytics Summary and Review
I was first made aware of Veeple’s interactive video technology last week after reading Blaise Nutter’s iMedia Connection article, “6 Emerging Tech Trends to Watch”. Many of you reading this may be familiar with the video I created this week for the Los Angeles Hikers and Photographers Meetup Group using Veepleinteractive video technology. For those who didn’t get a chance to see it, here’s the link. Veeple Interactive Video.
The following is a brief analytics summary of the video (included in your free Veeple account) and an overall review:
Views
5900+ (Updated 10/28/08)
Top 10 Viewing regions (in order of poluarity)
United States, Canada, UK, India, Australia, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain,Sweden
Spot Popularity
The 2nd spot was the most popular prior to my updated directions (evening of 10/14), after which the very first interactive spot became the most popular. Seems as though viewers needed guidance as to when to start interacting with the video.
Views Over Time
Ray Schiel's Interactive Video - Views Over Time
I noticed that the peaks occurred after I had sent messages out on Twitter indicating that the video was live.
Comments
I received 7 comments on the video. 6 positive, (2 of which also mentioned the music I chose for the video was distracting) and 1 asked, “How did you do this?”
Meetup Membership
During the period from 10/13 -10/16 we gained 6 new members bringing our total to just over 430. (446 Updated: 10/28/08) ( I’m still following up with them to see if the video had any influence.) 2 members dropped out ( Meetup indicated that they never attended or signed up for any of the hikes since they joined. I’m in the process of following up with them as well.)
My “Veep”back
1. Engage the audience at the very onset. Give them something to click on within the first 5 seconds of the video. Viewership dropped after the first minute possibly due to lack of interest or that the entire interactive experience was completed by that time.
2. Keep all clips relevant to the purpose of the video. The tendency for me was to overload the video with spots and I actually had to remove some spots that didn’t relate to the peice.
3. Since this is a relatively new form of communication, make viewers aware of what to expect before the viewing begins. Include directions 
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4. Market video strategically at various sites. I have profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Meetup (naturally), so letting friends and group members know that this was available was key to spreading the word. I received feedback from at least 1 person on each of these sites.
Veeple is worth taking a look at and exploring, especially for those companies wishing to offer a deeper and richer interactive video experience for their viewers. The folks at Veeple were also very accessible whenever I had a support question (which weren’t many), which made the production end of this project that much more enjoyable.
The entire application is pretty simple to use once you’ve learned how set up a couple of spots on your own. Upload your video to the Veeple site and edit away. Actually, the tough part was knowing when to stop adding spots. As soon as I learned how to create the “Transparency” spot, I was off and running! 51 spots later, I’m still thinking about how I can add to the production.
Doug Broomfield (VP Content) offers free Veeple webinars every Friday at 11:00am PST, demonstrating how Veeple works and what companies can gain and offer by using it. You can contact Doug at doug@veeple.com with questions or to reserve a spot at the webinar.