We’ve written about our floating video player before, but so far the technology has mostly been put to work when it comes to outstream video formats. We think that’s a shame because it can certainly be useful for marketing and communication purposes as well. The floating player is available to all clients of our Online Video Platform. In this article we’ll explain to you how it works and how you can use it for your communication purposes.

What is a floating player?

Much like you would already expect from its name, it is simply a player that floats. You can embed the video player the same way you would with a non-floating player, but as soon as the viewer starts scrolling, it’ll float to the corner of the page. Depending on your settings this may happen only when the video is already playing or you can set it so that your video player always floats. Curious to see how it works? Simply click play on the video we’ve embedded on top of this page and then scroll down.

How to turn on the floating option

1. Go to your Playouts and select the Playout you want to use
2. Select Behaviour > in & out view > Sticky options
3. In the dropdown, select the option of your choice.
4. [Optional] Select In-& out view action and choose whether your want the player to automatically unmute and play when the player is in view
5. Save, and you’re done!

When and why you should use a floating player

A floating player allows the viewer to scroll through your webpage and keep your video in view the whole time. This not only allows for a great user experience but also ensures that you get your content viewed by as many people as possible. The floating player can be especially useful when your player is embedded on a page that contains a lot of text or images.

Here are a couple of ideas when the floating player can be a good idea to ensure you get the most out of your content:

  • When the video contains your most valuable information and you want your audience to watch it, the floating player is a great way to get noticed
  • When you have a background story on a text heavy article and you want to remind the reader that there is video content available about the topic
  • When you have an article with a video that is related but not necessary the same topic it can be a great idea to have the player float
  • As supporting content, e.g. an instructional video to accompany an article that describes the product

Of course these are just a few examples, there are many more ways you could use the floating player to reach your audience and make the best use of your video content. Let us know when you’ve implemented it, we’d love to check it out!