Slideshows. Though sometimes boring, they are an essential cog in the corporate wheel, having served for decades as the medium for presentations. For a more lively display, consider combining various media types into a single video slideshow, which could serve as compelling, personalized, and engaging content for your users. Additionally, you can apply sophisticated transition configurations and Cloudinary’s many transformation capabilities.
This post shows you how to generate three video slideshows, each for a different purpose, from the following:
- Images of product items in a customer’s cart
- Images of sale items with an overlay of a percentage discount
- A combination of images and videos with a real-estate theme
Building the Slideshow
To create video slideshows, you’ll need to add slideshow specific parameters to your Cloudinary URLs as well as uploading the slideshow Cloudinary template file (with a .CLT extension) to your account. This template file is used as the public ID for the video. You can find a link to download the file from our documentation.
The URL for the video slideshow contains the following:
- Slideshow-specific components that specify the slide durations and other configurations.
- The public IDs for the images of the slides.
- The transition mode of your choice. See the many options.
- Optional. Other transformations, such as optimizations, overlays, and formats.
Fine-Tuning the Ambience
We’re all prone to forgetting things. Since online shoppers often leave items in their cart, what better way to remind them than with a slick, well-honed slideshow of those items? Feel free to add music, too. With Cloudinary, you can automate this process and send slideshows to your customers by email as, for example, a reminder of their potential purchases.
Below is a 10-second slideshow built with two images and these three transformations:
- A text overlay with a question that asks if the customer has left something behind
- The Cloudinary fashion logo
- Automatic optimization of the output format and application of codec
Automating the Process
With Cloudinary, you can automate the process for creating slideshows as marketing collateral, e.g., listing items that are for sale or that have been discounted. You could display the slideshows as personalized content on your website or other channels, such as social media, also through automation.
The example below, which refers to three images, includes these two transformations:
- An overlay in the form of a discount tag
- A dreamy zoom as the transition effect
Don’t let your customers miss out on those sale items! Engaging slideshows are an excellent way to alert your patrons.
Getting Real
Real-estate slideshows can showcase houses or apartments in detail, complete with nuances of the neighborhood. Again, you could send those slideshows to prospective buyers by email or display the media as personalized content on your site. Furthermore, you could beef things up by highlighting a selection of properties in a single slideshow according to user preferences or recent searches.
The slideshow below on a house was generated from three images, a video, and these transformations:
- Predefined slide and transition durations
- A complex overlay with the agent’s name and email address
Closing This Show
Slideshows don’t have to be boring. By taking advantage of Cloudinary’s automated processes and transformation options, you can generate captivating, compelling and appealing results. After all, engaging with your site visitors and customers alike is paramount as a prelude to sales. Personalized slideshows go a long way in fostering that connection.
Have a look at the available options from the documentation, and you’ll see what a wide horizon of use cases this new capability opens for you.
And, do try out this feature, which is in Beta. Any questions, suggestions, or feedback, please send them to us in the Comments section below or contact us. We welcome your insight.
Want to see a video demonstration of our slideshow features? Watch this episode of MX Matters—one of Cloudinary's video podcast series!
