Animated video is one of the most effective ways to market your business based on its ability to distill complex ideas into memorable sound bites, its cost effective development, the vibrant and dynamic imagery, and unparalleled ability to engage viewers. While we’re sure you’re across statistics like emails with video embeds having a 200-300% increase in click-through rates and 76% of people that like a video are willing to share it with a loved one, however did you know that YouTube is actually the world’s second most used search engine?
The bottom line: People defer to video way more than you think in endless, fascinating ways. Moreover animation is a crucial place to start addressing viewer’s needs while still also having evergreen appeal that’s easy to update if you ever need to. Dana Kachan astutely identifies the appeal of animated video marketing saying, “Animation does it more effectively than any other means of promotion because it interacts with customer perception at the visual and audio levels simultaneously.”
In this blog post we’re going to show you 14 examples from the countless options you have to market with animated videos – whether it’s a promo video, an explainer video, or a social media post, we’ve got insights for branching out and revamping your strategy!
1. Brand Introduction
Animated videos are a fantastic way to communicate your brand story and your values with personality, accuracy, and professionalism. The enticing nature of this video type can go a long way to explaining your headline value proposition in a way that’s thematically consistent with seasonal campaigns or your overarching brand narrative. Above all, animation will make it memorable with a precise message that’s easily digestible for viewers.
2. Social Media
Most people spend their online time on social media with video a guaranteed way to get eyes on your channels. To stand out in the sea of lifestyle videos, try sharing your message as an animation. Not only does it cut through any viewers being turned off with a more polished sales video, animated videos on social media are actually even more compelling with a slick simplicity making sure your message hits home.
3. Website Embeds – native and third-party link-building
One of the most exciting aspects of the boom in video is how many more sites are offering high quality native hosting and you can link back to your official site as part of publishing. LinkedIn is a growing leader in native video uploads so it’s the perfect place to get the word out about everything from vacancies to courses and achievements. Promotional activity is enhanced with a Business 2 Customer explainer video that will entice someone to enquire about your offering.
4. Conference Calls
Modern life is filled with all kinds of calls and you won’t be shooting yourself in the foot when you switch out of boring meeting mode with a visually stimulating whiteboard animation. Rather than do the work with a marker over a shared screen, invest in a professional whiteboard explainer that collates a range of different ideas and will have your colleagues or clients talking.
5. E-Courses
When you bring an animated video into the education space, you’re immediately upping the odds of people engaging with your ideas plus tweaking the overall format of your course. In this setting, use animations to communicate key facts in a thought-provoking way that piques interest, reinforces concepts, and guarantees a more dynamic learning experience overall.
6. Digital Billboards
Advertisements are everywhere in modern life and anything you produce should be as specific and captivating as possible. Regardless of the industry, animated video advertisements mean you can bring your target market along with you as you tell your product or service story. There’s a reason why so many different businesses use animated advertisements in their core suite of promotions.
7. E-Books and E-Magazines
The future is going to be filled with highly interactive content that informs, engages, and shares information through the merging of different media. Animated explainer videos bring together infographics with the winning formula of green screen graphics and accurate data. This combination ensures ideas leap off the page to take root in the reader’s imagination.
8. Email Marketing
Animated explainer videos have been shown to boost email open rates and you can just as easily share reels for temporary offers as evergreen embeds. Whether it’s a series of explainer videos shared to your mailing list or a promo video, you’re able to build awareness of your services or messaging plus this strategy is shown to prompt click-through, too!
9. Creative Projects – music video, web series
The sky’s the limit when creativity meets video and particularly so when you use economical animations. It’s much more sustainable (and easier) to produce an animated explainer series on the same topic whether you’re building momentum around a marketing campaign or you’re using it to demonstrate your service offerings so as to capture customer interest. No matter your direction, when you use this type of animated video, people sit up and take notice.
10. Advertisements
what something is, how it works, and how it enriches someone’s life or their organisation, they’ll suddenly be clamouring to buy. You can use these for advertising everywhere from social media to your own website landing page.
11. Training Resources – Tutorials, DIYs, How Tos
Helping someone out is a proven way to build trust and the simple way you share a 101 with an animated explainer makes them the way to go when you need to train someone. As a proven resource for internal organisational use as well as with customers, you can cover all of the key facts and common questions while keeping the viewer’s attention.
12. News Updates
Getting the word out is a fundamental part of building trust, communicating clearly, and avoiding misunderstandings. If you’ve got exciting news, an update, or an announcement, try an animation to raise awareness of what’s happening. Obviously it can be shared on your own platforms, but these animated explainer videos are often used at launches, in PR send-outs, and mailing list distributions as well.
13. Testimonials
Testimonials have enduring importance because they’re an extra voice of support or authority that’s either explaining or endorsing what you do (and that you’re amazing at it!). Rather than strictly stick to text, why not delve into your value proposition to show exactly what makes you so great? An animated promo video will make sure your story is clear and then it can be shared anywhere your customers are likely to be.
14. Safety Communications
Safety is one of the most important messages we can be sharing and both an animated explainer or animated promo video can be used in a range of ways to clearly communicate the specifics. Whether it’s outlining a specific process or promoting a campaign of road safety, you’ll achieve maximum effect with graphics, information, simulations, and even mixed media that explores the message from different angles.
Conclusion
While not exhaustive, this list of ideas for marketing with animations can be used to innovate existing campaigns or even inspire you to dip your toe in the water of video marketing! Don’t feel overwhelmed if you’re only getting started with video marketing or working out how to connect with customers with this type of strategy. Begin with defining your goals so that you can then tailor the animations you create for your target audience. As you can see from this post, there are truly innumerable ways to use animations in your video marketing and significant potential for evergreen, multi-platform or even viral video!
When it comes to taking your idea from a kernel to a fully-fledged project, working with an experienced video production agency who understand the nuances of development and producing stunning, compelling content is key. At One Productions, we have over 20 years of experience producing award-winning video that conveys concepts and stories for businesses and brands from a range of industries. As experts in developing video of all kinds – including animations – we’ll help you strategise, create, and produce an unforgettable explainer video or promo video that’s fit for a range of media and marketing platforms.
What Next?
- Check out more ideas for how you can use video for your business,
- See more of our animated videos,
- Get in touch to talk with us about our animation studio in Dublin, Ireland