An animated ad – is it an old-school marketing practice or a progressive way to introduce your company to the people?
Are you looking for creative ways to introduce your brand to the audience? In this article, I’d like to share one of them – animated explainer videos. These are short animated commercials that communicate a brand or product value in a minute or even less. This type of content performs well on social media, website, email marketing, or advertising. If you’re wondering why, here are a few of my discoveries on the impact of animated videos.
The way to be different
Animation is a very creative type of content by its origin. Although the popularity of animation is constantly growing, a few companies are actively using it in marketing and advertising. We may see a lot of carousel ads, image ads, and even live motion video ads. But how often do you see an animated ad in the feed? I suppose it happens rarely. At least, that’s what I’ve noticed recently. Therefore, a custom-created animated commercial might be an extraordinary way to stand out from the competitive content and draw the audience’s attention. The modern customer’s attention span is around 8 seconds, but they must be yours.
Audience engagement
Everyone or nearly everyone loves animation. It’s a manifestation of creativity, and it evokes some nostalgia, reminding us of the sweet days of our childhood when we spent hours watching cartoons and hanging out with friends. The more creative animation, the greater engagement. Consequently, the greater customer loyalty. It’s essential to produce valuable content that will benefit people emotionally and informationally. It’s how the trust is being established between the brand and the audience. Good content is a kind of the brand’s responsibility and respect toward potential customers.
A fast and impressive content
By the way, an animated video is also an excellent opportunity to explain how your product or service works within a minute or even less while bringing some fun to people at the same time. With an animated video, your brand can deliver a double-value to customers – to introduce an effective and relevant solution to their problem and entertain them, which’s not less important in times of uncertainty and economic crisis. The humor and tone of your content have great importance and significantly impact the customer’s first impression of the brand.
Awareness and brand recall
You might be surprised by that, but you need only a few seconds to create a strong brand recall. If you are wondering how, think of the emotional response and memorable impression that a quick but powerful logo animation can make. Sonic design (a sound associated with your brand) might be very helpful and supportive in strengthening a brand recall. And animated commercials are a great place to apply a logo animation. Short animated videos can quickly become viral and reach many people. So, involving an animated brand identity in the video is effective from the brand awareness and brand recall perspective.
Under-the-minute explanation
Nobody likes long tutorials and explanations until the subject is very complicated and needs a detailed guide. However, even complex ideas can become easier to understand and more digestive if they are presented in an engaging format of an animated video. It’s one of the key benefits of animated explainers for business. You will likely need even less time to explain the concept if you combine animation, narration, and sound design in a short video.
Minimalism is the king. When producing animated videos to explain your product essence, it’s hyper-important to keep the narrative concise, clear, and short. It shouldn’t necessarily be a complete introduction of all product features, but just a few of them or only the problem that your product solves. You’ll be surprised at how much your brand can say in one animated video shorter than one minute.
Wrapping Up
An animated video is a versatile content type that can bring multiple benefits to businesses and help set trust with a target audience. Customer loyalty is very valuable, and animation is a great way to build it. I hope that this article will help you make the best description for your business and your marketing.
Author: Dana Kachan
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Dana Kachan is the Author, Speaker, and Digital Marketing Consultant advising tech startups and businesses in the USA, Asia Pacific, and Europe. Content Manager at Fireart Studio, boutique design and software development company in Warsaw, Poland. Author of articles about customer experience, business and marketing on Yahoo Finance Singapore, ReadWrite,… View full profile ›