Why animated #videos trump traditional video #marketing

Avoid the mistakes of video marketing by using animated videos effectively

Traditional video marketing is declining in viewing popularity – this post looks at what can be done to reverse this trend and highlights animated videos as a simple, cost-effective and highly engaging way to get more eyeballs on your video content

Video marketing is becoming increasingly popular with more and more marketers using videos to get their message out there, as well as competing for as many eyeballs as possible!  In fact 50% of users watch business related videos On YouTube once a week.

But whilst we’re seeing a rise in brands creating videos we’re also witnessing a slight decline in people actually viewing them.  Is it because we’re now being flooded with videos and it’s becoming a saturated marketplace? Or is it because this flood is marked by boring, 'me too',, non-engaging videos

The answer is both.  But while the flood is beyond your control, it’s good to note the mistakes of others before producing your next video.

Video marketing mistakes

Many marketers are still making the error of creating long videos.  One of the main benefits of videos is the ease and simplicity of getting your message across.  What a viewer would read in several minutes from a written article they can watch in seconds with video!

With the popularity of video marketing we’re also seeing an increase in videos that are often very salesy or all about the brand or product.  This doesn’t inform or educate, or even amuse, and so turns people off!

Quality is also key.  There’s nothing worse than watching a video that has either low quality picture output and / or sound. And they will have a detrimental effect on your reputation. Without using the proper equipment (e.g. using cheap, non-HD cameras without a lighting kit) you will most likely produce a grainy picture.

You also risk ending up with noisy, tinny audio due to having the wrong microphone as well as not being able to insulate any external background noise.  And if you’re shooting exteriors then you’re at the mercy of the weather – which can be unpredictable to say the least!

So is traditional video marketing destined to become a dying art? What can marketers do to re-engage consumers and increase viewing rates?

Animated videos are a great way to connect with your viewer.  For example, Dropbox transformed their business by creating a simple animated explainer video on their home page.  Not only did it lead to an additional 10 million customers but also a staggering $48,000,000 in extra revenue – so it’s no surprise that animated explainer videos have become popular!

Animated videos – best types of content

Clearly certain types of content lend themselves better to having an animated video produced.  Explainer and tutorials are the most popular.  Animated videos are also a great way to compare and highlight different types of products, such as Bitcoin versus traditional currency.  They also allow you to reduce complex topics to simple, friendly visuals and emphasize character expressions.

Animated explainer videos are increasingly becoming popular. They get the message across in a simple and quick way by allowing the producer to focus 100% on representing the content that matters while stripping away any non-relevant detail. Consequently however, leading production houses have become more in-demand and therefore more expensive,  placing them beyond the reach of many marketing budgets.

The market has been crying out for cost effective solutions that allow the business owner or agency to deliver useful video content quickly and easily.  As a result new tools have been invented which help marketers clear the skill and budget barriers to creating compelling animated videos.

Animated videos democratise the process

At GoAnimate, we see ourselves as one of these new tools that has democratised the process.  Our animated video tools enable anyone, from individuals to small businesses and beyond to produce professional-looking animated videos without the need to set up a studio or purchase advanced editing software.  Testing and editing of the video can be carried out in private from anywhere in the world by anyone in your team because everything is hosted in the cloud.

We provide all the tools, styles and assets (including the ever important lip synching) so you can simply focus on your story. Sound and picture are 'Full HD' Blu-Ray quality and therefore consistently better too!  The learning curve on these tools is very low, giving you the ability to create visually engaging animated videos in minutes!

Top tips for animated videos

But where do you start? And how long should your video be?  Below are our top tips on how to create an animated video:

• A very good place to start… is with an outline script!  Ensure that your messaging is consistent with your brand and that the story flows.
• Headline – the title (as with any piece of content) needs to grab the viewer’s attention, but also deliver on what the actual video is about.
• Ensure that the first few seconds capture your audience and engage them.  This speed of engagement is vital to ensure they want to stay and watch your video to the end. This will also help decrease your bounce rate and, more importantly if your call to action is at the end, they will have the opportunity to see it!
• Length of video – Ideally keep it snappy and fast-paced.  The ideal time will vary on whether your video is a commercial advert or an explainer/tutorial.  For optimal timing try to keep it under 2 minutes – the shorter the better.
• Calls to Action (CTAs) – ensure your video has a clear CTA (or CTAs – but be careful not to give too many). As with all CTA’s it’s important that you can measure the results to know how effective your video is.
• Host 'teasers' of your video on sites like YouTube where it will get maximum exposure

• Publish the full version of your animated video on your own website – don’t just rely on YouTube.  You want to drive as much traffic back to your own website and engage with your viewers there.

• Make sure that your branding is consistent throughout the video, not just the tone but visually.

Do you think traditional videos are a dying breed?  Are you using animated videos for your marketing?  If so what tool are you using?  Please do leave a comment and share this post to let us know your thoughts!

Thanks to Gary Lipkowitz for sharing his thoughts and opinions in this blog post.  Gary has been waiting for convergence his whole life.  He has always loved media, entertainment and technology and is really glad he gets to 'work' in these fields. He joined GoAnimate in 2011, after spending ten years in Asia working with Wego.com, Mediacorp Raintree Pictures, Yahoo! Southeast Asia and MTV Asia. He also spent a few years dubbing anime franchises such as City Hunter, Legend of Crystania, Queen Emeraldas, Tekken and Sonic the Hedgehog for ADV Films.He holds a BA (Magna Cum Laude) from NYU, an MFA in Film from Northwestern, and an MBA (With Distinction) from INSEAD. He enjoys playing ice hockey and collecting Balinese art. You can connect via LinkedIn.