Ultimate Guide to Maximizing Animation in Marketing

Video marketing is one of the business trends lately, but what type of video content should you put out there? Rather than just the traditional two-dimensional graphics with bold text, you can take on a new approach through animation. In this way, you can advertise your products or services in a trendy and attractive way. 

What is animation? 

Animation is a photographic successive drawing technique to create a movement illusion sequence. It’s fun, engaging, and attractive to audiences mainly when applied to your marketing strategy. With numerous types of animation at your disposal, you will eventually find the perfect marketing animation that you would like to apply to your marketing campaigns. 

5 Main Types of animation

Traditional Animation.  Also known as cell animation or hand-drawn animation, this type is wherein each object or character is drawn frame by frame. A famous example is the original movie of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Disney Studios.

      

Source: Living Lines Library 

2D Animation. This animation type is defined as creating movement in a two-dimensional space. Furthermore, 2D animation differs from traditional one since animators have the option to create a rig or virtual skeleton that allows characters to move. With this, animators can move the body parts individually instead of drawing the character repeatedly. A great example of 2D animation is Google’s Project Sunroof video. 

 

Source: Screengrab from “Introducing Project Sunroof” YouTube video 

3D Animation. 3D animation, also called CGI (computer-generated imagery) is the most used type of animation today. This differs from 2D because 3D creates an illusion that the object is moving in three-dimensional space while manipulating three dimensions (height, width, and length). Whereas 2D manipulates only the length and width. A well-known example of a three-dimensional advertisement from Coca-Cola.

 

Source: Screengrab from “Coca-Cola - Happiness Factory (2006, Netherlands)” YouTube video 

Motion Graphics. This type of animation essentially means animated graphic design with text as the main feature. Motion graphics involve making images with typography, then manipulating them in time and place to convey a message. An example would be a YouTube video by Google about their app icon updates.

 

Source: Screengrab from “Let’s show a little design love for Google Workspace” YouTube video 

Stop Motion. Stop motion is an animation type where a photo of an object is taken repeatedly to give the animated figure an impression of movement. This is a technique that brings static characters such as clay figures or images to life on screen. Some samples are Starbucks’ stop motion posts on Instagram.

 

Source: Starbucks Instagram account 

Why use animation in marketing? 

In line with animation, a video form of marketing shows effective results: 

• An 800% increase was seen in global watch time of ad-supported and purchased feature-length movies in 2020 (Think with Google) 
• Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video format (Invisia) 
• 64% of customers are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video about it (Forbes) 
• 88% of consumers claim that watching a brand’s video persuaded them to purchase a good or service (Wyzowl) 

The animation market has cemented its place all over the world: 

• In 2021, the global animation market size increased by 5% to over 372 billion U.S. dollars (Statista) 
• The animation market is projected to reach USD 530.19 Billion by 2030 (Verified Market Research)
• The global 3D Animation market size is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.2% between 2022- 2028 (Digital Journal) 

How to Use Animation for Marketing 

• Explainer videos 

This can help the audience understand your services more, by stating the problem, finding the solution, and a CTA in the end. Furthermore, you can cement your expertise in the industry, which is easily digestible to the viewers. 

• Promotional videos 

You can branch out rather than just stick to plain, text, or usual static graphics. Make your marketing strategy more interesting to the viewers’ eyes through animation.  

• Email campaigns 

Having an initial email with a video receives an increased CTR of 96%. With this, you can also attach videos to make it pop and attractive to the receivers. 

• Brand animation 

To make your brand stand out from the crowd, you can make a short, animated video about your company. This is flexible and can be put anywhere from your website to your social media pages. 

• Sales Pitch 

A sales pitch is a sales presentation that explains the nature and benefits of your business, product, or service. To keep your prospects interested and grab their attention, a short, well-designed animated sale pitch would just be the key. 

 

Benefits of Animation in Marketing 

Online videos had an audience reach of around 92% among internet users worldwide. This is why videos for marketing like animated Instagram reels or Facebook videos can help your business. Animated videos for marketing can help you to interact with your social media audience regardless of the demographic. Here’s how animated videos for marketing benefit your business: 

1. Relay messages effectively 

Even complex information can be turned into bite-sized pieces with the help of animation. It is a great way to educate your viewers as this helps them understand complex topics in an easy-to-digest format. Moreover, it keeps their attention at bay with fun and mesmerizing animation. 

 

2. Helps build customer trust and loyalty 

Any business should invest in taking care of their customers. Since the video has proven to instill emotions toward the viewers, it’s important to give out the correct feeling you want to portray as clearly as possible. By providing animated videos with positive emotions, it sets the thinking of the customers that the brand cares for them. 

3. Stand out from the competitors 

Through animation, your marketing aligns with the current trends, modernizes your brand, and thus develops an edge among competitors. Combining creativity and business objectives with animation, whether a brand introduction or GIF can greatly help your brand. Furthermore, the edge would make your business an innovative-centered company. 

4. Timeless marketing 

This creative form of marketing can be recycled and shared across many platforms. Animation videos can still bring out good impacts even on future campaigns.  

 

5. Attracts customers and prospects 

Audiences either online or in-person prefer more than ever visuals rather than text. Visually stunning animation would keep your customers interested and encourage sales.  It is entertaining and fun, while at the same time connecting with your audience. 

Therefore, plan and settle on your marketing ideas and visualize on how you want to present them through animation. An animated video can attract customers, inform them about their product, and eventually guide them on how to get or buy what you’re selling. Jump into the animation marketing trends and see positive results.

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Animation , Marketing-animation