Whenever we mention animation, a surprising amount of people still think of movies like “The Lion King” and “Toy Story”, as opposed to the commercial application. What many people fail to realise is that animation has a vast array of applications. It can be used in marketing, advertisement, education, training, as well as entertainment.
This is why many forward-thinking companies such as Google, Apple, Airbnb, etc utilise animation in their marketing strategy to better connect with their audience.
In this article, we will explore the 7 reasons why businesses should use animation to connect with their audience on a deeper level. So whether you run an independent vegan restaurant, a small non-profit organisation or a large B-Corp certified powerhouse, read on to find out how animation can help you build better connections with your audience.
Before we can make an actual connection with the audience, we first have to catch their attention.
As we all know, there is so much noise out there with endless streams of content. It’s no surprise many entrepreneurs get decision paralysis when it comes to figuring out what they should actually be posting.
So, how do we combat this decision paralysis?
By understanding that what you share has to be deemed informative, interesting or intriguing.
And you know what does a great job at ticking all three?
Animation! The snappy messaging sliding onto the screen, eye-catching characters, and the voice-over/ music guiding them through the story.
All of these elements that animation brings, to the otherwise ordinary content, are the reasons why businesses use animation to grab their audience's attention!
Do you know that animation can also be a powerful learning tool for tech companies?
At first, it might seem like an odd fit - after all, animation is all about making things look fun and exciting, while the world of technology can sometimes be quite dry and serious.
Animation can actually be a great way to explain complex concepts or abstract ideas in an easy-to-understand and digestible way.
Explaining things using blocks of text isn’t going to make it easier for your audience to understand. Whereas, if you incorporate animation and convey it in a visually unique and engaging short story, it’s a lot easier to not only understand but to be engaged with the material.
Let’s be real…. It’s quite hard to sell to your prospects when they don’t understand what problem you solve. Gaining a clear understanding of your audience is crucial when it comes to building an authentic connection.
Here is a great example by Twilio!
Animation is great at getting people to feel things. It can make them laugh, cry, or feel grateful.
This is really important when it comes to marketing, because if you can get your consumers to feel something, then they're more likely to act on that feeling and anchor that emotion to your brand.
Here is an example of an Airbnb animation. This animation does an excellent job of eliciting emotion by telling a powerful story.
Did you know that video content is the most actionable type of content in advertising? You can use animated videos everywhere from posting them on your social media, website, and YouTube pre-roll to paid ads. Well-thought-out video content combined with a good marketing strategy can increase conversion rate by up to 80%!!
Don’t forget, that the emphasis here is the "paired system" of using animated video content with a marketing strategy. Without one or the other, it is much harder to achieve increased conversion rates.
The reality is there are many snake oil salesmen in the video space, who will sell videos to anybody and everybody. As a simple rule to follow...If there isn’t an objective or a strategy driving the investment… Don’t do it. Simple.
Nespresso on ice is a good example of the "paired system":
The animation below was created specifically to promote the Nespresso on Ice campaign.
They not only invested in animation for this campaign but hosted launch events, and used the illustrations from the animation in promotional materials and packaging.
They also encouraged people to tag and use the #nespressoonice and shared the animation on all of their social media platforms.
Yes, they are a big company and have the budget and the means to be able to do something like this. However, it just goes to show that they leveraged that one animation in all aspects of their marketing and that is the best way to increase conversion rate, increase awareness and sales.
Many forward-thinking companies are incorporating animation to display their brand personality (by using their brand colours, fonts and mascots etc.). They use animation in their logo, landing page, social media posts and ads. All of these combined with consistency in their messaging, tell their brand story.
They understand that the better they can tell their story, the better they are going to attract and connect with the right audience. With 93% of marketers saying that video helped them increase their brand awareness, it’s vital that businesses today incorporate video in their marketing strategy.
Here is an example of Apple using animation and live-action video combo to showcase their product whilst seamlessly highlighting their brand.
Culture is very important for modern business.
It can help attract and retain top talent, and it can also be a major selling point for your products or services. But how do you create a company culture that reflects your values and engages your employees?
One way is to use animation.
Animation can not only help you promote your company culture externally but it can also be used to educate employees and customers about new technology or processes that are being installed.
HR or employment-related animation that captures what value the staff bring to the company as a whole and what kind of difference they are making is also a great way to show gratitude and appreciation for their contribution.
Here is an example of Google using animation to highlight their pledge to be carbon-free by 2030 and their plan as a company to help other institutions and organisations also become carbon-free.
I’ll be honest, not sure if they used this video internally but still, it's a great way to show what impact the employees at Google are trying to make!
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the process involved in improving the ranking of your website in organic search results. And animation does a great job at improving your SEO!
One of the things they look at when it comes to ranking is, how the users interact with your site.
So, if the users are browsing and staying on your website for a while, it shows that the site meets the needs of the user. In contrast, if the user doesn’t stick around and quickly leaves, it's a red flag from an SEO ranking point of view.
Put simply, animated video on the landing page hooks the audience and convinces them to stay longer on their website. Studies show that video content improves dwell time by 80% on a web page.
Also, web pages that have video content are 53% more likely to show up on page 1 of search results. This is because when Google picks up that you have video content on your website, it gives significant prominence to this in the search results.
These are just 7 of the many ways forward-thinking organisations are leveraging video.
Animation is a powerful tool that can be used in many different ways to benefit your business. By understanding these benefits of animation, you can start to see how it could help you achieve your business goals.
Are you interested in creating animated video content for your business? Get in touch by booking a discovery call with us! We would love to chat with you about how we could bring your ideas to life using animation.
