Using Animation to Market your Business: 4 Ways to Do It – Austin Visuals Reports
Animation is certainly not new. Many people have been enjoying animated feature length movies for years now. Did you know, though, that animation can also be used for an excellent marketing tool? You don’t have to make something with the quality of a Disney movie, but you can use the talents of an animation studio like Austin Visuals to create various pieces of content that will connect you with your target market.
With as many businesses that are using animation in their marketing efforts, there are a lot of them that aren’t. Which campaigns do you think are the more effective ones? Think about the success of Disney and other companies. This is due in large part to the fact that people love animations. After all, let’s face it – so much marketing content has become stale these days. Animation could be the perfect way to help your business stand out from the crowd.
#1 – Emphasizing your Brand and Appealing to a Wider Audience ( See Video Example Below )
These days, branding is a huge part of marketing. Many companies, like this one, are using animation to portray their brand effectively. Used correctly, animation makes things more engaging and helps your brand appeal to a wider audience.
The example above is from Hellmann’s. This particular company makes mayonnaise. A few years ago, they created this video to call attention to the idea of sustainable living, and they anchored it around their brand. The advertisement tied animation to real life videography. It was a total success. The video was so engaging, it was shared by a huge amount of people.
In terms of branding for Hellmann’s, the video worked wonders. The popularity of the video allowed the company to extend their appeal to audiences that they weren’t previously targeting. The subject of the video helped promote Hellmann’s as a caring, sustainable brand, and the animation itself helped the video appeal to a wider audience. Win-win.
#2 – Instructional and Informational Videos ( See Video Example Below )
Many business models are difficult to understand, especially for the average user. Explaining to your target audience exactly how your service is going to work can be a difficult task. If you can’t hire a celebrity on your budget, you usually have two remaining options: write a long page of text that most people will never read, or you can create an appealing video that not only explains everything in great detail, but also engages your audience in an effective way.
Lots of companies are making use of animation to do this, including the daily deals website Groupon. Take a look at the video above. You’ll see that Groupon created an engaging and well-made animated video that explains exactly how Groupon works. Did you notice something clever about the animation? It reflects well on Groupon’s core identity by using their primary color scheme.
#3 – Making The Uninteresting More Interesting ( See Video Example Below )
Another way that brands use animation in their marketing campaigns is helping make interesting things out of what might be boring things. You might not have realized it, but a lot of brands are doing this already, such as Coca Cola.
Take a look at the advertisement above. Created by the Coca Cola Company, this ad depicts an animated Coke factory. The factory is inside a vending machine, lending a certain amount of whimsy to the process. The man puts his money into the machine, and then the magic of the factory starts for him.
This is a great example of making something interesting out of something boring. Getting a Coke from a vending machine isn’t the most engaging process in the world, but using animation, it’s turned into a magical one. Reflecting well on Coke’s brand, the ad creates an engaging, fun atmosphere that attracts its target audience.
#4 – Animated Infographics
Infographics are not a new thing. But every company with any form of online marketing strategy is creating infographics on a regular basis. They can be a great tool for marketing, but it seems that many of these such graphics being produced are boring. They’re boring, that is, if they’re static.
You might want to try using animated infographics. They are becoming more and more popular these days as they give you a chance to present meaningful information in an even more visual and engaging way than a mere static infographic.
First animation infographics are produced into short videos, and then they are uploaded to YouTube or other video sharing sites. Take a look at the one above. It takes the dry subject of the credit crisis and makes something interesting out of it by liberally using animations. This helps the video author to appeal to a wider range of people.
Conclusion
When it comes to marketing your business, animation can be used in lots of ways. Because people tend to like animation, it thus allows you to convey nearly any message you have in a more engaging and interesting manner.
Alas, most companies don’t invest in animation or animated content. They believe it to be expensive. Truth be told, though, in most cases the costs aren’t that high (and certainly not as high as that of making a live-action ad, as long-time readers of this blog will know). If you can afford to produce a “standard” video for your business, consider making an animated one instead. Odds are, it will yield better results, which is better for your bottom line overall.
At Austin Visuals 3D Animation Studio we specialize in providing the following 3D Animation and Video Services:
- 3D Animation, FX, and 3D Renderings
- Animation, Video Production, and Graphics from concept-to-completion
Contact us Today to request a free quote and to learn more about how Austin Visuals can help you with your business and your 3d animation needs. Austin Visuals can help you save time and many headaches of getting your project off the ground and best of all we make your imagination, reality. Call us today at 512-591-8024 or email us at : [email protected]
