Using animated videos for online marketing

There are all sorts of names for it – explainer videos, corporate video, marketing videos, animated web videos…. cartoons for your company – I prefer to call them animated videos! But, whatever you call them, their popularity in digital marketing strategy is growing.

Once animation was limited to those with massive six figure production budgets, but current technology means you no longer need a big studio or access to television broadcast channels to create and distribute animation.

In theory, anyone can have one written, designed, storyboarded and produced tailored to your marketing needs.

Four major reasons to use animation in your marketing

1) Increased conversion rates – 64%- 85% of people are more likely to purchase after watching a product video. And, on average, people will stay 2 minutes longer on your website when engaged with a video (Internet Retailer 4/2010 / Comscore 8/2010).A video on the landing page of your site will save visitors time clicking and reading through your website. You have a chance to grab their attention and communicate using a powerful mix of pictures, motion, text, voice, sound effects and music in a short amount of time. It’s an efficient use of time and condenses information in several forms of media. Read more about the power of video and why you should be using it in this article.

2) Google owns You Tube, so a presence on You Tube, and embedding video on your site, gives you a 53x higher likelihood of a Google front-page search result (Forrester, 1/2010).You can also add keyword tags to your You Tube videos. For example, adding the keywords “hire freelance animator” into my You Tube videos resulted in commissions for projects from clients who discovered my business through these videos.

3) Free Range Studios has created several animated videos that have gone viral and had this to say; “…there’s no guaranteed recipe for big numbers on a video campaign. What you can do is make sure you’ve got a solid idea/story/message; a clear understanding of your target audience; an action step or ‘ask;’ a great outreach plan to pound the ether-pavement and get folks ready for your launch.”So, although you shouldn’t simply upload your video, sit back and expect people to start sharing without any other form of promotion – it can be a powerful and unexpected part of your marketing campaign.

4) Video saves time in creating and delivering Powerpoint presentations – Once you’ve created an animation, make the most of it and use it offline too. Animation can enhance presentations, pitches and meetings by helping to explain and promote your business. It’s a great conversation point and useful for networking. I have all my animation available offline on my phone, iPod and tablet. So, if I ever get into a conversation with someone about what I do, I can whip out a device and show them. My animated videos have generated as many leads as my business cards.

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