Video content has taken the world of marketing by storm in recent years as media consumption continues to rise at rapid rates globally. This has led business owners and marketers to adopt new marketing strategies in an effort to compete for audience attention to further grow their brands and drive conversion rates. One form of video that is growing in popularity with increasing demand across various industries is animation. Animation has the ability to not only increase engagements but also drive more sales and traffic to websites. Animation has been proven to greatly impact business growth – making them a powerful marketing tool for businesses large and small.
In this article, we will delve into the benefits of animation services and how to choose the right match for your business needs.
Key Takeaways:
- Animation serves various business needs, from explaining products and services to enhancing marketing, training, branding, and product demonstrations.
- Animation boosts engagement on social media, offers cost-effectiveness, saves time in production, helps businesses stand out, and enables creative, limitless storytelling.
- Businesses can hire animation companies to produce animated videos to boost engagements, convey great stories and stand out from their competitors.
What is animation?
If you are new to this, animation is basically an art form that involves creating a series of images and drawings that are then sequenced together to create the illusion of motion. It brings static objects to life by creating the perception of movement, action and change. There are various styles of animation, and the most common ones that we see daily are 2D, 3D and motion graphics animation. Animators are professional artists who are responsible for creating animation. However, animation is seldom produced by just an animator alone. Just like film production companies, animation studios consist of a team that includes a creative director, scriptwriter, character designer, storyboard artist and more.
What are the most common animation styles?
2D Animation
2D animation refers to a traditional style of animation that involves creating the illusion of movement within a two-dimensional space. It is one of the oldest and most classic forms of animation, where characters, objects, and backgrounds are drawn and animated on a flat surface. Some popular examples of 2D animation include classic Disney movies like Snow White and The Little Mermaid, as well as TV shows like The Simpsons and South Park.
Here’s an example of a 2D animated video by SuperPixel for McDonalds Family Mental Wellness Campaign.
3D Animation
3D animation is created using digital models and animation software. 3D characters and objects have height, width, and depth, which allows them to be viewed from any angle. This makes 3D animation more versatile and realistic but may also have a lengthier creation process. Some notable examples of 3D animation include Pixar films like Toy Story and Frozen, as well as DreamWorks films like Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon. In addition, many feature films use 3D animation to create lifelike CGI characters and environments, such as the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, the Avatar and the Robots in Transformers.
Here is Superpixel’s take on a 3D animation example for the Workplace Safety and Health Council campaign video.
Motion Graphics
Motion graphics or sometimes referred to as motion design is a type of animation that adds elements of time and space to static designs in order to produce moving images. At its core, motion graphics is essentially graphic design in movement or better known as animated graphics. Motion graphics primarily focuses on components such as texts, shapes and images to create visually appealing videos. It is also usually coupled with background music and copywriting to really bring the overall video together – creating a satisfying and enjoyable experience for its viewers.
Here is a motion graphics animated video example we created for Aveeno’s product campaign
Whiteboard Animation
Whiteboard animation pretty much speaks for itself – a whiteboard video. It demonstrates the process of drawing static images as well as writing to visually present and communicate information into smaller chunks. Visually, it looks just like watching an artist hand draw content on a whiteboard or a white background in real time. This style of animation is characterised by its simple and straightforward visual approach, making it an effective method for presenting complex concepts or ideas in a visually engaging and easy-to-understand manner.
Here is an example of a whiteboard animation video by SuperPixel
Kinetic Typography Animation
Kinetic typography is really just a fancier and technical term for “moving text”. It is a specific style of motion graphics that focuses on animating text and typography to create visually dynamic and expressive animations. In kinetic typography, the text itself becomes an integral part of the animation, with letters, words, and phrases moving, scaling, rotating, and transitioning in sync with the audio or voiceover. The goal of kinetic typography is to visually enhance the message or narrative conveyed by the text, adding an extra layer of emotion and engagement to the words being presented.
SuperPixel’s example of kinetic typography animation for Singlife App Ecosystem video
The benefits of using animated videos for businesses
Boosts social media engagements
As our attention spans become shorter and shorter, animation services like 2D and 3D animation are an ideal solution for this issue. Undoubtedly, animated videos are appealing to a wider audience – be it children, adolescents or adults, animation can grab a user’s attention seamlessly because of its stunning visuals and entertaining nature.
Hence, users spend more time interacting with your animated video instead of scrolling past it – keeping them watching until the end and retaining user attention. Especially in this social media era that we live in, attention-grabbing videos are more likely to be shared, which increases exposure and ultimately improves your brand awareness.
Cost-effective
Despite popular belief, animations are actually more budget-friendly when compared to live-action videos. This is because live-action productions require real-life actors, set design, camera equipment along with a professional production team in order to produce a high-quality production video.
On the contrary, you will only need to hire an animation video company to create an animated video for your marketing campaigns which will be more cost-efficient and effective. In addition, animations can always be reused and modified without having to start a new one from scratch and repurposed for future marketing campaigns. If you do not have an in-house team to create your desired animated video, you can look for an animation studio to outsource animation services from.
Time-saving
As aforementioned, live-action productions require a lot of effort and resources to produce the final video. This can take a longer duration for planning and completion due to the time spent on the logistics of hiring actors, finding suitable set locations and coordinating calendars. Whereas an animated video will take lesser time to produce, create, edit, customise and upload – saving valuable time and maximising your assets.
Helps your business stand out from the rest
With the saturation of content on the internet, businesses need to constantly look for innovative ways to make a memorable impression and entice potential customers. Video animation has the ability to do that through fun and eye-catching visuals or even through evoking an emotional connection that is relatable. Some might even find video animation to evoke feelings of nostalgia as animations are frequently used in cartoons or childhood films and movies. 3D animation characters are also a great way for businesses to increase brand recognition and recall whilst differentiating your brand from the rest.
Limitless possibilities
Animation allow you to bring whatever ideas and concepts you have in mind to become a reality. There are no limits when it comes to animation – it can be fully customized to breathe life just as how you imagined it to be. You can create your own animated characters, explore your imagination and even make a dog fly – if you can think it, you can animate it.
It is a superb way to enhance marketing campaigns to make them more entertaining and fun. And the best possible light of it all is that you are in control of everything! From controlling every motion to the colour of your characters and even the desired effects that you want – animation services allow for great flexibility throughout the entire production process.
Versatile
If you don’t know it yet, animation is an extremely versatile medium that can be widely used in many different forms. Whether it is for an ad, short film, music video, television series, corporate videos or even for educational purposes – you name it!
Another advantage of using animation is that they can be reused and modified to fit any marketing campaign that you have planned for the future. It just takes a team of animators and professional editing skills to do the trick and you will be able to keep up with the times on all the latest trends you need.
Easily explains complex concepts
Animation primarily uses appealing visuals and sound effects entertainingly in the shortest amount of time – allowing the explanation of complex ideas and concepts to be simple and easily understood. Because it is fun and engaging, information expressed through an animated video is generally easier to digest. Hence, allowing the message of the video to be retained much better in comparison to boring dry videos that require a whole lot of reading.
In addition, animation can help convey messages with an appropriate and informative tone. This is a great approach for when you need to talk about difficult topics or portray distressing visuals that may be too overbearing through live-action videos.
5 ways you can use animation in your business
Explainer videos
An explainer video is short, engaging and probably the easiest way to pitch a product or service to viewers. Explainer videos are often placed on landing pages or a website’s home page to allow first time visitors a quick explanation about what the company offers. This aids in fulfilling a company’s promotion needs whilst simplifying a potential customer’s decision making process. Explainer videos are an effective marketing strategy and is widely used by many companies worldwide to engage with their customers through short and easily digestible videos. Explainer videos acts as a quick overview to a company’s product or service – answering the customer’s questions and delivering significant information in the shortest amount of time possible.
Marketing and advertising
Use animated videos in your marketing campaigns to grab attention and convey your brand message effectively. With beautiful illustrations and effective storytelling, animated videos can be fun, unique and memorable – which is the perfect medium for marketing teams to make use of in this era of video marketing. Animated advertisements or promotional videos are shareable, helping you reach a broader audience and have the greater advantage of capturing the audience’s attention. Whether it’s for social media ads, TV commercials, or online banners, animation can add creativity and visual appeal to your marketing efforts.
Training and Educational Content
Incorporate animation into your training programs and educational materials. Animated tutorials, instructional videos, and e-learning modules can be more engaging and interactive for your employees, customers, or partners. Animation allows you to present information in a visually stimulating way, making learning more enjoyable and effective.
Branding and Logo Animation
Consider creating an animated version of your logo or brand elements. Animated logos can add a dynamic touch to your brand identity, making it more memorable and versatile for various marketing applications. Logo animations can be used in video intros, website headers, social media posts, and other promotional materials. This can give businesses an added edge compared to its competitors as well.
Product Demonstrations
A product demo video is a powerful tool for any type of business because people need to know how a product works and how it can benefit them before making a purchase. Not only do they help with purchasing decisions, they are also excellent tools for customer engagement. In this day of age where the internet is widely accessible, people often rely on product demo videos before making a purchasing decisions. Showcase your products or services using animated demonstrations. Whether you have physical products or digital solutions, animation can illustrate how they work, their benefits, and their unique selling points. Animated product demonstrations can be more visually engaging than static images or text descriptions, helping potential customers understand the value of your offerings
Partner with us for your next animated video | SuperPixel animation studios
Here at SuperPixel Canada Animation Studio, we comprise of a team of professional animators that specialise in creating animated videos from 2D and 3D animated to motion graphics custom designed to suit your business goals. With years of experience in the industry, we have produced hundreds of animation projects for global brands to bring their business to greater heights. Whether you aim to showcase a product, tell a story, or simply grab the attention of your target audience, we can help you bring your visions to life.
If you are still unsure of which type of animation style you would like for your business endeavours, do not hesitate visit our website and contact us today!
Also read: Production House Explained: The Role of Production Companies for Businesses