How Animation Plays an Increasingly Valuable Role in Digital Marketing
As an Art Director and Animator, helping brands visually communicate their stories through motion has always been a passion of mine. In today’s digital marketplace, the use of animation has become increasingly more relevant and useful, especially over the past few months where restrictions due to COVID have made traditional live action video production very difficult or costly.
Once used as supplementary messaging elements, now you will find animation plays a primary role in helping a brand tell its story or sell its products and services.
Here are three ways animations can play a primary role in your marketing initiatives:
Breaking Down Complex Ideas
I’ve always believed it’s better to show rather than tell, and there’s no greater example of this than with digital animation. Complex ideas and detailed concepts that would take paragraphs to explain, can be visually portrayed in mere seconds of cleverly crafted animation and motion graphics.
It’s a much more immersive and impactful experience when a user can physically see topics explained through sensory details and actions. Actual cause and effect scenarios are much more easily comprehended when they’re illustrated and put into motion.
For this reason, animation serves a tremendously valuable purpose when explaining abstract concepts or difficult to understand processes. Here’s an example of an animation I created for Precision Medical, a respiratory care and device manufacturer, to help explain how their Portable Oxygen Concentrators work. We were able to simplify the complex and abstract process of oxygen purification using clear visuals and engaging characters, a much more effective approach than written word alone.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un6ZYJwi7PM
Reinforcing Your Brand Identity
Animation can offer your brand an important resource for reinforcing your brand identity. Through rich visuals and consistent use of brand color and voice you are able to tell your story and build valuable equity with your customers.
Many top brands use animation as a technique to gain awareness and build customer affinity. Airbnb created this clever and impactful animation to provide their customers with an explanation of their logo update. It’s a powerful vehicle for brand exposure and helps people connect with the brand on a more emotional level.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMITXMrrVQU
They’re Extremely Versatile
Businesses are always looking to boost the ROI of their marketing dollars. As shown above, animation has many different uses in digital marketing. From product promotion and sales to educational purposes, you can find countless practical uses for digital animation in your business.
Animation also proves to be a fantastic investment when you consider the reusability factor. Digital animations can be repurposed in multiple ways, including social graphics, other animations, website content, blog posts, and other sharable assets.
And of course, animation as an alternative to traditional live action video production can save you a lot of time and money simply due to the fact all the production can be done completely remotely and digitally.
We recently completed a promotional video animation for Blue Ridge Communications’ HomeFi service. This particular animation used a blend of live action footage, illustration, and photography to create an engaging commercial. A lot of effort, time, and money was saved during this process since a majority of the scenes were created digitally, eliminating the need for location scouting, production crews, and days of shooting.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPg0sahUMZQ
In Conclusion
Animation can be a foundational element of a business’s digital marketing efforts. It provides tremendous value due to its ability to explain complex topics, reinforce brand identity, and provide cost-saving versatility.
I’m extremely grateful to be part of this design discipline and highly encourage others to learn about digital animation and its many benefits.
