One of the most engaging ways to tell your story more completely on social media is to use animated video. According to statistics, a whopping 65% of people learn visually. As much as 90% of all information that is sent to the brain is actually visual as well. Vision is the main and most dominant of all the senses and it uses up to 50% of your brain’s resources according to John Medina who is a molecular biologist. It has also been found that visual data is actually processed significantly faster than words. So, have a look for yourself, which two images is easier and faster for your to understand?
Explainer Videos Convert
Due to this, there is now greater usage of images and other visual type of content on the internet and especially, social media. In the United States, visual content and in particular videos being posted increased by 94%. Currently, Facebook actually has more than 4 billion video streams almost every single day. It is therefore no secret that images are much more powerful since they are more likely to stick in a person’s memory as oppose to things they read. With that said, we will now look at a couple of statistics that will help you see how important it is to use video in any social media marketing strategies.
- When a video is added to a landing page, this can increase how much the product or service converts by as much as 80%
- On the internet, 64% of users have a higher likelihood of purchasing a product after they’ve watched a video on it.
- Half of executives actually search for more data and information on a particular product after they’ve seen that same product on a video.
- Out of all online activity, one third of that is solely people watching videos.
- YouTube has stated that its users actually spend 3 billions hours every month, watching videos on their platform.
If you’re not currently using video as a part of your own marketing strategy, then you should definitely start.
Why Use Animated Video?
Since there are so many videos being produced, it can be very challenging for companies to cut through all of that and get the attention of viewers. There is nothing worse than having another explainer video or even a talking head video. These types of videos are not engaging at all and they won’t work. As a result, Video animation is definitely a much better option.
Content Marketing
As we have stated above, consumers prefer to watch video instead of reading hundreds or thousands of words. A result of this, videos are now being used more in content marketing as well as in lead generation. Remember, there are lots of people who are not interested in talking to marketing or salespeople. When there is a video or animation in a sales funnel, it can be a great tool in converting people into real customers.
A lot of experimentation needs to be done to find out the most effective type of videos to use in specific situations. For example, some video options include actors, talking heads, CGI, animation etc. You will also need to determine how to add hooks, cool introductions and even calls to action throughout the video. With that said, out of all the types of videos mentioned, animation has been found to be quite superior.
Some reasons why animated videos are better include:
They Hold Attention
We all know that most users on the internet have extremely short attention spans. As a result, you have a very limited amount of time before they click away. However, animation type videos are extremely powerful at stirring up strong emotions that truly motivates viewers. It actually helps to create conversations and makes people want to keep on watching and following the story. Additionally, most people these days are accustomed to intrusive type ads. Now, they don’t even register these ads. However, animation is not used as much in marketing and as a result, it is a lot more effective. This makes users more likely to watch animated videos as oppose to typical ads. For example, you may be familiar with Google Doodles which are adorable animations that most people can’t help but click on.
Animation Is Great For Breaking Down Difficult Topics
Next, animation is capable of doing what text and other live videos can’t do. In an animation, you can create all kinds of characters, make them talk and do things such as go back and forth through time etc. So, due to this huge amount of flexibility, you can easily break down complex topics and show exactly how they work. Vebu, A Video Animation production agency believe animated production has been on the rise because of this.
One fantastic example of this the use of animation for TED-Ed. If you’re not familiar with this, simply check them out on YouTube. This channel has more than 3 million subscribers and is an extremely popular channel that is dedicated to education. The majority of the videos on this channel are animated videos. They use animations to simplify lots of complex topics such as the how food affects the brain, the physics of surfing and much more.
Animations Help To Jog Memories
If you’re like most people, then you probably watched cartoons when you were a kid and you now think back on those times as the best of your life. Animations have a similar effect since they actually make use feel nostalgic. This is a very powerful emotion and it actually helps to remove negative emotions as well as reduce depression. As a result, nostalgia is a very powerful tool that can be used in marketing.
Animated Video Is Fun
Next, most people like entertainment even when they are looking at a business or educational video. So, if you can make your video as entertaining as possible and share it on social media, YouTube, Facebook etc, you will get a lot more views. Animation in itself, actually makes a video much more entertaining.
If you want inspiration, then be sure to check out this animated video that was made by the Motion Authors on a Lumberjack Party. Once your animated video starts getting attention and goes viral, then it will spread like wildfire.
Suitable For Anything
Animation can be used for just about anything when it comes to marketing. This includes announcements, infographics, explainer videos and more. Many marketers from some of the most popular brands understand this and make use of it. If you look at the videos being produced by companies such as HubSpot, Switch Video etc, the majority of them are animated.
Cheap To Make
Next, another reason why you should create animated videos for social media is because they are cheaper to product than live videos. Remember, making live videos would require you to spend thousands of dollars as you would need to hire actors, director, props, film staff, editors etc. However, when you have an animated video made, this will cost a small fraction of that.
The Power Of Video Marketing
The majority of internet traffic in the world is due to video and in 2019, this was found to be 80%. With 90% of customers saying videos help make buying decisions It is no secret that video will soon completely dominate the web now going in to 2021. This will soon become the main medium in which people access information. Be sure to look at the infographic on the future of video.
Animated Videos Tools That You Can Use
Animatron
This is an animated video maker that is free to use online. You can easily create your own animations and use many of their pre-animated objects in their marketplace. This particular tool uses HTML5 technology which ensures that the animations you make can be easily played on any type of browser or device.
Animoto
Next, you can use this particular tool to make videos from pictures. There are numerous templates and you can select your style as well as add your pictures and informational text. The cheapest package is $8 per month but there is a 14 day trial so you can try it out for free.
If you’re very serious about making animated videos, then you should look at the best HTML5 tools that are capable of creating advanced animated videos.
Using Animation For Social Media Strategy
With all that we’ve covered so far, you should definitely see how useful animation is and why you should use it on your social media. However, there are a couple of things you need to consider in order to make your animated video strategies a raving success.
Keep It Short
It is important to keep your animated videos short, especially when they are for Facebook. Facebook videos are typically 10x shorter than the videos on YouTube. If you want to see an example of short videos for Facebook, then check out Tasty by BuzzFeed. Their videos are all very short and sweet and they grab your attention from the start. This particular brand is not using animation, but you can still learn from them and their strategy. They do have 30 million subscribers and followers on Facebook, so they are definitely worth learning from.
Autoplay
The majority of videos that are seen in the NewFeed typically start up automatically. Therefore, you need to get people’s attention immediately. You also need to remember that these videos are set to start playing silently. Therefore, you should focus on visuals and not just the sound. As a result, animation can definitely work very well.
Feel Good
It is important that when you make videos for social media that you remember that your videos will be seen alongside content that is solely from that person’s friends and family members such as family photos, status updates etc. So, once you remember this, you should make video that is interesting and appealing to this specific audience. Therefore, you should create videos that make people feel good about themselves as they will typically share this type of content.
Different Social Media Platforms Require Different Video Types
It is no secret that different social media is for different purposes. For example, Facebook is for friends and family whereas YouTube is more educational. Twitter is great for engaging with people and celebrities. Snapchat is great for making short cool videos and getting attention. Keep this in mind when creating videos and ensure that you make different videos for different social media sites.
Attempt To Animate Different Content
Even though video is the most popular, you should not only share videos on your accounts. Other popular content include infographics, why posts, lists etc.
You can try to make animated infographics on trending topics etc. The point here is to be experimental and see what works and what doesn’t.
In Summary…
Video is extremely powerful and animated videos are definitely not to be missed. This may be exactly what your business needs to implement in order to get more attention, engagement and sales.
