Digital marketing is evolving exponentially, which means the SEO tactics you put your faith in today, can reach their expiration by tomorrow. This has led marketers to not put all their eggs in traditional SEO strategy basket when they are on the hunt for results.
With ongoing market penetration of smartphones and 4G internet, video is becoming more and more ubiquitous and is nowhere close to slowing down. Visionary marketers realize this and harness the power of video in marketing campaigns, and looking at the results, they can’t help but swear by it.
However, although today video is hailed as the most powerful marketing medium, businesses still dismiss it.
The biggest hurdle that comes in the way of marketers achieving their video marketing goals is the cloud of doubt they have around what it takes to produce it. Most entrepreneurs are under the misconception that the only video they can create is the live-action one and they need to have a Hollywood style budget to achieve it.
Well, let’s face it, with the requirement of costumes, location, professional shooting equipment, etc. a lot does go into shooting a live-action video which makes it very limiting.
However, contrary to popular belief, live-action videos aren’t the only ones that you can leverage when it comes to meeting your marketing goals. Animated videos can be produced in their place, which are not as restricting. You don’t need to worry about having a functional location, hiring actors, renting equipment, etc.
Animated video is a powerful tool in a marketer’s toolbox, excellent for engagement. According to the famous biologist, John Medina, visuals are comprehended 60,000x quicker than text, which gives video a huge advantage over blog posts.
To elucidate, we have an example below:
Which of these two images were you able to process faster?
Additionally, animated videos help you cut through the boring old noise that people with traditionally shot videos create online.
If we still haven’t been able to convince you of the power of animated video, then let’s delve into the points below to change your opinion.
1. Surge your site’s conversion rate
One of the most prominent characteristics of animated videos is that they work wonders when it comes to taking a complicated subject and breaking it into bite-sized chunks. Quite a lot of startups leverage animated videos to explain the concept of a product to the end-users.
Additionally, many people on crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo resort to animated videos to show investors what their product would look like when it comes to fruition.
Moreover, generally, animated videos are below the recommended 90-second mark which is an amazing feature for viewers these days. Precise and succinct videos have the propensity to draw users to click and stay interested till the end.
Studies point out that while having animated videos on a homepage are beneficial, their impact on a landing page is unparalleled. Having an animated video on a landing page increases the chances of a conversion by 80%. Make sure you have a clear CTA button which leads viewers to the landing page and to ensure you achieve your video marketing goals.
2. Keeps viewers interested
Animation isn’t synonymous with sales videos, yet; which is why upon coming across it, viewers don’t instantly shut it down thinking it’s another intrusive ad.
Additionally, animation is a great way to get users excited about your product or service because it evokes conversation and makes people want to learn more.
3. Makes us nostalgic
Animation has the power to bring back memories from the good ol’ days, as typically people associate cartoons with their childhood. Nostalgia plays an important role in keeping the audience hooked because according to studies, nostalgia can singlehandedly combat depression and erase bad memories.
4. Animation works for everything
Whether you want to create an infographic, explainer video or release announcement, you can rely on animation to achieve the best results.
This goes to show why marketing giants such as HubSpot, Video Brewery and Switch Videos leverage animation at such a large scale and out of 50 of their top explainer videos, only 7 are non-animated.
5. Enhance your chances of going viral
Every company wants to combat the barrage of thumb scrolling to create lasting impressions through their content. However, the problem is that there is no exact formula for how marketers can achieve that.
But, by creating quality animated videos and putting them out there, your video will at least be likely to spread throughout the digital landscape.
6. Connect with a larger audience
Although some people are of the view that animated videos are most likely to interest children, and if you think so too, then think about how well The Simpsons and South Park do with adults.
Animation doesn’t necessarily have to be comedy in order to grasp viewer attention. Take the example of Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell, which is a YouTube Channel having only animated video, yet boasting over 3.6 million followers.
Evidently, animated video doesn’t just appeal to children on a Sunday morning. Animation has the tendency to draw users of various demographics.
7. Boost your SEO
Google assists videos uploaded to YouTube to appear as Google search results. This factor is paramount to the SEO of your site. We explain below, why:
Creating sticky content that entices your viewers to spend substantial dwell time on your site is crucial to its SEO, as Google takes into account the amount of time spent on a page when it comes to ranking it. Animated videos, due to their engaging quality are a great step towards improving your site’s SEO.
Secondly, by uploading videos to YouTube and embedding them to your site’s page, you can harness the power of YouTube which is known to be the 2nd largest search engine, today.
Read more: How to Succeed at Video Content Marketing
The Takeaway
Video is king and animation is the brightest jewel in its crown. By harnessing animation, you can reap substantial benefits from it for your business.
