How Animated Videos Can Help To Promote Your Business

Why Animation Videos Are So Popular?

Animation is not all about just children’s pictures and something that you fool around with at some point in your lifetime. It has been found that animation, if used properly, can bring about great success for a business.  The use of animation in digital marketing sphere has shown promising results in recent years.

Another reason why the current popular trend of animated videos is set to grow is only due to high-speed Internet and its market penetration.

An animated video presents information on the screen using colourful graphics and engaging motion. Industry gurus opine that with animated videos the marketing possibilities are endless.

Many companies of different sizes and types are all getting on the bandwagon of using animated videos as part of their online marketing strategies.

Animated videos are used extensively by the more established companies to explain how their products or services work. So much so, even start-ups with limited budgets are foraying into the world of animated graphics to promote their business and are viewing it as an integral part of their business strategy. Read on to find out why you can use animated videos to promote your business.

1. People are visual learners

It is a known fact that of 65% of people can learn more by viewing pictures, that is, they are visual learners. Over 90% of information that reaches the brain is visual in nature. Visual information that reaches the brain is processed faster than any other type and can  understand easily.

For all of these reasons, there has come about a noticeable increase in the video content that is streamed through social media and the Internet.

The fact that Facebook streams an average of over 4 billion videos in a day bears evidence to this fact. In short, pictures and videos are more remembered in people’s minds than just text.

2. Animated videos can be produced quickly

Many companies, even today, think that only large corporations with big budgets sell their products through the online video channel. It is true that live action video, in addition to a substantial budget, has all the ingredients depending on outside influences: shooting the video, actors, wardrobes of the actors, and location to shoot the scene.

It needs more equipment to create. The end video can, therefore, make or break the message that you intend to spread to your prospective clients.

However, it should be understood that live action video is not the only way in which you can make your customers understand about your product or service. Animated videos can be created quickly in a definite and controlled environment.

The tools are available within your organization and there is a total control of the final product. It works out cheaper and it is possible to deliver the message that you want your audience to see and understand in a powerful manner using an animated video.

3. Animated videos can help to improve your Google ranking

One of the metrics that Google uses to rank websites is the amount of time that a user spends on the site. The average website user is known to spend only 10 or a maximum of 20 seconds if no other reason compels him/her to stay further. If the visitor leaves the website within a few seconds, your Google ranking can be affected.

An animated video can do help to improve the rankings. Animated videos are entertaining, educative and fun to watch. The chances are very high that a visitor to the website will watch an animated video that is playing on the landing page of your website before leaving the site.

It is estimated that for a site having animated videos, the website average time for a visitor is found to increase from 8 seconds to about 2 minutes.

4. Animated Videos can help to increase conversion rates

According to surveys that have been conducted, over 85% of respondents admitted that they have ended up buying a product after seeing an animated video that explained the use of the product.

More than keeping the visitors at the website for longer periods, they help to convert prospective clients into customers. In this light, it is important to note that the videos should be created in the most exciting and innovative manner for conversions to increase.

5. Animated videos can go viral

Most animated videos are made with characters that represent prospective clients. They are made in such a way that they are informative as well as entertaining.

If the video is something that they can relate to, the level of engagement is high. It is possible that they will share it with like-minded friends.

The video can then go viral and this directly translates to a huge exposure and an increase in the number of new prospective clients. The increase in the amount of interest brings along more business growth and sales.

The best stories are when the customers-to-be form the stars. Always project the company as a supporting character in the video.

6. Animated videos serve to draw the viewer’s attention

Animations with the right mix of movements and colours can draw the viewer’s attention and keep them hooked on to the movie. The story-telling techniques that are employed also play an important part.

Visual aids are proven to be more persuasive (43% more) than verbal attempts to persuade. Animated videos have both the audio and visual communication that significantly enhances perception.

7. Animated videos are easy to understand

The characters and elements in an animated video are combined in such a way that the most complex data and concepts in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. The best part is that the simple format is easy for the viewer to remember.

The characters in an animated movie can be made to act in any manner for you. They can fly, speak, sing or dance to convey your message to the audience.

Animated Videos can be used to highlight the key points of your product or service in an effective manner. They put across important matter across to the audience in a matter of few minutes which otherwise would have taken hours to read and understand. The recommended length for an animated movie to advertise your product is 90 to 120 seconds.

8. Animated videos are economical

Animated video is one of the cheapest ways that you can use to promote a product or a service that your business offers. All it needs is the creativeness of a team that will put together an idea using animation skills.

Animated videos are not very expensive to create and are seen to provide optimal ROI and lead conversion rates for just about any business (an increase of about 80%).

Animated videos need not be updated as frequently as live-action videos as they remain fresh for longer periods unlike the latter.

9. Animated videos help you to stay ahead of the pack

A good-quality animated video is what can make you beat the competition. A high-quality video places you in the market as an innovative and futuristic company and sets you apart from the rest of the pack.

10. Animated videos are a great way of engaging with customers

People all over the world watch videos every day. It is estimated that over one-third of the time that an individual spends online is for watching videos. Therefore, making use of animated videos is seen as one of the best ways to catch the attention of a prospective customer.

It can be considered as the very first step in making a sale. Therefore, making use of content that engages the audience is crucial to make your product or service a success.

11. Animated videos help to improve SEO

Google loves animated videos as much as your prospective clients. As Google rankings improve when you place videos on your website, it is also a good way to improve your SEO and  your website to rank higher in Google’s search listings. This is one major reason why animated videos are being used more.

If you host your animated video on YouTube and embed these on your website, you can do a smart job of including keywords in the video andaccording to statistics, the chances of your video making it to the first page of Google search listings increases by over 50 times.

#12: Animated videos appeal to everyone

Animated videos appeal to a much larger group than just children. Many animated videos boast of millions of subscribers (e.g., Kurzgesagt in YouTube).  Animated videos do not promote any specific race, age, religion or nationality.

This is important for your business because the whole world is the market for your online business. Therefore it needs to appeal to everyone and reach different demographic groups, cultures and races.

13. Animated videos are helpful tools that aid in building your brand

Animated videos give your business fantastic opportunity to build a brand. The creative team that builds the video can incorporate brand images, logos and colours of your business into the video every time. They can even build a series of videos that will help to place the brand successfully in the market.

In the light of the above discussions, the reasons why an online business owner would want to make animated videos on board the marketing campaign are as follows:

  • They pave way for increased sales
  • They serve to increase conversions
  • They improve search engine rankings
  • They put forth easy-to-remember marketing messages
  • They keep up the customer engagement
  • They reduce the consultations because of a better understanding of how the product/service works
The Bottom Line

If you are a business owner and you have not added animated videos as part of your marketing strategy, it is time to get started now. There are cloud-based programs that help to create animated videos quickly and easily with simple tools that can be used to drag and drop figures.

More than 64% of prospective clients are likely to buy a product online after watching videos and that over 50% of viewers are looking for more information about a product or a service after watching a video should be reasons enough to get started.

How Much Does It Cost to Make a Promotional Video

A promotional video has inherent great worth in it. Those appear genuine as characters in them display real facial expressions and body language.

The dialogue of the characters in the video simply adds meaning and power to the ideas behind the creation of the product. Lending the product a bit of candor, the promotional videos lend credence to the concepts of utilities in the product.

More often than not, promotional videos are most effective in giving detailed product demonstrations. Moreover, the videos have proven their mettle in engaging the attention of the viewers.

As entertainment and educational values are ingrained in them, the videos are great marketing tools.

As the videos are really persuasive, the messages in the products and services stay etched in the minds of the customers forever.

Making a commercial video includes several types of costs.

Let’s make a list of them.

  • Cost of camera
  • Selection of location and cost involved
  • Fees of models or actors
  • Post production costs

Although the above costs would vary from case to case, there are certain factors that influence the costs. Let’s know them one-by-one.

Script and the idea behind it

“Ideation” or generation of an idea is the most important part of making of a promotional video. For this, a creative script writer could literally cast a magic spell through an interesting script. Usually, a good idea leads to compilation of a good script.

A witty script writer simply transforms the idea to an interesting script. A good script writer could charge between 4000 to 10000 rupees. For a commercial video, a good script is the first stepping-stone for making a successful commercial video.

Shooting of the video project

Cost of transportation

This part of the making of the commercial video is the costliest. It has many things that simply add to the piling of the expenses. Let’s begin with the cost of transportation.

The production houses charge 20 to 30 rupees per kilometer. They could even charge a fixed amount for the same.

Cost of camera

The cost of camera with the operator could cost an additional expense of 20,000 to 30,000 rupees in a day. This amount is applicable for a commercial in a national television.

But if the commercial video is being made for a local television or simply for a cable network, the complete all inclusive costs could come to 30,000 rupees.

Cost of additional equipment

Besides the above, the producer would have to incur additional types of costs, such as charges for track and trolley, chains and jibs, and lights etc.

Actors and models & their fees

The popularity of actors and models plays decisive part in the cost of making promotional videos. When the advertiser makes up his mind to hire popular models and actors, it certainly adds to the cost of video. If the budget for the promotional video is less, the producer could opt to hire new faces in the industry.

While the budding actresses or models would, of course, work for the producer for a paltry sum of five or ten thousand rupees, the fees of the established models or actors could come in huge amounts. Nowadays, successful television actors charge whopping amounts for their roles in the videos.

Post-production expenses

Usually, the making of a video goes through three phases, such as pre-production, production, and post-production. Editing matters the most in the aftermath of production.

The video production companies could charge up to 5000 rupees per hour for editing the video.

In some cities in India, the production companies charge 2000 to 3000 rupees for editing the video. In case the producers include motion graphics or animations, the expenses for editing even could go higher.

2D & 3D Promotional videos- a new dimension in product’s marketing

As new technology is breaking ground, 2D & 3D animation technology helps a lot to showcase products in concise and clear way.

As multi-media and video animation services are now going through a boom time, the animated videos could literally bring revolution in products’ marketing.

Moreover, animation videos are literally wonderful to explain products and concepts or ideas in the marketability of services.

To add to it, the videos are fully entertaining and those have the versatility to deliver the messages to the core audience.

No need to hire models, actors, and select location and props-great advantage in cost

The promotional videos made with the help of 2D and 3D technology have great advantages in the cost of its production. Those are as follows;

  • The advertisers could create animated videos by completely adhering it to the brand guidelines.
  • In case of necessity, the advertiser could make such videos without hiring actors and models.
  • As locations and props add great expenses to the making of promotional videos, those are not even necessary, when videos have the applications of 2D and 3D technology.
  • Last but not least, the making of 2D and 3D promotional videos could take place completely through in-house productions.
Other benefits of 2D Animated Video
  • As business houses functions in stiff competition, brand building has now become tougher. Invariably, the business leaders look for means for simple but effective business promotion. A 2D animation video works in a simpler way, establishing a quicker rapport with the customers.
  • The moving objects and characters in the 2D animation video literally work wonders by keeping the viewers engrossed for longer periods.
The power of 3D Animated Video- simply unbelievable
  • The integration of 3d promotional video could integrate an immediate sense of production value as it has proven its mettle for adding a sense of depth and special effects of lighting. With apt movement of camera in 3D technology, the video seems to acquire a new high of professionalism.
  • The 3D animation not only adds dynamic movement to the video but also makes the video clip colorful with varying compositions. As a result, the transitions in the video could easily catch the attention of the viewers and convince them to buy the products and services.

 

10 Distinct Benefits of Outstream Video Ads

As digitization steps in with its innumerable benefits, social media has grown by leaps and bounds. At this crucial point of time, marketing strategies are fast evolving new changes that could bring richer dividends.

Out-stream videos are the latest in this trend to bring in a new type of ad format, which would allow the publishers to display their video ads at different places in the content. Such videos appear in text line or in the web-page corners.

Although, out-stream videos have not gained massive popularity, the usage has now increased rapidly. As the publishers felt hurdles in the past in the creation of ads for the users, out-stream videos have brought a new lease of life, which would benefit both users and advertisers.

Let’s know about ten distinct benefits of out-stream videos.

Out-stream Videos ads- most dependable independent units

Out-stream videos work as independent units without becoming introduction to another video. For this, various distinguished publishers such as Mashable and Rolling Stone have begun using out-stream ads through in-read formats. What does it actually mean? Let’s understand.

When someone is going through an article, he or she would be able to watch an auto-play video. When the reader scrolls down the video, it simply leaves his or her area of vision. It also gives the reader another advantage to unmute the video in case he wants to listen.

Highest monetization of sites- a distinct advantage

Out stream ads allow publishers to monetize their sites without pestering the readers, which is a striking advantage. Moreover such ads have the catchy and cool formats with proven utilities to reach middle ground and bestow opportunity on the publishers to monetize their sites.

With these utilities, such videos would become immensely popular in the world of online video advertising in the upcoming years.

Unique positioning of ads in the editorial content – capable of running in any device

Out-stream ads have great innovative formats, which could position the video advertising in the center of the editorial content. Once the reader gets it inside his vision, the video begins playing. But it starts pausing, once it is less than 50% visible.

And it merges continuously back into the web-page as the reader completes viewing the content. The other distinct advantage of such videos is that it could run in every device, browser, and operating system without any problem.

Best usage in mobiles- handy and convenient

As research has shown already, highest number of readers prefers to read content via cell phones, out-stream ads run excellently on the mobile phones, especially on smart-phones.

Normally people spend more time in looking at the videos in their smart-phones, the out-stream videos have proven their efficacy.

Out-stream ads- more contextual and less insidious

As the customers have always felt that such videos appear almost like organic content, those are not invasive and naturally related to content.

It gives the liberty to the readers to view completely or partially and this advantage certainly adds worth to the overall content presentation, while adding value to the information presented in it.

Publishers enjoy out-stream ads the most- popular with brands, bloggers, and traditional media

Nowadays, all types of brands, bloggers, and traditional media have begun using out-stream video. As earlier, the readers were habitually going through grey text, addition of multicolored videos makes the content visual friendly and for this reason, the readers like to stay on the page for longer time.

Out-stream videos add dimension to story-telling- a new dimension to learning

Such videos have altogether added a new dimension to story-telling. It gives the readers alternative ways to explore. Making the information accessible to every learner, who is having problems such as lower reading skills, shorter spans of attention, and vision impairment, such ads have proven their mettle in the world of online advertising.

New way of presenting information- publishers’ delight

As the publishers have forever looked for ways to present information, out-stream videos have proven their worth in this area.

Just think of the online cooking videos, those are really great sources of passive learning. Watching such videos really adds fun as it is sometimes boring to browse a written recipe.

Unique solution for the marketing needs- complete engagement of audience

Out-stream impressions are completely unique as solutions because those do not come attached to any other content. Unlike You Tube ads, which begin even before the commencement of the videos, the out-streamed ads appear alone in the placement of ads in the articles of the websites.

This endows unique benefits on the ads to grab the attention of the audience, while the ads do not interrupt the viewing experience of the readers.

The advertisers have always found that such ads give great opportunities for their marketing needs. They have opined that such ads give them real opportunities to buy video solutions programmatically as those give better satisfaction to users.

Simply speaking, the business houses find the buying experiences of such ads extremely satisfying as their customers feel less disrupted, while they go through the content of the article.

Behavioral targeting-easier by out-stream ads

The out-stream ads enable the publishers to keep a list of videos to meet the rising demands of people, who want to place good but related ads in their content.

This helps the publishers to make the behavioral study of particular group of users and guides them to identify new chunks of essential users.

The following are the three distinct advantages that out-stream videos certainly bestow on the publishers and readers;

  • Improvement in viewing of a content
  • Better rate of clicking on the ads
  • Greater versatility in the placement of ads in the article

As a result more than 70% of advertisers and 77% of the agencies have found the out-stream ads to be uniquely effective and essential for their purposes.

Literally, such videos have brought a halt to search for new formats for making of videos that could enrich their efforts for developing engaging videos.

 

 

15 Social Media Trends You Should Focus in 2018

Long gone was the time when social media is used only to share your pictures of vacation or honeymoon.

Even though, that trend still remains, nowadays, social media is used by many brands to promote their items.

Brands have chosen social media as a channel to promote and endorse their products because people 24*7 check on portable devices such as mobile to browse and more time is spent on social media.

If people have any frustrations or dissatisfaction with any of the brands, they express their emotions on social media.

Mostly people search on social media to get ideas about new brands.

More brands are using social media to build relationships with their customers which will help them to create loyalty towards their brands.

Let’s take a look at the social media trends you should focus in 2018.

1. Ephemeral Content

The phenomenon of Ephemeral content is introduced by Snapchat. Wondering about what exactly is that?

The content which user has created vanishes after 24 hours and followers only have that limited time period to view that content.

Snapchat pioneered this phenomenon but Instagram copied that idea and introduced it as Instagram Stories.

Each month more than 200 million people are using Instagram Stories; which is more than 50 million of Snapchat users.

If it’s continuing by this rate, by the end of 2018, more than half of Instagram users will be using Stories.

Since launching the Instagram Stories, the average time per day spent by users on Instagram has increased to 28 minutes.

This is definitely 7-13 minutes more time spent before introducing Stories.

Each month, stories feature is actively used by more than 1 million advertisers.

The advantage of using stories for brands is that any Instagram user can see your brand stories even if they are not following you.

2. Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is one of the best ways for the companies to get connected with next generation audiences.

World famous companies such as Rolex, The North Face, and HubSpot have made huge profits by making use of influencer marketing .

On the other hand, companies who have used traditional marketing strategies struggled to get connected to social media users.

This clearly indicates that 2018 is definitely a year for influencer marketing to bloom.

3. Understand Learning Styles

When you are trying to build and enhance personalized experience and categories for your targeted customers, you need to take an extra care in understanding learning styles.

Learning styles indicates the pattern how each people learn and process information is different.

The way you handle different learning styles on social media must be different.

Social Media Learning Styles from Nan Ross

4. Generation Z or Gen Z

This is one important area to focus more in 2018. Generation Z or Gen Z is more valuable to brand owners because this group is influenced more by the social media than they are by other sales and discounts.

Gen Z is also known as Post-Millennials, iGeneration, or Homeland Generation which includes freshly passouts from colleges who will enter corporate life or have already entered.

As they enter into workforce, their buying capacity also increases.

More than 80% of Gen Z says that they spend at least one hour in watching videos. This in turn will make more influencers move towards the brands.

Influencer marketing is an instant hit among Gen Z as they deliver 11 times Return On Investment (ROI) over other usual digital media channels.

5. Live Streaming

Live streaming was one of 2017’s top marketing trends and it will continue the same in 2018 as well.

Videos are always preferred over photos. In comparison with photos, Facebook videos get more than 135% of views.

Brands stream live videos on social media platforms which helps them dramatically to increase user engagement and followers.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms offer in-app live video streaming which help them in creating more user engagement.

6. Chatbots

Chatbots is a software application which is used to interact with customers; usually it adopts texual conversations with users.

Already, Facebook messenger have more than 100,000 active bots on a monthly basis. These chatbots have helped in increasing prodictivity of the organization up to 3.5 times.

More than 60% of Millenials says that they have already used chatbots in their business and other 71% wants to try hands in experiencing chatbots used by brands.

Don’t mistake chatbots to be robots. Using machine learning technology, chatbots are programmed to speak like human agents.

Brands are able to customize their bots in such a way they perfectly reflects personality of the brands and also send personalized messages to its users.

7. Messaging Platforms

More than 2.5 billion people use various messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp and, Kik to communicate with companies.

Instead of simply posting marketing content into profiles and feeds, companies should take an extra care to make it simple for customers to start one-to-one conversations.

It is more suitable to integrate chatbots and voice assistants into messaging platforms to create a unique and personalized experience for users.

Engaging more number of users through these platforms will contribute a huge difference in taking your business into new levels of success.

8. Social Listening

Social listening is the science of tracking conversations of the users which involves certain phrases, brands or words.

Then you can make use of these phrases/words together in finding new opportunities to create content suitable for your users.

Social listening tools help brands in synthesizing their customer’s digital footprint.

Using social listening, brands are able to track brand health in social media, develop marketing campaigns suitable for customers and therefore able to provide excellent brand experiences.

9. AI Marketing

Wondered when you search for something in internet and has seen related ads on pages you visit?

It’s because social media marketing has collaborated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) that enables corresponding ads to appear.

More than 50% of marketers already make use of AI in their businesses.

With the advancements in technology, the growth of AI is expected to reach around 53% in coming years.

10. Sentimental Analytics

In 2018, social media marketers will be concentrating more in analyzing emotions and feelings of customers towards brands rather than looking just into Likes, Views, Shares and Clicks which are great.

Social media marketers will be analyzing the following questions:

  • What is the customer sentiment towards the brand?
  • How social media can change that sentiment?
  • What’s the strength of our Brand Health Index?
  • Does our brand have high Net Promoter Score?
  • Do people think about our brand frequently?

The answers to these questions do matter as these answers can help you in analyzing what people feel about your brand and how you can improve the image of your brand.

11. Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality

Most brands are not aware of the marketing possibilities Augmented Reality(AR) / Virtual Reality (VR) possess and still thinking it’s expensive and take years to adapt to it.

AR/VR are able to drastically enhance content marketing, media relations and customer service.

AR/VR is expected to give whole new dimensions to SEO, social media, public relations and enhance better experiences to audiences.

12. Visual Content

Visual content gives brands a major opportunity to grow in 2018. As tons of contents are cluttering the social media, people don’t pay attention to these contents as they scroll very fast through the social media pages.

This trend can be avoided by videos (pre-recorded or live stream) as they stand out in between the junk contents.

So, visual contents are going to be a stand out trend in 2018.

13. Support Key Influencers

Another important social media trend to focus in 2018 is to support key influencers related to your industry.

It is important because by providing data, ideas, products and support to people who can easily connect large groups of followers to your business brand is a major trend to be focused.

Definitely a key influencer can outreach your marketing strategies by their influence in the followers.

They can do so much for your products, services and brand but you have to make sure that they also receive equal value for the relationship they have with your brand.

14. Video Ads

 Video was one of the hit trends for 2017 and it still continues to be same in 2018 as the need for videos are only increasing.

43% of users prefer to see more video content from marketers.

Social media ads is the area where brands can capitalize more on social media in 2018.

As social media ads are already trending and expected to continue the same throughout the year.

It’s clear that video ads can influence people greater, because 95% of the message conveyed through the video stays in minds of people compared to 10% while reading content texts.

15. LinkedIn

Last but not least, LinkedIn. You will be thinking why LinkedIn not any other platforms?

It is because LinkedIn is a mix of culture, business, life insights and lot more. LinkedIn doesn’t have any limiting algorithms like other platforms to bind its activity.

Content can be published by anyone and also can be seen by anyone; this makes the platform as an open source for its users.

While other platforms need someone to follow to even see their published content.

As it is an open source, there is more chance for achieving success. This makes LinkedIn one of the hottest  social media trends in 2018.

Why You Should Care About Social Media Trends?

Social media trends are definitely the ice breakers in gaining large number of customers.

To achieve success in your business, not only you should take care of social media trends but also in keeping up trust and transparency for your customers.

As you now know the top social media trends to be focused in 2018, we hope that this will definitely help you in achieving heights of success.

Please let us know if you have any questions or queries.