So you’re keen to create a brand-new animated video for your business. Here are your 10 key guidelines for animation video marketing to help steer you towards making a better and more effective animated video for your business:
Key animation guideline 1. Don’t make it too long! Even the best animation video in the world will suffer from some serious fatigue if you make it too long. A lot of the most effective animated videos on the web today are around only 1 – 2 minutes long
Key animation guideline 2. Start with a clear purpose for what your animated video is all about; don’t just make it about pretty moving animated pictures without anything much to say
Key animation guideline 3. Don’t rush the production process, or cut too many corners on the budget, and expect top-end quality at a bottom-end price. You essentially get what you pay for in animation, just like with almost anything else, and too much animation today is delivered well below par. Often it’s not the animation company’s fault; it’s the ridiculously low budget that has been set by the client who is ignorant of the sheer amount of work involved in making the animated video that they want, and unrealistic expectations on timing
Key animation guideline 4. Provide a level of education that’s included in your animation video. Allow your viewers to learn something, not just be sold to or bored by trivial, irrelevant information that is not useful to their lives. You’re far more likely to be remembered if you shared something useful or even valuable with your viewer
Key animation guideline 5. Use the animation format that best suits your purpose. There are whiteboards, there are explainer animated videos usually with a fast talking voice over, there are sophisticated motion graphics animations that display words visually and stylistically, there’s television quality full colour animation in 2D or 3D usually when you want to use a character or characters to tell a story, there’s black and white animation, stop motion, and then there’s that ready made off-the-shelf cheap looking animation that has its place. Pick the approach that works best for what you’re trying to achieve, and if you don’t know which format is best, or which blend of formats, then ask an expert
Key animation guideline 6. Start your project with a well-conceived script, then create storyboards before producing your animation. This gives you at least two chances to carefully check and ensure that your animated video is what you want it to be. A poorly conceived script or a badly presented storyboard are going to let you down once the animation is fully completed
Key animation guideline 7. If your animation company is professional, they will also develop an in-house animatic for you before producing the full-colour animation. This gives you one more chance to check what you are going to get is in line with your expectations, and fix any faults before it becomes much more expensive for you to do so
Key animation guideline 8. Picking the right music and voice-over makes a big difference at the end, so choose wisely. Explore several options for voice-over and try to work with a company that has access to a large music library; even better, they can create their own music for you, fully customised
Key animation guideline 9. Test your animation on a few people (ideally the people you are targeting) before rolling it out on your website or other platforms
Key animation guideline 10. Be open to comments when you roll it out. You’ll be surprised both positively and negatively as to what people will say about your animation, and you’re better off knowing what people really think rather than just hoping for the best. Make sure you monitor this and don’t just leave it out there gathering views you’re not even aware of
Guidelines for animated video marketing 1-10.
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