How Video Animation Connects Your Business to Your Customer

Victoria Howes
Thrive Global
Published in
5 min readMar 12, 2018

You don’t have to be a genius to succeed in the business world. There are three main ingredients for entrepreneurial success — industry knowledge, motivation and most importantly, customer engagement. By utilizing video animation, you can communicate a brand message.

What is video animation and what are the benefits for business?

A process that involves producing animated images for visual effect, video animation is essentially a sequence of moving images combined. This combination of moving images results in an optical illusion and leaves the user entranced — perfect for capturing attention and telling your brand’s story. Although the images aren’t really moving, the sequence appears to be in-motion, due to the brain’s response upon registering each individual image.

As much as 90% of information sent to the brain is in fact visual, therefore if you want to lure consumers and keep them interested in what you are promoting, video is an essential tool. Since the brain processes images 60,000 times quicker when it is exposed to visuals, video animation is a seriously powerful tactic for business marketing. Not only does it extend your existing marketing content but also, video animation can be implemented to transmit information in the simplest way possible.

Why is animated video the best strategy for global online domination?

Vision uses as much as half of the resources within the brain, making it an extremely (dominant) sense. Since we all share this sense as human beings, there is huge potential to attract a target market using animated video. Over the last few years, the limelight has put visual content at the forefront of online marketing. Conversions could rise by 80% if you integrate video onto a website’s landing page and get this: a third of all activity on the Internet involves viewing video.

Every single day, Facebook streams over four billion videos. In addition to this, over 3 billion hours of video are watched by YouTube users on a monthly basis. So, why use animated video to dominate the online world? Well, it is effective for lead generation and conversions, due to the fact consumers favor visuals over content. Animation grasps attention, it simplifies difficult subjects, it evokes strong emotion and it is fun! Most of us watched cartoons as kids and because animation incorporates this entertainment factor, it is effective for giving viewers a powerful feeling of nostalgia.

The History and Evolution of Video Animation

Before cinematography began, animation had already been invented. In fact, our ancestors from the paleolithic period actually attempted to portray motion during their lifetime. It was in 1833 that modern animation was introduced to the world. Later, in 1906, Humorous Phases of Funny Faces was developed by Blackton. The chalk faces that moved independently on a chalkboard gave viewers the ‘wow factor’ and the positive response led to bigger things.

The first feature film in animation was El Apostol in 1917, followed by The Adventures of Prince Achmed in 1926. In 2009, 3D format was used for the first time to produce a movie called Monsters vs. Aliens. Today, animation has reached outstanding levels, with some of the most popular techniques including stop motion and CGI animation.

7 Ways Video Animation Can Attract a Wider Customer Base

  1. Animated Video Reminds us of Our Childhood — What cartoon did you watch as a child? Tom and Jerry? Perhaps you were a fan of the Simpsons or Disney programs? Whatever cartoon you were fixated on at a young age, just take a moment to remember how it made you feel. The feeling of nostalgia creeps up when adults watch animated video, which is why it is such a lucrative marketing move.
  2. Animated Video Explains Concepts Clearly — A 1,000-word article might sum up a concept, but it will take a while to absorb the information and retain it. Animated video can be used to explain the most confusing topics using graphics, visuals, color and music. Remember that visuals stick in the mind for longer, so you can bet that you will feel enlightened on whatever subject is being discussed after watching a video of this kind.
  3. Animated Video Resonates with Viewers of All Ages — A business will target their videos to a particular age group, depending on what product/service is being offered. Thanks to the versatility and visual appeal of animated videos, webtoons and explainer videos, even young children can watch this type of promotional video and understand what message a brand is trying to convey.
  4. Animated Video Can Transform Boring Topics into Shareable Content — A company that specializes in air conditioning duct cleaning, for example, will not be as interesting as, let’s say, a company that personalizes travel tours and packages. Despite this, video that contains animation and moving graphics will depict a product/service in an alluring way. Incorporating tutorials, how-to videos and product demonstrations into animated video will amplify a company’s chances of turning viewers into customers.
  5. Animated Video Creates Context for Your Company’s Ideas and Visions — Sure, you can use a website or blog to present the world with your missions, values and ideas as a business, but just imagine the results you could yield if you include video in your marketing strategy! Developing a series that tells the story of your brand and demonstrates its evolution is a recommended tactic for companies who want to connect with customers on a personal level.
  6. Animated Video Evokes Emotion — When Google Earth developed a video series that saw people using the tool to seek out long-lost family members, tears of joy and amazement were shed on a global scale. This led to Google Earth gaining even more exposure as an advancing technology than it did before. If you want to really win over your audience, you have to stir up emotion in some way. How you do that is up to you, but make it powerful and merge it with beautiful music for the best results.
  7. Animated Video Guarantees Simple Video Production — You don’t have to be an expert to produce animated video. There are plenty of software tools out there to get you started, including. Alternatively, hire a professional who can churn out regular content to keep your audience engaged.

So, now that your knowledge on video animation has been broadened, you can get started with your marketing strategy that will attract and retain customers. Promote it wisely and choose the right types of video animation for customer engagement. Explainer videos like those created by squareship are beneficial for informing your customer about your services and/or products. Alternative types of video animation include a webtoon comic, tutorial and product demonstrations.

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Victoria Howes
Thrive Global

Entrepreneur, Traveller, and Consultant. Follow my adventures on victoriahowes.com