Why Animation Is The Biggest Video Marketing Opportunity

When it comes to video marketing opportunities for 2021, animation remains the final frontier.

When was the last time you watched Tom and Jerry? If it’s been a while, the first thing that you’ll notice upon rewatching is that our favorite cat and mouse are pretty…violent. The situations they find themselves in are almost always absurd — from anvils falling on their heads to full-body electrocution, it seems like anything is possible in the cartoon short. This absurdity is possible thanks to the power of animation, a magical tool that makes literally anything possible. These days its powers aren’t just reserved for Saturday morning cartoons, either. Every company has the capability of using animation to tell their story, but very few business owners and marketers are using the tool to its full potential. Everyone is talking about video marketing right now, and for good reason. Back in 2017, we saw entire editorial staffs canned in order to “pivot to video,” making room for a whole new shelf of video advertisements and branded video content. Plenty of companies are sure to make a sizeable investment into video in 2018, but few will see the massive brand recall that comes from producing a successful video. For many, “pivoting to video” just means throwing text and images into a rotating video carousel, essentially turning blogs into videos. That’s a great idea for diversifying your content, but it isn’t the strategy that’s going to turn heads and get you noticed. Luckily, we know what will: animation.

Why Animation Is Such A Huge Video Marketing Opportunity

1. There’s No Ceiling On Creativity

Think about this: what video would you make if you had no budget and access to all of the props, actors and costumes in the world? You might decide to put your mascot in medieval Europe and have him galavant around singing the praises of your company’s discounted rates. Maybe you’re a software company and you’d hire Brad Pitt to talk about all of the benefits of your complex sales process. While we’re not exactly sure on the legality of animating a Brad Pitt lookalike, we can guarantee one thing: When it comes to animation if you can imagine it, we can create it. This video we created for MyUtilities could’ve been dry, bland and full of the same recycled commercial tropes we see every day. Instead, it’s imaginative and exciting, sending you into an imaginary world of the impending robot apocalypse.

2. Animation Is Cheaper, All Things Considered

The first thought that comes to many business owners’ mind when they think of animation is probably, “That’s way out of my price range.” While animated video is an investment, so is practically every other form of video marketing available. While animated explainer videos require the work of top-notch designers, animators and voice-over artists, live-action videos call for just as many technical supervisors. Animation may be nearly impossible to DIY, but most great live-action videos are impossible to DIY well, anyway. We’re a huge advocate of homegrown video marketing here at Digital Brew, but there are some creative ventures that you just have to trust a professional for. When you consider what the cost would be of making something like this video come to life IRL, it’s clear why animation is a worthwhile investment.

3. Animation Fosters A Deeper Connection

In 2016, Chipotle was on the heels of a total PR crisis. E. coli outbreaks had tarnished the brand’s reputation, and sales were plummeting fast. While the company was working hard to build up loyalty programs and give out plenty of BOGO burritos, the future seemed bleak for Chipotle’s reputation. Luckily, an animated short was already in the works for months before the scandal. The release of A Love Story couldn’t have come at a better time for the brand. People around the world connected with the message of the video, which went totally viral. So how, on the heels of a nasty reputation scandal, how could a simple video have such a positive impact? It’s simple: animation makes people happy. It’s the reason all of your favorite childhood films were likely hand-drawn. Animation fosters a sense of nostalgia and general warm fuzziness in people, and messages like the one found in A Love Story are easier to get across without seeming condescending.

4. Animation Makes You Stand Out

How many commercials have you watched this year that you can actually remember right now? Probably not many, and fewer even that you’d go on the record saying you totally loved. We’re oversaturated with advertisements in today’s media environment, and more people than ever before are installing AdBlocker and hiding them entirely. So when it comes to what to put in front of a YouTube video or how to draw people in on your landing page, you have to be extra creative on how you’ll earn customer attention. Animation is a unique video marketing opportunity not only because it’s engaging but because not many people are using it to its full potential. Imagine the power of animation for a customer relationship manager or a web hosting platform looking to stand out. In industries that are totally saturated by jargon and confusing diagrams, animation could be the tool that makes you the one to remember. Listen, we may be a bit biased when it comes to this particular topic, but our reasoning still stands. Our goal, at the end of the day, is to help you drive more sales, conversions and happy customers through the use of impactful marketing video. With that in mind, are there any other video marketing opportunities that you know of and can share with us? We’d love to hear about them — just hit us up on Twitter.