Animation

How can you include animated content into your business communication?

The power of animation is in telling your narrative in a clear and interesting manner. Complex information will thus be presented in a visually appealing and understandable way, without bothering the target audience with extensive charts, statistics or long texts that no one reads through anyway.

Animations are not just drawn characters we all know from childhood. It is a process that makes static images animated. The movement directs the viewer and guides them through our data, explanation, or business narrative.

• Animated explainer video You have almost certainly come across one before. In recent years, we have seen a large increase in animated explainer videos for marketing purposes. These are short animated videos, one to two minutes long, that explain the essence of your service, product or present your brand or business. They are appealing, enjoyable to watch, fun and, most importantly, they tell your narrative. Therefore, you have a much better chance that potential customers who do not yet know your business will watch it to the end.
• Motion graphics Like explainer videos, motion graphics primarily aim to present your facts to the viewer in a pleasant way. These, however, generally involves larger quantities of data, charts, statistics and various comparisons, which we present in an understandable and visually appealing way with the help of animated illustrations and graphics.
• Animated PPTX presentations Every businessman has had to deal with preparing presentations. Often, we do not know how start, how to make them stand out, and at the same time highlight our professionalism. Presentation makes the first impression, so it makes sense to prepare for it properly. Of course, you can find a cheap or even free template online, which can be beautifully designed, but not with the purpose of presenting your business specifically. The result will be a visually perfect product, which will not necessarily help your audience or you.Designing business presentations is a small but increasingly valued niche in the field of graphic design. The only way to get great results is to start with your content. A good designer will know how to develop graphics and animations to follow your vision and support the facts you want to highlight. Using animations, we can set the emphasis, hold the viewer’s attention, and create a narrative instead of just listing facts.

Why does it make sense to use animated content?

We humans are visual beings – a fact that you should be aware of when developing your marketing activities. Many studies have shown that images are much more effective than texts. This is even truer for videos.

• They quickly draw and hold the attention of your customers
  In today’s flood of information, people very rarely read long articles or watch a video to the end, whereas animated content holds our attention. Animated videos entertain and simultaneously explain the essence of your brand, business or product in a simple way.
• Clear communication of complex information
  No one likes dull data that takes a huge amount of time to even understand. You can solve this by problem easily by converting your tables and graphs into interesting animated infographics. You thus save the viewer’s time and increase the odds that the viewer will understand you message.
• Presenting your narrative in a unique way
  This is what we should appreciate most in animation. An animation is the best option if you want to show you creativity and thus stand out. It is much easier to achieve a unique and recognisable style with an animation than with a normal video. An animation is not limited to the real world, so anything can happen.
• Cheaper production
  Last but not least, price is also an important factor. If, for example, you can’t decide between a filmed and an animated ad, an animated ad will definitely be more affordable. Not because it would be less effective, but because it does not require such a large team of cameramen, actors, screenwriters, editors, etc.

What is the process for making an animated video?

To create a high-quality animation, we must first understand our goal and main message. Additionally, it is important to consider where the video will be shown. This affects the length of the video, story, style, and, ultimately, animation technique. We can tackle the problem traditionally (frame by frame), thus achieving a truly unique product that also has artistic value. It is not necessary to draw everything on paper, as they used to do in the past, and then scan and edit the drawings. The point is to draw frame by frame, thus achieving completely different feelings than with other types of animation. Due to technological advances, and especially because the traditional process is quite time consuming, animators today mostly use digital 2D or 3D animations for business purposes. No matter which technique you choose, the creative process will always be similar

• Idea and scenario
  Every video, of course, starts with an idea and a reflection on what we want to convey to the audience. Based on the idea, the screenwriter composes a script – a kind of precise plan for the video. The screenwriter writes down all dialogues and describes what is happening in individual scenes. Even if you are not writing a script as such, it is a good idea to always write down the story on paper. Once it is written, we can judge whether it has a right flow and notice any ambiguities or shortcomings.
• Storyboard
  The next step, once the story is defined, is to prepare a storyboard. At this point, the text written in the script is put into pictures for the first time. We define the scenes and write down a description of events, dialogues and all sound effects that will be needed. It is therefore a very precise plan of production.
• Animatic
  If we want to or have the tame, we can also produce an animatic. This is an expanded storyboard with initial very simple animations. We can also add sound to get an approximate idea of how long each scene will be and what will be needed.
• Concept drawings
  Preparation of concept drawing is a process used to experiment with different ideas, colour schemes, backgrounds and characters. It is an exploration to determine which visual images will be most suitable for our final product. If our video contains characters, they are developed at this stage. We prepare drawings that show characters from all sides, optionally in motion as well. This way we develop their appearance and make sure that they are consistent throughout the video. But to bring our characters truly to life, we need an environment that supports the story and provides additional information. This way, we establish a suitable ambiance and emotions.
• Graphic design
  Once we determine the style of the animation, we have to implement it. In this process, we prepare all elements that we will animate later. At this stage, it is important to know and plan how things will be animated. This avoids subsequent corrections.
• Animation
  Once all the elements have been drawn and confirmed by the client, we can begin the animation process.
• Sound recording and editing
  Sound for the animation is divided into three segments: sound effects, narrator’s voice, and soundtrack. With sound effects, we support the movement of elements and thus further illustrate their characteristics and way of movement. The narrator’s voice can tell the story, but can also be used for the dialogue between the characters, if the video so requires. Special attention should be given to writing the text that the speaker will record. If the text is subsequently changed, it will be necessary to redo the narrator’s voice recording or potentially change the animations. The soundtrack is also crucial, as it creates the desired ambiance and evokes emotions in the audience.
• Exporting the video to a suitable format
  We choose the appropriate quality depending on where the video will be published.

Animated content as part of the marketing strategy

In recent years, animated videos have become a very effective marketing tool.

• Your website
  An animation quickly draws the attention of visitors to your website, as the viewer can create an impression of your brand and gather key information about your product or service in just one to two minutes. It is very important, however, that the video expresses appropriate emotions. If we fail to evoke the right emotions in the audience in the first few seconds, there is very little chance that they will continue watching.
• Landing page for your product or service
  If your service is hard to explain or if your product is hard to film, an animation can be a great solution for your product page presentation.
• Social networks
  Social networks have become a place a businesses can share their products, services and activities with their potential and current customers… On social networks, you need to stand out with visually appealing content. While photos are the top, excellent choice, you can also upgrade your presentation with original animations that your customers will never forget.
• Blog
  The same is true if you have a blog. People tend to optimise their time as much as possible. Rather than reading long texts, we prefer to rest our eyes on appealing and informative animations.
• YouTube
  You can also publish your animated content on the second largest search engine, YouTube, thus attracting a new group of potential customers.
• Events and conferences
  If you attend events or conferences as a business, you know you need to convince potential customers in an instant. An animation will draw and hold their attention for longer than just a plain photo or text. Particularly in the IT industry, you can present your services quickly, effectively, in a customer-friendly and understandable way.
• Sales presentations
  The same could be said for sales presentations, when you need to convince customers to choose you among many other providers. Convince them with a good animation.