20 Awesome Explainer Video Examples (2019)

The statistics regarding the popularity of video marketing don’t lie—and if you’re not on the bandwagon now, you’re missing out on the future of marketing. Some half a billion people watch videos on social media every day and very soon, video traffic will represent 80% of all consumer online traffic. So what better delivery device for your branded message than video?

Explainer videos are bite-sized bits of video content, often around one to two minutes in length, and they come in many forms, from traditional animation, to 3D, to live-action and more. They also come in all genres, utilizing comedy or drama depending on the theme. That means there’s a wide variety of design options and emotional tactics to communicate your businesses’ message.

If you need more motivation, consider this: The average person watches more than an hour and a half of online video content per day—that’s a ton of potential exposure! Also, YouTube mobile video views grow 100% every year. The data proves that video marketing is the future—don’t let your brand fall behind the curve!  

We’re going to take a look at some of the best recent explainer videos and analyze why they were so successful. The results should yield many teachable lessons to help take your content marketing efforts to the next level in 2019.

Dissolve

Dissolve incorporates cynical humor in a simple, yet hilariously impressive video. They decide to poke fun at the tendency of modern marketing to use the same old, clichéd footage in so many campaigns, but in a bold and funny way. The humor they use was so relatable to their audience of creatives working in advertising and marketing, it’s no surprise the video was shared in huge numbers, attracting media coverage and going viral in a short space of time.  

Wine Country Gift Baskets

This video does a good job of mixing customer examples and warm animations to deliver a positive message paired with inviting images. The idea of giving a gift just because appeals to the better parts of the human condition. Bottles of wine? Chocolate? Gourmet coffee? Fresh-baked cookies? Those are products that sell themselves, and the animators did a good job of rendering their appeal in just over a minute runtime.

Dollar Shave Club

Sometimes it pays dividends to push the envelope with your message. Of course this is often a double-edged sword. If you’re too provocative with swearing or risqué content, you risk alienating large swaths of your audience. But in Dollar Shave Club’s case, they understood their audience and utilized humor to their full advantage by going viral with this video that really boosted their success—the company was later bought by Unilever for $1 billion!

The ad doesn’t hold back—it’s got it all, a bizarre-o pitchman (the real-life founder), swearing, irreverent visual gags, and even references to polio. Ultimately the ad is successful at achieving its ends because it makes something as seemingly boring as razors funny and memorable. Sometimes it’s good not to take yourself too seriously.

Slack

Driven in part by the millennial generation, relatability plays a huge role in their decision making process. This video created by Slack does a great job of reinforcing that a busy work life is a common issue by going through a typical work day for the average person.

Slack’s video did a great job of demonstrating how their product fits in to this relatable scenario without being overly promotional. The visuals are bright, creative, and enticing, which hooks the audience in for the duration of the 53 second video. Interestingly, there are absolutely no spoken words! Slack evidently takes the saying “actions speak louder than words” very seriously.

Med Mart

This video from Med Mart App does a great job of breaking down how to use their app. Med Mart takes the complicated process of plastic surgery and simplifies it with their app through this video, complemented by unique 3D animation. Although this video is a little on the longer side, the content in it justifies the length, as they dive into all of the benefits the app offers.

Mint.com

This explainer video from personal-finance clocks in at a tight minute and thirty-one seconds—they pack a lot of info in a short time. The video takes viewers on a side-scrolling journey of the features Mint offers to its customers. The CTA at the end informs users that they can sign up and get started with Mint in fewer than five minutes. Because of the brisk and efficient nature of this video, viewers get the sense that the application is user friendly and easy to manage.

Spotify

Spotify thought outside of the box in this unique and creative explainer video. Instead of taking the traditional route and just explaining how their product works, they chose to take the opportunity to explain how their product is personalized just for you. Between the bright neon colors and the shifts from real people to animation, Spotify made this video incredibly engaging and fun for any generation.

Microsoft

Microsoft is one of the biggest brands in the world, but even with their legacy they still need effective messaging. This is another concise video that B2B players will want to emulate in 2019. It’s highly effective at educating the viewer on Microsoft’s enterprise cloud solution. The smooth animations evoke themes of growth, but, let’s face it, the narrator really sells this message. There’s a mellifluous tinge to the voiceover.

FiftyThree

Like the Spotify ad, this advertisement for FiftyThree’s pencil-shaped mobile stylus relies only on music and images to get their message across. The tactic harkens back to that age-old axiom of good storytelling: show, don’t tell. What this spot manages to do without uttering a single word is impressive. The viewer learns all about the functionality of the product without words—until the very end. That’s when a solid, simple tagline appears on screen: “Think with your hands.” Businesses today would do well to follow this example of crafting a great branded message and highlighting it above all else.

Unroll.Me

The makers of the Unroll.Me app identified a problem that affects almost all of us: junk email. Their explainer video focuses on that problem by showcasing testimonials from six disparate people recounting their frustrating experiences with junk mail. It does what many effective ads have done in the past, by showing the people using the product in question.

In just 30 seconds Unroll.Me hammers home the overarching theme of the video, which is ease of use. The viewer sees first hand how easy it is to unsubscribe from junk email lists simply by swiping the app.

Crazy Egg

If you’re a marketer, SEO, CTO, or part of a big tech firm, you probably knew all about Crazy Egg shortly after it launched. But not every business owner is a techie with a fetish for analytics. Crazy Egg appealed to those not in the know in an explainer video that does exactly what it’s supposed to do: explain.

Not only does it summarize Crazy Egg’s unique heat map tool for the viewer, it shows the product in action. So you don’t have to be tech savvy to understand what it does. Add a couple subtle CTAs throughout the ad’s two-minute runtime and you have a solid explainer video.

Panorama9

Some of the best explainer videos take otherwise humdrum topics and deliver them in a compelling package. And let’s be honest—there isn’t much that’s flashy about an IT monitoring and administration solution.

However, IT-Man solves this problem by communicating Panorama9’s pitch with the help of unique animations. Rather than opt for the slick, professional animations you see in most vids, IT-Man goes full ‘80s 8-bit on the audience. The result is a fun little video that transports you back to the lazy days playing Nintendo on your living room floor.

Stitch Fix

This could be the subject of a marketing master class on how to create the most effectively efficient explainer video. The company in question, Stitch Fix, offers a personal styling service, which is a big hit in the millennial generation, and their video does everything right. It features a stylish young woman (Stitch Fix knows their audience), selecting clothing preferences online, then receiving a personalized wardrobe via courier. The brand establishes their message and shows the appeal of their service—all in 30 seconds flat.

PrescribeWellness

This is another 30-second bit of snackable content. The reason it’s noteworthy is not because of the animation, even though it’s solid, but because it clearly communicates what PrescribeWellness is.

In 30 seconds PrescribeWellness managed to explain exactly what they do without leaving out any details. The authoritative narrator is also incredibly handy in demanding viewers attention immediately from beginning to end.

Chipotle

The Mexican fast food chain Chipotle has had a rough year or two, what with reports of rats in their stores and norovirus breaking out. But the famous brand wasn’t always on the ropes. Just a few years ago they were the belle of the fast food ball, due in part to forward-thinking marketing like this explainer video that excels in many areas:

First, it breaks the animation mould by going claymation style (who doesn’t love Wallace and Gromit?).

Second, it enlists the talent of bona fide legend Willie Nelson to cover “The Scientist,” a hearts-strings-tugging tune by global powerhouse Coldplay.

Lastly, the end result is an inspiring mini-movie heavy with a theme of ethical farming.

Kano

Kano hit the nail on the head with this explainer video by demonstrating how their technology helps kids interact on another level with some of the things they love to do everyday, like listen to music. They also brought in trending activities, such as Minecraft to pique the interest of their young audience. They paint the act of coding and creating a computer in a fun and energetic light leading kids to want to use their product.

Nest

Nest took the novel approach of using real life objects in a 2D animated world. The simple animation style, upbeat music and friendly voiceover artist work together to explain the benefits of not only using smart products around the house, but connecting them with Nest so they can automatically learn things about your home. The result? You save money, get comfortable and stay safe. It’s a simple message, explained with beautifully simple visuals.

Project Permit

Not only is this video well made with fantastic animation and 3D design, it tells a story – something every good explainer video should do. It explains how the organization works to make solar more affordable and accessible to more Americans, visualizing the benefits to your community towards the end. This video not only demonstrates the solar permitting processes in an easy-to-digest manner, it binds its messages together through a well thought out storyline.

PayPal

The online payment giant PayPal released a series of TV spots called “people rule” along with this explainer video to go along with the spots. It’s a striking piece in that it mixes animations with live action fluidly, whisking the audience off to “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” land. The addition of a humorous country tune to buttress PayPal’s core message—payment efficiency—is a nice touch as well.

Tech Insider

It’s fitting to end this list with an explainer video that does little more than answer a “geek” question by telling a cool story. Sure, the animations are fun while managing to convey interesting info, and there’s some good use of the “Twilight Zone” font, but really this is just an all-around interesting presentation.

Viewers are hooked from start to finish, and they might even find themselves stopping halfway through to google “dumbo octopus.” So this Tech Insider video adheres wonderfully to the number one principal in creating explainer videos—be interesting above all else.

Final thoughts

The above examples are diverse enough that they should offer takeaway lessons to brands big and small, niche or mainstream. If your company is struggling to strike the right tone with its message, or appeal to a broader audience, take a look at the success some of the above brands have enjoyed through solid video production. Some of these lessons include:

• Be interesting

• Be funny

• Be concise

• Be socially conscious

• Push the boundaries (when appropriate)

• Be simple
  
  

Video is a Fantastic Way for Small Businesses to Connect with Customers.

Well-produced videos give off an air of professionalism, and according to Animoto, most consumers (56%) believe that every business should have some kind of video content available.

Not all video production is the same, however – in this article, we’ll go over 6 basic types of videos that can help you grow your small business, and talk about the differences between each type.

Branding Video

A brand video can be a fantastic way to connect with consumers. These types of evocative videos are usually focused on explaining the brand of a company – rather than the products that they sell.

For example, in this video by Apple for Beats 1” on Apple Music, they make use of a stirring soundtrack with footage of people around the world listening to the same song – emphasizing what the brand is about, rather than the specifics of their product.

Explainer Video

Explainer videos are a fantastic way to introduce a consumer to a new or foreign concept, or emphasize on how your product is different from other products on the market.

This post by Hubspot has some great examples of explainer videos – they’re usually quite informal, and involve the direct presentation of a product or a service to a customer, making them highly engaging and informative.

Product Video

Product videos are purpose-built to give consumers a better look at a product that they want to buy. Product videos are centered around promoting and showing off a product – its features, abilities, and special aspects that make it worth the consumer’s time and money.

By giving the consumer a comprehensive, in-depth breakdown about the features of a product, companies can connect more deeply with prospective buyers, and emphasize the benefits and the uniqueness of a particular product. Here are a few great examples of product videos, as seen on Econsultancy.

Interview Video

Interview videos are essential for good storytelling. Consumers don’t just want a polished look at the brand and corporate image of a small business – they want to become more intimate with small business owners and employees, and see what makes a small business more special than their monolithic, corporate giant competition.

There are quite a few different video production techniques and styles of interview videos, all suitable for different purposes.

Executive interviews can be a great way to help secure funding and investments, employee interview videos can be useful for connecting employees with their company, and interviews with employees about the products and services that their company offers – and what makes them unique – are a fantastic way to connect with potential customers.

Testimonial Video

Testimonial videos are powerful tools for any small business. It’s one thing to get a written review or testimonial about your product or service – it’s another thing entirely to produce a slick, well-made video about the experience that a consumer had with your company.

Consumers trust each other – that’s why 88% of consumers trust written, online reviews as much (or more) than personal recommendations from a friend or acquaintance, according to Searchengineland. This means that turning a customer experience into a testimonial video is a great way to build trust with potential customers.

Event Video

Event videos are somewhat more specialized, but can help you expand your audience when done well and posted on social media websites – consumers like knowing that the companies they buy their products from are active in their market, and attending the events and conferences that they would be expected to.

How to Use Video to Promote Your Website

The longer the video is, the less likely it is it will be watched. Everybody who gets to deal with website promotion in the search engines knows how challenging it is these days. Since competition in Google search results is immense, it takes a lot of time and efforts to get there with standard optimization methods.  

Many marketers ignore video promotion as a method to surpass competitors in the search results. However, in website promotion video has several advantages:

• low competition so far

• links to videos stand out sharply against the standard  text links

• creating a video is not so difficult and expensive as it seems

• people readily share links to good videos.

Video Topic

Video topic should be really interesting; otherwise people will not watch it. Below are several examples of video plots and titles:

• a dialog with an expert/or celebrity: “Interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates”

• educational video: “How to build great abs” (is good for fitness-center advertisement)

• demonstration videos work well for sport, tourism, household appliances, or mobile devices: “Nokia Lumia 920 vs Samsung Galaxy S3”

• how to use complicated product or service: “Quickbooks software”

• product reviews: “iPad 3 Review”

• specialists’ comments on news or events.

By the way, video size matters too. The longer the video is, the less probable it is people will start watching it and watch it to the end.  That is why it is advisable to make videos no longer than 3-5 minutes. If the topic is broad, make a series of short videos.

Name is a Destiny

Another important factor is a video title. When writing a title, try to choose two or three keywords which your video potential viewers might type and then append the “video” word to it. You can use Google Keyword Tool for this purpose.

Make sure to test your video potential title —  put it in quotes and search for such keyword on Google.  For example, “how to choose the right tires”. Use only unique titles for your video; unique title is more important than the title stuffed with right keywords.

It is better if video title sounds useful and intriguing: “7 ways to…”, “How to…”, “…-step by step”, and so on.  Limit the title length to 55- 60 characters – in this case the user will be able to see it in full in the search results, which in turn will increase CTR.  Usually links with cut titles receive fewer clicks.

Search Engine Optimization

Apart from keywords research for the search engines, you can also use special tags containing important queries. For example, for  iPhone testing — “iPhone 5”, “smartphones”, “Apple”, “testing”. This will help search engines understand what your video is about and rank it higher than similar videos of your competitors without tags.

Natural look is surely above all. You shouldn’t squeeze in tags all the possible commercial queries which you believe to be winning. Your video can be considered as a spam then and be simply deleted. Moreover, users will not be happy to find out the video doesn’t match their search queries.

YouTube allows publishing text subtitles to the video, and here you can freely incorporate keywords along with company name. During its ranking process Google prefers pages with large chunks of useful and unique content.

Where to Upload?

Whether to upload a video to your own website or opt for popular video hosting services such as YouTube or Vimeo?

There is no definite answer to this question. However, using video hosting services has some advantages. Firstly, cost saving. If you have a lot of videos and user stream is considerable, you may need very expensive hosting resources.

Secondly, if to type in several search queries, it becomes obvious that “common” websites share is extremely small in comparison with YouTube. There is explanation for it: YouTube service belongs to Google, besides, it has what optimization specialists call “trust”.  That is why even in the beginning YouTube video has some advantages.

There is only one drawback when you promote video on YouTube service: users will have to make several additional steps to get to your website: click the link in the You Tube video description, type the URL showed, and so on.

That is why it is more preferable to use other video hosting service simultaneously interacting with the audience by gently offering your services and inviting to the website.

How to Attract Users to Your Website?

If the video is located on some hosting service, how to make the user who has watched the video to click through to your website? If  possible, mention your company name at the beginning and at the end of the video. If not, show your logo. The best option is to have your site name and/or address displayed during the whole video.

It is important, however, not to overload video with logos and links, as it will distract the viewer and make the video too pushy and promotional.

Some large video hosting services, such as YouTube and Vimeo, allow embedding your site link into the video description.  If on top of that you have your own video channel on these websites, make sure it contains your brand name.

Do not disallow comments to your video and try to respond to the users’ feedback. Personal touch is very important and if applied skillfully, can drive the audience to your website. If you have time, comment on other people’s videos from the same category.

The After Effects Playbook: 25 Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Workflow

Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, here are our top 25 After Effects tips and tricks for users of all experience levels. Just as pilots go back for certification year after year, and  doctors attend medical conferences to keep up with advances in their field, constantly learning newer and better motion graphics techniques is part of working in our industry.  Maybe you’ve been using After Effects for the past 10 years — it still doesn’t hurt to dust off the skill-set now and then. So we’ve compiled 25 tips from beginner to advanced to shake up your workflow.

For Beginners: 5 Tips for Getting Started in After Effects

You’ve got to start somewhere, and the best place is here. In this tutorial, Todd covers the fives essential things you need to know about After Effects. And once you master these, you’ll be ready to move on to some intermediate tasks.

• How to give your composition motion blur to mimic real-life movement —  Does your composition look blocky and unnatural? Unlock the power of the motion blur box to create speed tails for moving objects.

• Learning all about Keyframing —  Keyframes are the building blocks of motion graphics in AE. Learning how to master these will allow you to organize and execute property changes in your objects.

• Easing your keyframes with the Speed Graph Editor — You ever see a professional graphic and think, “How did they get it to move so smoothly?”  Most of the time, it’s the Speed Graph editor.

• Masks and Track Mattes — You’ve got to get good at hiding things if you want to excel in AE.

• Null objects — Why add keyframes to every single object when you can pin them all to a single layer and then adjust all your layers?

The After Effects Playbook

So you’ve nailed the basics, and now you want to get into the nitty gritty. A seasoned veteran in the AE world, Todd relies on a particular workflow of tricks he uses all the time on his projects. He gives his secrets away in this video so you can go and steal his clients and then ultimately challenge him to an AE-duel and defeat him, thus becoming the AE champion! There can be only one!

You’ve got to start somewhere, and the best place is here. In this tutorial, Todd covers the fives essential things you need to know about After Effects. And once you master these, you’ll be ready to move on to some intermediate tasks.

• How to give your composition motion blur to mimic real-life movement —  Does your composition look blocky and unnatural? Unlock the power of the motion blur box to create speed tails for moving objects.

• Learning all about Keyframing —  Keyframes are the building blocks of motion graphics in AE. Learning how to master these will allow you to organize and execute property changes in your objects.

• Easing your keyframes with the Speed Graph Editor — You ever see a professional graphic and think, “How did they get it to move so smoothly?”  Most of the time, it’s the Speed Graph editor.

• Masks and Track Mattes — You’ve got to get good at hiding things if you want to excel in AE.

• Null objects — Why add keyframes to every single object when you can pin them all to a single layer and then adjust all your layers?

The After Effects Playbook

So you’ve nailed the basics, and now you want to get into the nitty gritty. A seasoned veteran in the AE world, Todd relies on a particular workflow of tricks he uses all the time on his projects. He gives his secrets away in this video so you can go and steal his clients and then ultimately challenge him to an AE-duel and defeat him, thus becoming the AE champion! There can be only one!

Super Smooth Keyframes — Again, making use of the Speed Graph editor is a powerful, powerful tool.

• Null Stacking — Once you’ve learned the basics of the null object, you can start parenting nulls to other nulls to organize your project.

• Quick Vignettes — “To make a vignette, create an adjustment layer, and double-click the ellipse tool. Then, feather and customize your mask options, after adding an Exposure effect, and turn it down a stop or two.”

• How to Fix Banding — When working with vignettes, you might run into an issue with banding. Fix it easily with Gradient Ramp’s ramp scatter tool.

• Easy Text Reveals — Never settle for boring text reveals. Learn how to expose text creatively in minutes!

• Bordered Photo Template — When working with photo slideshows in AE, it’s always recommended to give them a little “zhuzh” by adding some motion — or in this case, give it a digital frame.

• Quick Organic Camera Motion — Using cameras in After Effects can seem complicated, but they really aren’t as bad as they seem. Think of them as glorified position adjusters.

• Finishing and Color Correction — Sometimes, a little contrast can go a long way. Find out how to use the curves tool to add it to any graphic.

• Textured Text — When trying to blend text into your composition, you’ll often need to do some work to make it look natural. Use Luma mattes to take on some of the texture from your background.

• Scale Wipe Animation — Think of this one as a really fun transition that you can create yourself. Learn how to take a solid layer and slide it across the screen in a fun way to get from one thing to another. You can also export these and use them in Premiere!

The After Effects Playbook Part 2

Easy Stop Motion Effect — While there are other methods of making your text seem “hand-drawn,” this method takes a displacement map and uses it lightly to your advantage.

• Keyframe Assistant: Sequencing Layers — For those of you who have worked on a project that required you to “stack” layers in a sequence, you know one thing — doing it manually is an absolute drag. Luckily with the keyframe assistant, that is now a problem of the past.

• Quick, Bouncy Animations — Making your objects “bounce” doesn’t seem that feasible when you’re just looking at numbers. (“How do I make this look natural?”) Basically, just a few simple keyframe tricks along with some trimming in the Speed Graph editor will get you the bounce you want.

• Easy Amber/Debris Effects — Did you know you can create debris and particles directly in AE? With the twirl animator and a touch of negative gravity, you can create your very own fire embers without resorting to an overlay.

• Animators and Repeaters — Copy, paste. Copy, paste. We’ve all been there before. Why isn’t there a button that repeats solids? Oh, wait. There is.

• Orient Along Path — Instead of painstakingly keyframing an object to move along a path, there is literally a button called “Orient Along Path” that automatically creates a keyframe base along a line you create. Simple.

• Saving Animation Presets — Worked out an animation or settings that you want to use in a different project? Save and use them later.

• Screen Capture Animations — Spice up an animation showing off a website or a piece of software with some creative uses of the camera feature in AE.

• Super Long Timelines with Audio — Here’s my recommendation: don’t use AE for a full video. It’s much easier to create your sequence in Premiere and send your clips one-by-one to AE.

• Tricky Motion Tracking  — When tracking objects that motion tracking may not recognize, what options do you have? Pre-composing and adjusting the contrast can work extremely well.
  
  

5 Ways To Use Video Marketing For Small Business Growth

The power of video can’t be ignored. It’s the most engaging type of content available today. And it’s never been more affordable to create one. There are many ways in which you can use a video to grow your small business. This guide is going to show you how to do it.

Implant A Video On Your Landing Page

The majority of small businesses will invest in online advertising. These ads will lead to a landing page, where customers can begin to crawl through the sales funnel. Improving landing page conversion rates is always a major matter of concern, but with a video, this is relatively easy.

Studies have shown that a video placed on your landing page can increase conversions by 80%. This is because the content is engaging and it encourages people to watch. What you have to bear in mind is that this video shouldn’t automatically play.

All the benefits can be eliminated simply by showing a video that obnoxiously plays the moment the customer lands on the page.

You Can Better Reach Mobile Customers

Over half of all Internet users now access the Internet just from a mobile device. This is an important fact because it means traditional types of content are quickly falling by the wayside, and there’s nothing you can do about that. People don’t have time to read a long blog post on the small screen of a smartphone.

The best way to get around this is to use video. A video can say up to 10,000 words for every 1,000 words written down. It’s the easiest way to disseminate a lot of information in a short space of time.

This is a brand new way of reaching over half your audience who don’t have the time or inclination to read a long sales pitch. Now you can appeal to a greater range of people.

Show Your Product In Action

It’s difficult to imagine how a product can come in handy when all you have are three or four stock photos on the screen. A video can provide people with some insight into what your product actually does and how it should be used. This will also save you a lot of unnecessary customer service questions.

Showing your product in action is easy. Combine it with a story to make it more engaging and spread it around as part of your next branded campaign.

Use Video To Go Interactive

The key to growing any business is to engage with your customers. There’s nothing worse than having a huge list of email addresses on your newsletter platform and none of them respond to you. A great way to increase engagement levels is to make your videos interactive.

There are many ways in which you can do this. Choice-based videos where people can follow a story along, which includes your product, are always popular. You can also organize events via live streaming.

For example, one popular way of ensuring engagement is to organize a live Q&A session. You will talk for a little while, answer some questions, then take comments from the floor. The reason why this is so effective is because customers feel like they’re a part of something.

It’s going to keep your customers warm and they’re not going to forget about you in a hurry.

Small Teasers To Build Anticipation

All businesses will come across a period where they’re going to have a long gap between releases. This is okay because it happens sometimes. The big danger you have is running into a situation where your customers are no longer responding to you. They’ve forgotten who you are and what you’re offering.

A short teaser video can keep them amped up about your latest product. It doesn’t have to be a long video. It can be as short as a few seconds.

Teasers can get people talking again and prevent your company from getting stale.

Last Word – Don’t Come To Rely On Video

What you must remember is that you can’t afford to rely on video. It’s a great way of encouraging people to get interested in your company, but the best companies mix in video, with other forms of content. If you keep producing the same type of content you’re only going to bore your target market.

Mix in video, with images and written content to get the most from your videos. In the meantime, think about bringing live streaming and interactive video into your company.

This article was originally published by Forbes

7 Ways to Delight Users With Animation

“Delight” is a word that we’re hearing and using more often to describe pleasurable moments in our products. Delight is the magic that makes us fall in love with a product. It’s a core element to strive for when designing. When it comes to providing pleasure or delight in our websites and apps, animations contribute a lot.

Why delightful animation is important

Digital design plays a crucial role in how customers experience a product. Modern design is highly focussed on usability, because usability allows people to easily accomplish their goals. However, designing for the user experience has a lot more to it than making a usable product. Good design is pleasurable and seductive. Good design is delightful. “At this point in experience design’s evolution, satisfaction ought to be the norm, and delight ought to be the goal,” says Stephen Anderson. Animation can help you achieve this goal.

When to use delightful animation

Just like any other design element animation should contribute the user flow. Delightful animations are pleasurable for the user without detracting from the usability of the app. There are two cases when implementing delightful animation into your digital designs can strengthen UX:

• Engaging and entertaining. Entertaining animation draws attention to our products by creating a strong first impression. It can make our products more memorable and more shareable.

• Baking emotion in design. Showing the human side of your business or product can be a very powerful way for your audience to identify and empathize with you. The aim of emotional design is to create happiness. You want people to feel happy when they use your product.

Let’s look at a few ways animation can help create delightful moments:

#1 Keep Users Interested During Loading

Loading time is an unavoidable situation for most digital products. But who says that loading should be boring? When we can’t shorten the line, we can certainly make the wait more pleasant. To ensure people don’t get bored while waiting for something to happen, you can offer them some distraction: this can be something fun or something unexpected. While animation won’t solve the problem, it definitely makes waiting less of a problem: fine animation can distract your users and make them ignore long loading times.

Credits: Dribbble

#2 Make a Great First Impression

First impressions count: people judge things based on how they look. Good animation throughout the on-boarding flow has a strong impact on how first-time users will engage with the app. A good first impression isn’t just about usability, it’s also about personality. If your first few app screens look a little different from similar products, you’ve shown the user that your entire product experience will likely be different too. For example, animating an illustration for a new feature can educate the user about the feature in a memorable way.

Credits: Dribbble

#3 Make Your Interfaces Feel More Alive

Creative animation can make your user experience truly delightful: they can transform familiar interactions into something much more enjoyable and have the power to encourage users to actually interact. Attention to fine movements can increase the level of usability and therefore desirability of the product.

#4 Incorporate Emotional Interactions

Focusing on user emotions plays a huge role in UI interactions. As Aarron Walter said in his book Designing for Emotion: “Personality is the mysterious force that attracts us to certain people and repels us from others.” Using animation you can establish an emotional connection with your users, and remind them that there are real humans behind the design. An example of animation from ReadMe is full of emotions.

#5 Help Users Recover From Unexpected Errors

‘Errors’ happen. They happen in our apps and they happen in our life. Sometimes they happen because we made mistakes. Sometimes because an app failed. Whatever the cause, these errors — and how they are handled — can have a huge impact on the way user experiences your app. A well-crafted error handling can turn a moment of failure into a moment of delight. When displaying an unexpected error, use it as an opportunity to delight with animation.

Credits: Dribbble

#6 Make a Complex Task Feel Easier

Animation is able to transform a complex task into an inviting experience.  Let’s take a MailChimp case for inspiration. What makes MailChimp awesome is its smooth functionality wrapped in cheeky humor and friendly animation. When you’re about to send out your first campaign, the accompanying animation shows how stressful it is. Mailchimp brings empathy to the design: by combining animated cartoons with tongue-in-cheek messages like “This is your moment of glory,” MailChimp softens the nervousness of sending your first emails.

//7 Breathe Fun Into The Interactions.

People love to discover treats in interfaces just as they do in real life. The joy is more than the treat, it’s the discovery of the treat and the feeling that someone took the time to think of you.

Credits: Dribbble

People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.—Maya Angelou

Never underestimate the power of delight to improve the user experience. The difference between products we love and those we simply tolerate is often the delight we have with them.

Of course, before your application can create an emotional connection with the user it must get the basics right.  Thus, make your product a joy to use by connecting feelings with features!

How to Use After Effects to Promote Your Business

Can a single piece of software make all the difference when it comes to promoting your business?

The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is a resounding yes – and while many people would expect that piece of software to be something entirely focused on marketing, they’d be wrong. Adobe’s After Effects holds the key to unlocking a huge amount of value for your marketing efforts.

Interesting in finding out how? We’ll look at 6 key areas where some skillful After Effects use will give your brand an incredible competitive edge…

It Makes Marketing Memorable

Do you ever find yourself watching an animation or video without really understanding why? If the answer’s no, you’re in a tiny minority.

Our eyes are drawn to movement. From an evolutionary point of view, it’s what’s kept us alive for so long – but in the data-packed 21st Century, it’s a sure-fire (and low effort) way to gather a lot of information quickly. An animated video has the potential to offer us a huge amount more information quickly, especially versus text or still images.

We process moving images 60,000 times faster than static words on a page – and we recall the information we capture more readily too, in fact, animation is proven to be 58% more memorable than static text or images alone. The great news is, you don’t even have to innovate enormously if you’re used to simply creating words – as this Colorful Kinetic Typography After Effects Template by Minna Picture proves.

The result? An exceptional After Effects video makes your brand engaging and memorable.

It’s an Investment That Keeps Giving

When you use After Effects to create an incredible animation, slideshow or promo video you’ve done a lot of hard work that you’re never going to need to repeat – no matter which audience or campaign you’re working on.

For instance:

You’re working on rolling out your services in the US – but there’s a lucrative market in the UK too. Instead of going back to the drawing board, you swap out what’s US specific, drop in some UK information and bingo – you’re done. That’s a serious amount of hassle saved when you compare it to the work required to adjust or reshoot video.

Working with templates that you’ve adjusted to suit your needs makes absolute sense – from a branding point of view – and from a financial standpoint.

Transcend Your Demographics

The kind of marketing videos you’ll create in After Effects will make for compelling viewing – and compelling viewing (especially with auto-play switched on in people’s social media feeds) gets your product, service or message in front of a wide variety of eyes.

Take a look at Enchanted Studios’ Watercolor slideshow template. It’s got a hypnotic quality that you’ll enjoy watching unfold, regardless of the brand it carries.

When you use great looking templates like these, people will watch and engage with your marketing, even if they’re not your intended audience. As a result, your message spreads further and wider…

The kind of marketing videos you’ll create in After Effects will make for compelling viewing – and compelling viewing (especially with auto-play switched on in people’s social media feeds) gets your product, service or message in front of a wide variety of eyes.

Take a look at Animated Design Layouts Pack above. It’s got a hypnotic quality that you’ll enjoy watching unfold, regardless of the brand it carries.

When you use great looking templates like these, people will watch and engage with your marketing, even if they’re not your intended audience. As a result, your message spreads further and wider…

After Effects Templates Really Do Make You Look Great

The beautiful thing about beautiful templates is that they look, well… beautiful.

Who’s to say whether you’ve commissioned the project yourself, or adapted something off the shelf? No one – so for a relatively small amount of money, you’re creating something that looks out of this world.

The result?

You look more professional, more polished, more premium, more desirable… and all the other differentiators that will stand your service head-and-shoulders over that of your competitors. I’d defy anyone to look at the Big News Template below and consider it anything but a high-budget bespoke project. There are very few other marketing approaches that will offer that kind of value for such a small outlay…

Animations and Motion Graphics Keep People Engaged.

When people land on a page that’s got an animation, slideshow, animated infographic or marketing video, they stick around – and that’s a good thing for a number of reasons.

Firstly, they’re engaging with your brand. If they’re engaging, they’re far more likely to share your content, recommend your service, recall your brand – and so on.

Secondly, they’re more likely to part with their money. In fact, conversions go up by as much as 75% if you’ve got an e-commerce store and people have video to watch. Clearly, it’s got to be the right video – but nonetheless, there’s a definite correlation you can lever to your advantage.

And – if you’re still not convinced, video helps with your search engine rankings. Perhaps not directly – but, when people land on your page, Google knows how long they spend there before they ‘bounce’ or click-away to elsewhere. The longer they stay, the more relevant Google deems your page against the search that person’s performed to get there.

Animated Video Grabs (and keeps) Your Attention.

When we’re engaging with online media, we’re looking for quick gratification. If something doesn’t pique our interest in the first 10 seconds, we’re very quick to click away. However, if we have the sense something is animated, we’re hooked within 1/10th of a second.

After Effects videos offer something special in this regard – you can immediately roll out the sensory stimulus – with this Dynamic Stomp Tyography Open Template being a perfect example of that. Grab people’s attention early, hold them for 10 seconds – and you’re leaving a lasting impression that’ll see your brand, product and name spreading like wildfire…

Using Video to Bring You More Sales and How to Measure It

Most businesses want to grow. Most businesses grow by making more sales. Making more sales means making more money. Easy peasy, right? Well, when it comes to trying new marketing techniques to make more sales, it’s easy to spread yourself thin, following the latest social media trends or reading too many blog posts promising the “one secret to doubling your sales.”

Even if they all want to grow, businesses are different from each other. What works for one company may not work for another. Still, if you’re looking for a medium with a proven success rate, it’s time you start producing videos.

Videos’ results are not exclusive to a specific industry or audience. Virtually every niche can reap the benefits of high quality video content that drives sales and maximizes marketing efforts. Over 50% of marketers who have used videos in their campaigns say that video yielded the highest conversions and ROI. Maybe it is easy peasy.

How Do You Increase Sales Through Video?

Produce more content.

While quality and value are important, content creation is often a numbers game. The more high-quality content you create, the more opportunities your audience has to interact with your content and go further down the funnel.

Producing more video content doesn’t have to be as daunting of a task as it seems. If you’ve written blog posts, designed infographics or done case studies, you already have the material you need to produce more videos. Repurposing existing content into video will expose that content to new audiences. Plus, you can test how that content performs in a different medium. You might find that engagement on your video far exceeds the views or engagement on your blog posts.

Build a presence on YouTube.

YouTube is a perfect place to start your video monetization journey. If you already have video content but aren’t on YouTube, drop everything and start uploading. The platform’s built-in audience of viewers likely already has people looking for the exact content you’re creating.

Creating content for YouTube is easier than you think. Hosting videos on YouTube you’ve already produced elsewhere is a great way to bring them back to the surface and turn your channel into a comprehensive resource for people in a specific niche.

When using YouTube, it is key to optimize your posts to make sure you’re getting the most exposure. Research keywords that will make your videos more visible. Optimize your video thumbnail and description. Push your video to your most popular social channels. These practices will put your video in a great position to reach new potential buyers—and further establish your brand authority.

Once your YouTube channel has grown, you can even monetize it by running ads on your account or using affiliate links to make sales.

Host Facebook Live sessions.

Using Facebook Live as a promotional tool is another proven way to get in front of your audience candidly and add a more humanized approach to your marketing strategy. Many companies are using Facebook Live as a way to promote new products or launches, share stories with their audience, and hold Q&A sessions to create more transparency and close the communication gap between themselves and their users.

Facebook’s algorithm has also been shifting to favor video and Live sessions, so the more often you host a Facebook Live, the more Facebook will prioritize showing your content to your audience. Using scarcity tactics can also help make quick sales, like giving viewers the opportunity to receive a discount if they purchase within a certain time frame.

Use video in your emails.

Email marketing itself has a great ability to nurture and convert audience. Pair good email marketing with a solid video campaign and you’ve got the tools to rapidly increase sales. Video content in emails converts three times higher than emails with only text and images, and it boosts open rates by almost 20% and click-through rates by 65%.

There a few strategies up you can use to incorporate videos in your emails. If you’re able to tackle a more technical process, you might want to try embedding videos directly into your email. This makes it more convenient for people opening the email and viewing your video, reducing barriers. However, it does run the risk of your emails being sent to spam by some email providers. To avoid this, you can create a thumbnail image of the video and link to the video on your website or on a landing page instead.

Use video for live events.

When you’re attending events or doing live presentations, there are a few ways to incorporate video to make your presentation or displays more interactive. With the rise of virtual reality and augmented reality, hands-on video content is a great way to attract people’s attention. VR and AR provide your audience with more control and more active viewing. These types of presentations are a bit more technical but are a guaranteed way to stand out among a sea of static displays.

If you’re presenting at a live event, it’s always a smart idea to record your pitch or presentation and repurpose that content as sales content in the future. You can even take interesting sound bites and turn them into short, digestible content for social media or YouTube.

Create custom videos for prospects.

We’ve talked about producing video content to share with your audience as a whole, but using videos to reach out to individual clients or prospects creates a hyper-personal touch to help connect with new accounts or close deals with old ones.

These types of videos shouldn’t be generic promotional content aimed broadly at social media or your email list. It should be something you create specifically for one person or organization, targeting their unique pain points and offering custom solutions. Producing a short series of personalized videos for a potential client that addresses their needs specifically will allow your organization to show that you understand them and know how to help. These videos don’t have to be large, costly productions. Just creating a simple video message or presentation of your case is enough to make an impact.

How Do You Measure Your Efforts?

When tracking the efforts of your videos and how they relate to sales, it’s important to know what numbers and data to look for. Analytics can be overwhelming, but monitoring a few key areas can make sure your video campaigns are actually working.

Track conversions.

As the key to driving business, conversions are a great indicator of effectiveness. Your conversion rate is the the percentage of people who completed an intended action after watching the video. If you notice your conversion rates dipping, there are ways to improve the conversions with little tweaks. Make your CTA compelling and clear through action-oriented words. Place your content is on the right platform to reach the audience you’re targeting. Finding this information requires a bit of research and surveying, but it will give you the highest return on your video investment.

Measure engagement rates.

If you want higher engagement from your audience, just ask. Your audience needs something to interact with during or after your video. To measure your calls to action more accurately, track analytics on the video and run A/B tests to figure out what engages more viewers. Also check that you are posting your videos at a time when your audience is actually active and online.

Additionally, if your engagement rates are low, it probably means your watch rate is low as well. Viewers who are engaged and enjoyed the video are more likely to purchase. If your videos are on a website or landing page, you can improve your watch rates by aligning video content with page context to make sure everything the viewer is seeing around the video is relevant and of value to the viewer. Make sure that you’re using analytics to provide insight into where the viewer stops, rewatches, or skips through the video.  From those insights, you can optimize your videos, both now and in the future.

Don’t get caught up on vanity metrics.

While those pieces of data are valuable, some aren’t. Getting a lot of views, likes, and comments is exciting, but they don’t always mean much for your bottom line: making more sales. If you have a very specific audience or precise message, getting 100 views by potential customers could be far more valuable than 100,000 views from the general public.

That said, more views means does mean more opportunities for conversions. Optimizing things like your thumbnail selection, the size of your video, and its placement on the page can make a positive impact on your view count. It’s also smart to experiment with different variations of these factors to determine what works best.

Ready to create quality video content that brings you more sales? We’re ready, too. Reach out today, and let’s get started!

Growing Your Business Using Motion Graphics

Abstract and Concrete

Many companies have to market products that don’t physically exist. If your company primarily works with data, networking, security, or SaaS, it might not be possible to depict what you do in a realistic way. Not effectively, at least. A video of people typing at computers or tapping on phones won’t grab your audience. That’s when you use motion graphics.

A motion graphics video uses text, icons, shapes, charts, and graphs to communicate ideas in an abstract or symbolic way. The broadest definition would say that any video that doesn’t feature characters fits the bill, but the best examples of motion graphics videos distill complex and abstract ideas into simple images. Rather than with characters, they tell stories by demonstrating the relationships between ideas with shapes and motion. They can be 2D, rely on on-screen text, or incorporate 3D motion graphics to give the video a sense of space.

A motion graphics video might be right for you if your product or service exists solely in the digital space or is so complex that it can’t be depicted directly.

You can tell a simple story with just two people in a room with a few props. But that might not accurately explain the scope of your offering. Motion graphics videos are commonly used to explain cutting-edge concepts like big data, cloud analytics, or blockchain.

You can’t show those with two people in a room. You can barely show that with a map of the world. Instead, you need to create a functional video metaphor out of shape and motion that demonstrates exactly how impressive your product is.

A motion graphics video might be right for you if your product or service operates at an extreme scale, from the microscopic all the way up to the global—and beyond.

Color and Shape

Motion graphics videos are fashionable because they’re a great fit for companies that want to communicate sophistication. When made with your brand guidelines in mind, your video looks right at home no matter where you deploy it.

Motion graphics videos are flexible. Because you’re working primarily with text, shape, color, and motion, the world can be tailored to accomplish exactly what you need it to accomplish, no matter how specific or out-there your brand requirements are. The end result emphasizes the two things that are most important to brand-conscious companies: your identity and your ideas.

A motion graphics video might be right for you if your brand favors sophisticated visual design.

Sound Ideas

An essential element of motion graphic video design is often ignored, but it makes a huge difference. It’s sound design. Motion graphics videos create huge opportunities to tell your story through sound and music, which makes them a perfect fit for keynote presentations or brand identity pieces.

Conversely, many motion graphics videos are built to work without any sound at all. This means you can deploy them at trade show booths or as muted autoplay videos on social media without losing any impact because the visuals carry the ideas.

A motion graphics video might be right for you if your message or brand could benefit from rich sound design—or no sound at all.

Types of Video Content Proven to Attract Viewers

The importance of video content in the digital marketing world is hard to overestimate. Videos help grab the attention of your target audience, improve SEO rankings, and increase brand loyalty.

So, if you consider video content to be the key element of your marketing strategy, your company is headed in the right direction. Let’s check what types of videos will help you get more views.

Product Video

The product video is must-have content for IT companies which offer unique solutions. You need to explain what your app/device/service is all about, and how users will benefit from it.

“If your target audience has never used or even seen similar products before, you should create a high-quality product video. This type of content will help you to effectively present your ideas and convince users to try your product,” – states Amanda Sparks, a digital marketing specialist at Essay Supply.

Take a look at this Spring product video. Viewers need 30 seconds to understand why this app can make workouts more effective and fun.

Unboxing

Some people avoid online shopping because they don’t want to buy a pig in a poke. Placing an order, customers never know for sure whether the chosen product will match the photo.

It feels like playing the lottery: sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Unfortunately, it happens pretty often that products don’t meet the customers’ expectations. An unboxing video is a great tool for building trust in a relationship with potential clients. This type of content convinces target audiences that your product looks great not only in photos but also in real life.

For example, if you sell leather shoes, you can give one pair of boots to a style blogger and ask him/her to shoot an unboxing video for social media. Your target audience is curious about your products, so this video will attract thousands of viewers.

Behind-the-scenes

People are curious by nature. Your target audience really wants to get some insider information related to your company.

So why not create a “behind the scenes” video? You can show your manufacturing facility, different stages of production as well as tell them about your employees.

For instance, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport created a collection of video clips, which describe the responsibilities of aviation security agents, baggage handlers, apron controllers, and other employees. Travelers want to know how the airport works, how bags are transported and how safety is checked. For this reason, these videos attracted thousands of viewers and helped to increase customer loyalty.

Testimonial Video

People really want to know what your previous clients think about your goods and services. And if you create atestimonial video, your potential customers will definitely like watching it.

“If you want to convince people to make a purchase, you don’t need to add a hundred fake positive reviews on your website. You should upload one or two genuinely useful testimonial videos, which reveal the truth,” – claims Bethany Clarkson, a social media specialist at Resumes Centre.

You can interview one of your reputable clients to show your audience that even big well-known companies trust the quality of your products and services. Keep in mind that this video should answer the top clients` concerns.

In Conclusion

There are a lot of different types of content, and you should choose the one which suits your marketing goals  the best. Try to analyze the preferences of your target audience and define the current stage of the buyer’s journey. With the help of a trusted video company, you can create high-quality content which will instantly attract thousands of viewers.

5 Ways to Incorporate Video Content in Your Marketing Strategy

Video has become the most prominent medium in social media, and its popularity has been instilled very swiftly. Most of us needed a while to get used to auto playing videos on Facebook and other platforms. What’s interesting about the explosive growth of video content, if you read an article that dates back to 2013-2015, this type of content was deemed to be a black hole for your budget.

The tables have turned. Today video content is at its peak, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In this article, you’ll find suggestions on how to better integrate video content into your marketing strategy.

Maintain your focus on value

So simply posting videos on social media and on your blog won’t just blast your website into the top positions in Google or generate a lot of organic traffic overnight. Just like blog posts, your videos must focus on providing your potential viewers with valuable and shareable information.

Considering the above-mentioned, record some videos that focus on the usability of your product and its applicability. Users are often persuaded by actually seeing how a particular product performs, rather than just accepting a vague description. Furthermore, people are pressed for time, they would rather spend two minutes watching a video, than reading a long form review.

Try to walk in your customer’s shoes and think about what you would like to see if you were passionate by a particular domain or niche. What would make your life easier? What kind of content do you find more digestible and compelling? Diversifying your blog with videos rather than long reads will considerably increase the appeal for your content.

Understand your audience and where they live

This is where your analytics come into play. Who is your audience member? What are they passionate about? What social media platform do they prefer?

Take a while to look at the content you’ve put out previously and how it performed — both the wins and the losses — in order to estimate what kind of videos your audience would be more likely to enjoy and share. Posting videos to Facebook if the vast majority of your audience prefers Instagram simply doesn’t make sense, this is why it is imperative to calibrate your video presence online. By carefully studying what medium your audience prefers and what kind of content they enjoy, you can ensure your video content will be watched.

Furthermore, don’t forget to take a peek at the geographical distribution of your audience. You may need to consider creating content in different languages or at the very least — create subtitles in languages other than English.

Test, test, test

It’s best to first dip your toe in the water, before actually plunging into video marketing. Once you’ve established what the best type of video content is for your audience, it is critical to start slowly, and A/B test your content to see how it performs. As we said previously, video content isn’t a magic bullet for your marketing issues.

Look into a list of essential variables, which you’ll have to test. There is a host of both internal and external factors that can be changed in order to get  better results. For instance, the external factors are:

• The thumbnail of the video

• The description that accompanies the clip

• The title

• The audience

• The platform where the video is posted

Followed by the internal factors that can bring a whole lot of variation to the impact of your videos:

• The actual content of your videos (which we’ll discuss briefly)

• Their length

• The palette you use in your content

• Sound and Music

• CTA’s (calls to action)

Your main intention is to isolate just one variable and carefully test its iterations, it’s not essential to test all of them. However, it is pretty common that the devil is in the details. Do not hesitate to delegate specific tasks to specific professionals. To not hesitate to hire an audio engineer to work on your sound and jingles, along with a high-quality writer to suggest and improve your CTA’s and texts.

The 12 types of marketing videos

Before your company starts video production, there is an important decision to be made — the kind of videos that you are going to put out. Here’s a list of the most common video types used in video marketing and marketing in general.

• Demo Videos

• Brand Videos

• Event Videos

• Expert Interviews

• Educational or How-To Videos

• Explainer Videos

• Animated Videos

• Case Study and Customer Testimonial Videos

• Live Videos

• VR Videos

• AR Videos

• Personalized Messages

Sometimes choosing the type of video, you’ll choose to focus on will be a no-brainer, depending on the niche you’re in. However, it isn’t always a very straightforward task. That is why it is important to test and find out what type of content your customers prefer.

Implement, rinse, and repeat

There is an essential moment in A/B testing when it’s time to stop the testing and start implementing. However, it’s imperative to be mindful of the fact that any type of optimization is like a work of art — it’s never finished, it’s simply abandoned at some point. Rest assured that after you’ve found out what type of video content your followers engage with more, there is always space for improvement.

Start off by implementing your findings into your current marketing strategy and give it a while so that you can collect valuable information on what can be done better. What are the elements that your audience engages with? Where do your customers seem to disconnect with the content?

A successful integration of video content into your marketing strategy demands that you always keep an eye on possible improvements. Otherwise, it just doesn’t make sense.

Conclusion

A video is booming, and it’s in your best interest to start improving your marketing strategy by spicing it up with some high-quality video content. It doesn’t just benefit your marketing, it lets your brand stand out from the crowd. Video content is an amazing way to provide your audience with valuable and easily digestible information. Good luck!

Author bio: Daniela McVicker is a blogger with a rich experience in writing about UX design, content planning, and digital marketing. Currently, she is the chief contributor at Top Writers Review where she helps individuals and organizations improve their web content writing, design, and planning skills. Her posts are always packed with examples and actionable content that readers can put straight into action.

Mobile Marketing: The 4 Ways to Make Your Clients Happy

Many businesses are increasingly adopting mobile-first mentality, which means favoring mobile digital marketing tactics above traditional ones. And there are staggering numbers behind such a decision:

• The Internet boasts over 3.5 billion unique mobile users

• Nearly 90% of users grab their smartphone within an hour of waking up

• People spend an average 69% of their media time on smartphones

Indeed, mobile is an important business asset set to engage clients and drive sales. If your customer journey doesn’t rely on mobile yet, you’re probably missing the mark. To shape a reliable, compelling mobile experience, consider taking these four steps.

Facilitate payments

If your business revolves around selling goods or services, mind the fact that mobile payments are finally gaining traction after years of hype. US shoppers are actively using mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Walmart Pay, and Google Pay to purchase items on the internet or at physical stores.

But Starbucks seems to be winning the competition. In US brick and mortar stores people pay with their smartphones and even earn credit for future purchases. The app’s popularity is staggering: Starbucks admits its mobile system accounted for 12% of all US transactions in Q2.

In China, the leaders of the mobile payment market are Alipay and WeChat, with 350 and 200 million users accordingly. Both providers extend their services to restaurants, retailers, e-commerce websites, and even let their clients pay parking tickets and utility bills.

To accommodate your clients in a similar way, think integration with the most popular cashless payment systems. This will make the checkout process easier and faster, while significantly improving shopping experience.

If you want to go even further, apply biometric payment technology. You can take Mastercard as an example. Its biometric app Identity Check Mobile spares users the need to remember passwords. Cardholders can verify their identity by scanning fingerprints or taking a “selfie” on their smartphones. With such a solution, Mastercard makes great progress in speeding up the payment process and strengthening security.

Introduce mobile loyalty programs

With a huge amount of buying options today, consumers are becoming choosier than ever. And before making a purchasing decision, they want retailers to demonstrate care. This leads to a soaring popularity of loyalty programs aimed to satisfy customer needs and reduce churn rate.

To notably improve your mobile marketing strategy, you can follow the example of big brands that take advantage of this trend. Here are some success stories for your inspiration.

Walgreens

This second-largest US pharmacy store launched a mobile app that serves as a purchasing tool and a reward program at the same time. Users get points not only for buying products but also for making healthy choices, for instance, exercising, giving up smoking, testing blood pressure, and more. With such an incentive program, Walgreens aims to promote a healthier lifestyle among their customers.

Ritual

Ritual is a service mobile app that allows ordering food from 1,600 different restaurants across the USA. By using this app, consumers can skip the line — a benefit that drives true loyalty. With every purchase, users get points that can be redeemed at any partner restaurant. Ritual Elite members receive early access to bonus points and exclusives like member-only events or secret menus.

Bet on location-based marketing

If you’re still out of the loop, location-based marketing (LBM) is a strategy honing in on a mobile phone’s location to inform its owner of nearby business offerings. Alerts usually come in the form of SMS messages or in-app notifications and include a discount coupon code or information about daily deals.

A growing opportunity for businesses of all sizes, such geofencing mobile marketing helps drive more traffic to stores, which positively affects the bottom line.

American Eagle is among the retailers that leverage mobile in-store. It’s Shopkick-driven app uses geofencing and beacon technology to track clients’ locations and engage them with gamified purchasing incentives. Namely, consumers are given kicks (a reward currency) for walking in, visiting the fitting room, and purchasing items. Shopkick’s users can also bookmark products online and get alerts when they’re in the shop that sells these items.

Another LBM example is the “Hijack” campaign by Meat Pack, a Guatemalan shoe shop. Powered by GPS technology, its mobile app spots potential clients at  competitor stores, like Nike or Adidas, and launches “a discount clock”. The countdown starts from a 99% discount and drops it by 1% per second, forcing users to virtually rush into a nearby Meat Pack’s store. The company reports to have enticed about 600 shoppers, with one of them getting a 89% discount.

Invest in Augmented Reality

From education to banking, AR continues to forge ahead. In 2016, the global revenue from AR-enabled mobile apps reached $725.4 million dollars, and there are all signs of further growth.

Indeed, AR shows great potential, and many businesses are already putting this tech to innovative use and reaping the benefits. For instance, L’Oréal Paris Makeup Genius app lets clients virtually try on about 4,500 products from its cosmetic brand’s catalogue — by using a smartphone or a tablet. This way, L’Oréal not only intends to provide customers with a new, powerful way to experience products, but also to generate more sales.

Sport is another sphere where AR could shine. To wit, FC Bayern launched a mobile app with AR functionality to allow users to “meet” their favorite players. Football fans just need to activate their phone’s camera to enjoy a mixed reality experience with Manuel Neuer or Arjen Robben standing in front of them.

According to the club’s Director of Media, Digital and Communications, Stefan Mennerich, such an app is a good way to boost user engagement. “It is important to us that we continue to offer these innovative experiences, not only to ensure that we are connecting with our family of fans on all levels but also to continue advancing digital technology used in the sport sector,” he said.

Summing it up

More and more people are shifting their focus from desktop to mobile. Whether they’re searching or shopping, mobile has become a critical player in their daily interactions, and your digital presence should correspond to this trend.

To help you with that, we’ve outlined a four-step recipe for mobile-first success. And depending on your specific business needs, you can capitalize on cashless payments, loyalty programs, geomarketing, AR, or add some other tactics to your marketing arsenal.

A Short Lesson on Color Theory

Animated video leads you through the layers of color theory.

Do you know your secondary colors from your tertiary colors? How about the difference between a hue and a value? With so many different terms in the world of art and design, it's easy to forget things. That's why designer and animator Rhea Lelina Manglapus has put together this animated crash course on colour theory.

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Whether you're struggling with how to paint with complementary colors, or perhaps you want to choose the right color scheme for a web project or branding design, Manglapus' video A Brief Lesson on Color Theory will fill you in with some crucial color terms.

Working up from the basics of colour theory by introducing the color spectrum, and warm and cool colors, this short video quickly leads viewers through to more advanced terms. Perfect as an introduction or a quick refresher on the key terms, watching this video is a minute-and-a-half well spent.

There are plenty of useful color tools online and offline, which often refer to terms such as analogous and triadic when helping you pick a palette. The animation explains that these terms mean "Groups of colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel," and, "Three colors that are equidistant on the color wheel", respectively. 

The color examples given throughout the animation are clear, enhancing the text explanations. Similarly, the slick, subtle animation style and background music don't detract from the lessons, but keep the video an engaging and even fun educational experience. This is definitely a video refresher to bookmark and share with friends.

Why Selling Your Time Isn’t Enough

Trading time for money… it’s become normal and expected in our industry, but I want you to see past it. I want you to know there’s a path to working smarter, not harder. Just because you’re a freelancer in a creative industry does not mean you have to trade your time for money. Your creative work contributes to an end product (video, website, design, etc.) which brings value to people. Consider this: you can create, market and sell your clients on the collective value of that end product, and the process required to make it, rather than just how long it will take to make it. Why would you do that? Glad you asked. Let’s start with a few of the benefits: (1) you’ll make more money, (2) you’ll be more efficient and (3) it will make all of your clients happy. Do I have your attention yet?

“Client’s don’t want you to trade time for money; they want to trade their money for value.”

Consistency is key.

When you focus on selling a product from your skills, you force yourself to develop a system: the workflow needed to actually create the product. Your system will become predictable, and that’s a good thing. This allows you to figure out how much time and effort will go into creating a final work at a certain level of quality, and with that, you can figure out how much you need to charge for it to be profitable. Clients love this. When you present a project and can confidently state how much it will cost to make something of a similar quality, you are miles ahead of the game. If you don’t know why, I’m guessing you’ve never had to get quotes from freelancers before, so let me fill you in.

Many clients shop around before choosing a new vendor. This involves gathering estimates, sometimes called a request for proposal (RFP). You’d be amazed at how sloppy (and time consuming) this process can be for both the client and freelancers. The client just wants to know how much their potential project will cost, and freelancers will spend hours trying to figure it out by estimating the time required and drafting a decent looking proposal… every time. Even after all that, most freelancers will still be doubting the dollar amount they came up with. What a waste of time! Imagine if you’ve already figured out how much your product costs, how long it will take and you already have a proposal template with all of this information ready to go—look at how professional you are!

When you present a flat rate with a guaranteed level of quality, you’ll be 100x more attractive than other prospects. I can say this confidently because I’ve quoted and pitched several projects to huge brands around the San Francisco Bay Area and this method consistently raises eyebrows and closes deals. That’s why I run Modio this way. If it didn’t work, I wouldn’t be preaching it. The simplicity of a system that can deliver exactly what your client wants for a consistent price and schedule will always overshadow rates based on time.

Don’t sell time, sell the finished work.

Coming up with your product deserves a lot of thought. Find your niche. What do clients need most, and how do they want it? Do they want varying levels of quality? You’ve heard the saying, “Good, fast or cheap. Pick two.” In most cases, I’d honestly recommend picking only one. The most successful product will include a combination of skills and steps that would be difficult for someone to outsource or manage internally. If you’re only able to provide a small piece of the product you want to deliver, consider partnering with other freelancers to fill the missing links in each other’s systems—this is what they call “synergy” in the corporate world. Now more than ever is the time to come up with creative business models. We’re in a time where the solo freelancer is going to be squeezed into lower and lower rates, because the competition is too great. What I’m suggesting is meant to give you a stronger foundation as a business, because whether you like it or not freelancing is a business.

This article was originally published by Adrian Thompson

Founder & Creative Director of Modio, the motion graphics studio. He's passionate about simplifying information, solving problems and collaboration.

3 Powerful Reasons You Need to Storyboard Your Next Video

Are you resisting the storyboard process? Do you think it’s going to slow you down, or take too long? If so, I encourage you to consider these amazing benefits.

#1 It saves you time.

Creating any type of professional video has many logistics associated with it. Whether you’re producing a film, or directing an explainer video, a critical part of success is utilizing your resources wisely. Moving forward without a clear outline opens the door for miscommunication, which will require more and more meetings to keep everybody on the same page during production. This is the equivalent of going on a road trip with no map, which makes it quite difficult to discern when you’re going to get there. Storyboarding forces us to think about the best routes to take before we even start the journey.

#2 It saves you money.

With a set of storyboards you’re able to communicate clearly with talent (and client’s) about where your project is headed. Before the job begins, everyone will have an idea of what will be needed to achieve the desired results. This clarity offers such a high level of efficiency, it’s almost guaranteed you’ll finish the job with less revisions. In an industry where work can cost anything from $100 per hour to $1,000’s of dollars per day; there’s much to gain by reducing the amount of changes needed in production.

#3 It improves quality.

The best part about storyboarding is that it’s going to allow you to focus all that energy that would’ve been spent on unnecessary revisions, into creative thinking and detail-oriented improvements that’ll take your project to the next level. Instead of filming a scene three different ways “just in case” you’ll be able to direct your actors in confidence, knowing exactly what part of the story you’re striving to emphasize. Rather than starting over on an animation, you’ll be adding elements of visualize interest that you wouldn’t of had time to experiment with before.

What’s holding you back?

If you’re ready to experience the benefits of storyboarding, we’d love for you to give Plot a try. It’s the easiest way to create, organize and collaborate on storyboards.

This article was originally published by Adrian Thompson

Founder & Creative Director of Modio, the motion graphics studio. He's passionate about simplifying information, solving problems and collaboration.

Mobile Marketing: the 4 Ways to Make Your Clients Happy

Many businesses are increasingly adopting mobile-first mentality, which means favoring mobile digital marketing tactics above traditional ones. And there are staggering numbers behind such a decision:

• The Internet boasts over 3.5 billion unique mobile users

• Nearly 90% of users grab their smartphone within an hour of waking up

• People spend an average 69% of their media time on smartphones

Indeed, mobile is an important business asset set to engage clients and drive sales. If your customer journey doesn’t rely on mobile yet, you’re probably missing the mark. To shape a reliable, compelling mobile experience, consider taking these four steps.

Facilitate payments

If your business revolves around selling goods or services, mind the fact that mobile payments are finally gaining traction after years of hype. US shoppers are actively using mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Walmart Pay, and Google Pay to purchase items on the internet or at physical stores.

But Starbucks seems to be winning the competition. In US brick and mortar stores people pay with their smartphones and even earn credit for future purchases. The app’s popularity is staggering: Starbucks admits its mobile system accounted for 12% of all US transactions in Q2.

In China, the leaders of the mobile payment market are Alipay and WeChat, with 350 and 200 million users accordingly. Both providers extend their services to restaurants, retailers, e-commerce websites, and even let their clients pay parking tickets and utility bills.

To accommodate your clients in a similar way, think integration with the most popular cashless payment systems. This will make the checkout process easier and faster, while significantly improving shopping experience.

If you want to go even further, apply biometric payment technology. You can take Master card as an example. Its' biometric app Identity Check Mobile spares users the need to remember passwords. Cardholders can verify their identity by scanning fingerprints or taking a “selfie” on their smartphones. With such a solution, Master card makes great progressin speeding up the payment process and strengthening security.

Introduce mobile loyalty programs

With a huge amount of buying options today, consumers are becoming choosier than ever. And before making a purchasing decision, they want retailers to demonstrate care. This leads to a soaring popularity of loyalty programs aimed to satisfy customer needs and reduce churn rate.

To notably improve your mobile marketing strategy, you can follow the example of big brands that take advantage of this trend. Here are some success stories for your inspiration.

Walgreens

This second-largest US pharmacy store launched a mobile app that serves as a purchasing tool and a reward program at the same time. Users get points not only for buying products but also for making healthy choices, for instance, exercising, giving up smoking, testing blood pressure, and more. With such an incentive program, Walgreens aims to promote a healthier lifestyle among their customers.

Ritual

Ritual is a service mobile app that allows ordering food from 1,600 different restaurants across the USA. By using this app, consumers can skip the line — a benefit that drives true loyalty. With every purchase, users get points that can be redeemed at any partner restaurant. Ritual Elite members receive early access to bonus points and exclusives like member-only events or secret menus.

Bet on location-based marketing

If you’re still out of the loop, location-based marketing (LBM) is a strategy honing in on a mobile phone’s location to inform its owner of nearby business offerings. Alerts usually come in the form of SMS messages or in-app notifications and include a discount coupon code or information about daily deals.

A growing opportunity for businesses of all sizes, such geofencing mobile marketing helps drive more traffic to stores, which positively affects the bottom line.

American Eagle is among the retailers that leverage mobile in-store. Its Shopkick-driven app uses geofencing and beacon technology to track clients’ locations and engage them with gamified purchasing incentives. Namely, consumers are given kicks (a reward currency) for walking in, visiting the fitting room, and purchasing items. Shopkick’s users can also bookmark products online and get alerts when they’re in the shop that sells these items.

Another LBM example is the “Hijack” campaign by Meat Pack, a Guatemalan shoe shop. Powered by GPS technology, its mobile app spots potential clients at  competitor stores, like Nike or Adidas, and launches “a discount clock”. The countdown starts from a 99% discount and drops it by 1% per second, forcing users to virtually rush into a nearby Meat Pack’s store. The company reports to have enticed about 600 shoppers, with one of them getting a 89% discount.

Invest in Augmented Reality

From education to banking, AR continues to forge ahead. In 2016, the global revenue from AR-enabled mobile apps reached $725.4 million dollars, and there are all signs of further growth.

Indeed, AR shows great potential, and many businesses are already putting this tech to innovative use and reaping the benefits. For instance, L’Oréal Paris Makeup Genius app lets clients virtually try on about 4,500 products from its cosmetic brand’s catalogue — by using a smartphone or a tablet. This way, L’Oréal not only intends to provide customers with a new, powerful way to experience products, but also to generate more sales.

Sport is another sphere where AR could shine. To wit, FC Bayern launched a mobile app with AR functionality to allow users to “meet” their favorite players. Football fans just need to activate their phone’s camera to enjoy a mixed reality experience with Manuel Neuer or Arjen Robben standing in front of them.

According to the club’s Director of Media, Digital and Communications, Stefan Mennerich, such an app is a good way to boost user engagement. “It is important to us that we continue to offer these innovative experiences, not only to ensure that we are connecting with our family of fans on all levels but also to continue advancing digital technology used in the sport sector,” he said.

Summing it up

More and more people are shifting their focus from desktop to mobile. Whether they’re searching or shopping, mobile has become a critical player in their daily interactions, and your digital presence should correspond to this trend.

To help you with that, we’ve outlined a four-step recipe for mobile-first success. And depending on your specific business needs, you can capitalize on cashless payments, loyalty programs, geomarketing, AR, or add some other tactics to your marketing arsenal.

When to Design from Scratch and When to Use Templates or Design Resources

With the rise of graphic design resource websites and online design tools, creating visual content is easier than ever. But even though designing is easier and faster, it doesn’t mean that it should stop you from also designing from scratch.

Graphic designers are definitely allowed to use previously created illustrations or templates to make their job easier. That is each designer’s prerogative. If these resources weren’t loved by designers and non-designers alike, they wouldn’t exist.

So when is it the right time to use these resources and when is it best to design from scratch? It all depends on your clients, how much time you are given, and the size of your client’s budget.

First, let’s look at the options available to you as designers.

Design Resources

Even before the end of online design, graphic designers used resources to help them be more productive. Scratchable typography is one of the most common, along with textures and stock photography. Nowadays, the resources available are much more extensive. From illustrations, icons, backgrounds, to pretty much anything really.

When you, as a designer sit down to start a project, you have a few choices:

1. Use bits and pieces sourced from sites like Freepik and Creative Market. Use these resources to build the design like a college. If using professional and high-quality sources, then the finished design will look great if you have a good creative eye. If using resources with commercial licenses, then the finished design is legally yours to send your clients and charge for it.

2. Create the design from scratch inside a tool like Photoshop or Illustrator, designing all sections of the design from beginning to end. This might or might not take longer than using sourced designs. It really depends on how much time you spend creating or searching.

3. The third option is to use a mix of both. This is what usually happens these days.

   Online Tools

   Online design tools like Visme and Canva have revolutionized the graphic design industry. With these cloud-based apps available on desktop and mobile, everyone can create visual content. Non-designers have it easier than ever to be able to create their own designs without hiring a designer at all.

   But do designers use these tools as well? Truth is, they do! Canva has given designers a great platform for offering social media templates to clients that don’t want to design anything themselves. With Canva for work, a designer can create a whole set of templates using brand assets for their client.

   Also, these tools are a lifesaver when a client needs a graphic quickly and their budget is low.

   There are those that call themselves designers but only know how to use Canva. 
   This is a discussion for another day.

   Mockups

   Product and packaging mockups are a great tool for designers. They help visualize the designs are 3D pieces and clients love them. Digital mockups like laptops and mobile screens are wonderful tools for web and digital designers.

   When to use resources and templates and when to design from scratch

   To know what direction to take for your new project, ask yourself these questions:

   • What is the client’s budget?

   • How unique is the client’s visual message?

   • What is your time frame?

   • Do you feel like you have the technical capacity?

   If the client’s budget is low, then you can just use templates from Visme to design their graphics fast and easy.  Both Canva and Visme have plenty of icons and graphics inside the editor for easy use.

   If the client’s visual message is not extremely unique, then you can source graphics from Freepik and other sites to create the finished designs.  Either way, sourced resources should be customized to fit each client’s brand, especially in terms of color.

   If a client needs designs done fast, you can use previous designs for these clients and repurpose. It might be just fine to use Visme to create their visuals quickly.

   Do you think you can handle what they need technically? If the client wants illustrations and you don’t do that, using illustrations from Freepik might be just what you and your client need.

How to convince your clients that they need a unique visual strategy

For a business to have a successful marketing strategy, it needs to have a unique visual style. If only using stock photography and sourced graphics, these will not make them stand out from the competition.

A designer must always know how to customize sourced photography and graphics to make the visuals more unique. Everything can be tweaked; with filters, shapes, colors and textures. If you get a new client that needs graphics but they don’t have a branding strategy, it’s a great opportunity to offer that to them.

No matter if you design with sourced graphics and templates, or completely from scratch, you should always talk to your clients about their visual strategy and how being unique is always better.

Over to you

Do you design mostly from scratch or with the help of third-party resources like the ones we offer on Freepik? All combinations are valid by the way. As long as you give your clients a legal finished product that you feel proud of and they love.

What is the Difference Between Motion Graphics and Animation?

In the world of animated videos, there has always been a discussion about the difference between motion graphics and animation. If you aren’t part of either of those worlds, chances are that you have no idea what the difference is. For someone who is a motion graphics designer, it’s very common to be confused with an animator even if they don’t work making cartoons.

Truth is, that in many instances, a piece of content might use both motion graphics design AND animation. Especially in advertisements. But for the sake of explaining the difference between the two, we will look at how each one has its own purpose.

One huge confusing aspect of all this is how online graphics editors use the term “animation” for giving motion to shapes and pieces of data. The term is correct but it just makes the line between the two so much more blurry. In both motion graphics and animation, when a static visual is given movement, it is “animated.” Of course, some hardcore fanatics will say to “give it movement” instead.

What do they have in common?

Before looking at the differences between the two, let’ look at how they are similar. This will help understand why they are so commonly confused or interchanged in conversation. Both motion graphics and animation are art forms in which objects or characters are given movement. It’s the art of taking a static image and bringing it to life.

Both art forms use the same type of software to reach the results they need; Maya, After Effects among others. Motion graphics and animation also both follow the Twelve Principles of Animation. These principles are a set of visual rules to help artists give objects life in a natural way. From bouncing to rolling and jumping, the twelve principles apply to any object given movement through the process of animating it.

In a sense, you can say that motion graphics and animation actually complement each other.

Now let’s look at how they are different.

The main difference is the storytelling aspect

The best way to explain how motion graphics and animation are different is to see them through the stories each one aims to tell.

An animation is generally a visual representation of a story with characters and a storyline where actions unravel to a climax which then reaches a conclusion. It can be an animated short, a full-length Disney animated movie or a presentation with animated characters telling an informational story.

Motion graphics is more about giving life to something that usually wouldn’t have any. For example the shapes inside a presentation, the background of an explainer video. Another use for motion graphics is to explain a process. For example, the way in which a product is made and then shipped to customers.

Similar to the difference between graphic design and illustration

Another way of looking at it is that motion graphics relates more to the work of graphic designers while the animation is more similar to illustration.

Graphic designers explain a concept through visuals, and motion graphics designers do the same but with movement. Illustrators create a visual story, and animators give the story life.

When it comes to a client deciding if they need an animator or a motion graphics designer, they need to analyze exactly what it is they want to convey with the finished work. If what they need is a visually appealing presentation about their sales efforts of the past year then a motion graphics designer is exactly what they need. If they want an emotional animated story of how their products change peoples’ lives, then an animator will be more suited.

In either case, the motion graphics designer works directly with a graphic designer or is one. On the other hand, the animator will also either be an illustrator or will work closely with one. Inside a creative agency, these roles are usually very separate. The animation department will have illustrators sketching the art while the animators will use the software to give those illustrations life.

What about visual effects?

There is one more design role that sometimes becomes involved in the world of animation and motion graphics. This is the role of visual effects. For people not inside the realm of design, it’s easy to confuse motion graphics with visual effects, after all giving something movement is a visual effect.

The reality is that visual effects are something completely different. The role of a visual effects artist is to add visual richness to any piece of work, be it animated or real life film. Visual effects artists add to the atmosphere of scenes; by adding rain, colorizing the sky, or adding emphasis to a light source.

If you sit through the credits of any type of film, you will see the role of visual effects artists every single time.

Over to you

Do you do any kind of animation or motion graphics? How do you feel about the labeling of each?

There are some great animation and motion graphics courses and tutorials on our Tutpad platform, why don’t you check them out? Maybe you can learn something new today!

6 Questions You Should Ask Before Hiring a Creative Vendor / Freelancer

We know hiring creative vendors can feel like risky business—after all, you have a reputation on the line. Next time, please ask them these 6 questions! 

#1 Do you ever outsource your projects?

It’s become harder to keep talented people close by while simultaneously offering competitive rates. You’ll want to make sure that your vendor knows who they’re working with ahead of time. Otherwise, this variable opens the door for many risks, such as: (1) the project not being delivered on time, (2) a sloppy creative direction and (3) an endless loop of miscommunication.

#2 Will the same people who created your portfolio be working on my project?

A beautiful collection of recent work is a good sign, but it’s not a guarantee that your project will be on the same level—especially if they’re outsourcing. Knowing the answer to this question will give you a better idea of how relevant their portfolio samples are.

#3 How many changes are included in your estimate?

Creative work can be difficult to nail down, and if your vendor isn’t efficient with their creative process, you might be the one paying for it.

#4 What would make the project cost more than you’ve estimated?

If you’re not being offered a flat rate, there’s a chance your final price could be a lot higher than you think. This becomes a major problem if you’re being billed by the hour, or day, because when a service provider is charging by time, there really isn’t much incentive to finish faster; in fact it can be quite the opposite.

#5 What deliverables will I get to review?

Not every process is equal. If a studio chooses speed over effectiveness, they may neglect to show you the necessary steps to pre-production. Make sure you know what deliverables you can expect, and how they fit into a healthy production schedule.

#6 Can I get the project files? If not, how much will you charge for future changes?

For your own backup, it’s wise to snag the project files if you can, just in case you want to make simple updates at your own discretion. You don’t want to be tied down with a studio you don’t like, or that might not be available in a few years. However, in case you are, it’s best to know what financial impact that might have.

By now, you might be saying something like, “Okay, you must be a studio, so what are your answers to these?” I had a feeling you might ask.

A Case for Animation & Motion Graphics

Animation and motion graphics provide an alternative method of storytelling that lights and cameras might not always be able to. Whether it’s quantitative data and graphs or bouncy shapes and vectors, animation offers limitless creativity to implement and communicate visual ideas. There are several key benefits to implementing motion graphics into your video marketing strategy.

Feasibility of Concept

Animation takes time. There is a storyboard process to communicate a vision, assets must be designed and created before they can be rigged up and animated, and music and sound design must be mixed in to bring the piece to life. However, therein lies the possibility to take full advantage of the infinite settings and scenarios that are made possible through animation. Want to send your character to the moon? Want a cartoon version of yourself surfing on two robot sharks on a sea of lava? Instead of investing in a live crew, cast, props, and visual effects, consider making your idea a reality through some design work and animation. Check out Pizza Hut’s animated video depicting the innovative layers of insulation used in their delivery bags.

Keeping Audiences Engaged

There are times when statistics and metrics offer some of the most compelling reasons for consumers to buy into a business or a product. However, presenting that information in a static, PowerPoint-style way isn’t always the most effective way to serve your audience. Keeping things visually engaging is a guaranteed way to maintain a viewer’s interest, regardless of the subject matter. Companies like SEO platform – Ahrefs combine corporate copy, data and product functionality to create short, digestible pieces of content.

Simplicity

We live in an increasingly minimalist-trendy era that embraces a “less-is-more” mentality. The world of animation has evolved to be all-inclusive toward the large scale, elaborate magnum opi, to smaller pieces rooted in simplicity. CenterTable adopted this minimal approach when creating an animated video for Colorado Succeeds to highlight the steps required to enter a contest that they were hosting. There is no obstacle to storytelling when imagination and creativity are at the helm.

Thanks to animation and motion graphics, brands and companies have a wealth of opportunities to bridge the gap to their consumers in ways that are informative, effective, and memorable. When trying to identify problems or goals for your company, consider motion graphics as a resource to help solve them. Head over to CenterTable’s Vimeo page for more examples of our animation work.