Nowadays, to get ahead of the social media noise you need to get creative. Animation is a sure way to create viral contents. If applied correctly, you can be sure to reap great benefits from your social media marketing campaigns. Of course, using GIFs when communicating with loved ones can be especially exciting.

The responses you will receive from them can be phenomenal – making it worth your while. And the same counts for your customers. Certainly, social media marketing can be fascinating if accompanied by animated content. Animations not only bring out humour but also convey the message graphically and thereby simplifying and making it more accessible. With every business trying to create a unique voice on social media, the focus has to be on how animations can be used to make their marketing activities more effective. Here are a few of my personal tips for using animations on Facebook.

1. Consider The Demographics Of The Audience

Who does the animation specifically target? Is it targeting the general public such as an animated web design or a specialist sector? It is always important to identify your buyer persona so that you can craft an animated character that will resemble your audience.

Of course, this will spur some identification with the animation and build trust in them. It is also essential to know your target audience to enable you to tailor the animation and effectively convey the message by using a model that suits them.

2. Identify The Goal Of Your Animation

What do the animations precisely seek to communicate? In some cases, it may illustrate a process, explain a product or build brand awareness. The main aim is to understand that the choice of animation has to address the issue for which it intends to act effectively. Never allow the humour of the animations to override the core message that is intended. Clarity of purpose is essential as it will affect vital aspects of the videography such as the animation’s style, call to actions, voice-overs and the script.

Regardless of the direct aim of animated content, the thrust of the video is to market. Ensure that your brand colours are adequately integrated into the video. Colours are vital branding elements, and therefore they should be applied to the videos wisely and intentionally. Already your storyboard should comprise colouration that represents your brand.

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3. Duration of the Animation

Generally, the shorter the video, the better for marketing purposes. Do not make a very long explainer video with the misconceived perception that longer videos will be better. Contrary, videos with a longer duration disengage and bore the audience. The internet users are inundated with so many exciting videos that they want to watch and therefore, your video has to be short and precise to relay the message.

Remember that the ultimate objective of your animation is to communicate vital points to your audience quickly. It will also reduce the time needed to produce a video. Therefore, if you experience challenges communicating in a single video, it is appropriate to develop multiple videos instead of relying on one lengthy video.

4. Call to Actions

It is critical to include a call to action in your animation video before uploading. Your call to action tells the viewer exactly what you’d like them to do after watching your video. Great marketing videos always have great call to actions – it helps you get the desired results. Of course, your CTA must be accompanied by catchy phrases that will draw the audience in. Another important thing is to ensure that the call to action is properly placed in the video. For instance, if you require the audience to carry out a specific action halfway through the video, then include a CTA in the middle of the video. Here’s an example of a CTA: “Visit our website for more information on the product or service.”

5. Select The Appropriate Style Of Animation

Your desire to increase your brand or sales may make you choose social media marketing since it has a wider audience. The style of animation that will vary, some may opt to use stop motion animation, cartoons or basic drawings on a whiteboard. It is therefore important to decide on the best animation type that will keep the audience glued to the message while also enjoying its humour. Understand what videos would be most appealing to your audience.

Character animation is crucial in the development of a personal brand. This is because it allows you to communicate your story with clear visual quality effectively. The style chosen has to reveal brand personality. Of course, this type of animation video can, for instance, be used to present a brand more humanely.

Bottom line…

Certainly, the growth of social media has influenced marketers to focus their attention on online videos and in particular animations for marketing. With the amount of information in the social media platforms being so high, it is only the creative animation videos that will be relevant in marketing. Getting the correct audience, identifying the animation video, making the video short and precise, incorporating a call to action, and selecting the appropriate style of animation will enable the video to increase brand awareness or sales.

Of course, it is always advisable to contact a trusted animation studio, to help create professional animations that represent your ideas and tell your brand story.

About the author: Frankie Caplan is an animator interested in visual marketing and applying animation to business projects. She loves cats, eating pasta and watching Seinfeld.