Guest article by Belén Atassi from thevideovalley.com
Consolidating a brand and turning it into a successful business is the result of a lot of effort as well as the control of many variables and factors. In a very familiar and simple language, all these variables can be considered as branding of the company.
There is no doubt that in today’s digital marketing, videos have become the workhorse. The advantages they offer are countless compared to other content; but, more importantly, they help you position yourself in the market and contribute greatly to the development of the company’s brand image.
If you are not yet benefiting from using animated videos to promote your brand, in this article I will explain why you should start doing so.
What is branding?
The word branding is an anglicism that contemplates the concept of “brand management”. According to the French Academy, the word management, from the Latin gestio, means “action and effect of management”
In other words, branding is the set of operations and strategies that shape a company’s brand from start to finish.
It is about developing a well-structured, coherent, precise and lengthy plan that includes absolutely all aspects that make a brand be perceived as such
Also, the entire human component that makes up the brand must be involved in this process. Especially since they also have a certain responsibility in its management and promotion.
The main goal of branding is to consolidate the brand in a sustainable way. This means that you must make it visible, necessary and provide a lasting and unique image, with which consumers can identify emotionally.
How to use animated videos in your branding strategy?
An important part of building your brand is developing your audience, increasing potential customers and increasing the number of visitors to your website
That’s why I’ve outlined below a series of techniques you can implement in your animated videos to increase the following of your brand:
- Animation allows you to stay in the background animated videos can be extremely beneficial for companies that are just starting out, have no headquarters or few employees and don’t want to show these weaknesses to their audience. Animated characters are very appealing, so using them is killing two birds with one stone: the owner or CEO can stay hidden while sales increase.
- The video can show testimonials you can use animated characters that represent some of the loyal customers who have been satisfied with the product, you can record them giving their testimonial and add it to the production.
- To explain a process, use whiteboard animation the simplicity of this technique will allow you to explain procedures that might otherwise be boring in a simple, yet super fun way.
- Add a touch of humor animations: Since their inception, animations have been known to be funny. An animated video is meant to entertain, add humor to it to increase your conversion rate.
- The use of explanatory animated videos this type of video is very useful to present a product or to increase the number of regular visits. A plus would be to use it as part of your advertising campaigns on Facebook.
Other points to consider when creating your animated video
Using animated videos as part of your branding strategy can provide tremendous benefits. But the success of this tool depends a lot on whether your brand has clearly established what its values, identity, promise and unique attributes are.
All these elements will become the corporate image of the brand and it is important to include them in the creation of the video so that the consumer can recognize the company, despite the fact that the environment is saturated with competition.
Here are the key points to consider when creating your animated video:
- The script: this is the written guide to the events we want to tell. Therefore, the objective of the video must be identified beforehand, what we want to convey and how we will do it. A script allows you to see what elements are in excess and what elements should be highlighted. The script has a direct impact on the company’s brand image.
- Sound what is said is not only important, but also the means we rely on to make sure the message reaches the consumer. Video is audiovisual content, it’s about capturing the eye, but also the ear of the user. In fact, the quality of the sound can be more relevant than the quality of the image. So it’s definitely something to watch out for.
- Editing editing: the editing phase is practically where all the work done is polished. For an animated corporate marketing video to be considered quality, it absolutely must be edited without leaving a trace.
Including text that emphasizes certain points in the video and contributes to the company’s visual line may be necessary and this is part of video editing.
Use storytelling
Few brands don’t need to invest in advertising to gain recognition. We can’t all be Tesla.
The most effective way to do video branding is to tell a story. In fact, it’s the most effective for any marketing strategy.
Through storytellingyou create emotional connections with viewers and humanize your brand. Moreover, it persists longer in the memory and encourages word of mouth.
You will also distinguish yourself from other brands, which is very important in an era of so many products and services.
Source Flickr
What platforms can I use for video branding?
Depending on your audience, the content you want to produce, and your budget, there are certain platforms you can choose from to deliver your videos.
The main one, which you should never overlook, is YouTube. It is the second largest search engine on the web and, since it is owned by Google, its algorithms take it into account when it comes to positioning.
Also, a lot of online traffic comes through YouTube. You’ll get new viewers and users if you get your videos out there correctly.
Promote your video on all your social networks
You can increase engagement and conversion rate by posting your animated video on all your social networks, you can even insert a link that takes the user to the company’s podcast.
Hang it on your website or landing page so you see an increase in leads and subscribers.
If the video has an important message that you want all of your consumers to know about, ideally you should place it right in the middle of the page. That is, at the user’s visual level so that it enters their field of vision as soon as they land on your website.
If you don’t have a blog, go ahead and start one. It’s a way for you to be in frequent contact with your customers and followers where you can share personal information about your business, participate in the creation of a new product line, etc.
Most of the blog type platforms allow you to insert YouTube videos. You can add your animated video and encourage your subscribers to comment on their personal experience with it
This way, you connect with them and get feedback on your work. It’s a great way to get to know your customers on a more personal and less formal level.
How do you know if your animated video is generating results?
Just as it’s relevant to monitor every step of the process of making an animated video, it’s equally relevant to analyze the metric data
For this, you can help yourself with tools like Google Analytics to get more information about your target audience.
It is essential to know the trends and the number of visitors to check how the video is received by potential customers
If you are able to go beyond basic analytics, you can hire the premium package service from Kissmetrics. They offer a more specialized guideline with metrics.
Reasons for video branding with animated videos
If so far I haven’t convinced you to implement this tool, you’ll probably change your mind when you read about the benefits animated videos can offer you
Note already that with few resources, you can implement this strategy
Here are the top five reasons to use animated videos in your branding:
- Greater visibility and a higher likelihood of being shared it’s no secret that we live in an age of information over-saturation, which makes things difficult for brands.
Among so many types of audiovisual content, we need to ensure that the information we give our consumers is simple and quick to consume, but without sacrificing branding. That’s what an animated video can do for you. These types of videos are simply more engaging and consumable than others.
- Complex topics can be made digestible animated explanatory videos can save lives. Animation can deliver information with so much color and appeal that other types of videos could not. Not only is the viewer’s attention engaged, but in a subtle way, the customer will fully understand your product or service.
- You build lasting relationships with your customers the format in which it is produced makes people feel more identified on a personal and emotional level. You will be able to convey your brand’s unique characteristics and these will stay in the viewer’s mind longer.
- You can answer frequently asked questions through an animated video with this type of video, you have the opportunity to answer the most common questions that your audience expresses, mention your customers’ concerns and express all the positive features of your products.
- Animated videos are more affordable : Since the use of locations and personnel is eliminated, they are considerably less expensive to produce than other types of videos.
Conclusion
For a branding strategy, animated videos are definitely a great alternative. With them, you will be able to advertise your services in a dynamic, safe and reliable way.
Share your videos on social networks and YouTube so that as many users as possible know about your brand and the advantages it offers over others
Since video is the most consumed content on the internet, you’ll have a much better chance of success if you use video branding.
Better yet, you can start today, either by hiring a professional or by using the free applications and tools available on the web to create your animated videos
Will you dare to try it?
