To make a long story short, using animation and video in marketing can be the key to making a business's products and services stand out. It gives audiences a way to very quickly understand a product and why they need it. Research has shown that video boosts comprehension and retention by 50% over a live presentations and it expedites buying decisions by 72% over print. I don't want to get too geeky in proving this point, but there is a real reason why so many companies use animation and video in their communications, and it's not just because it's fun. 

So I gave you a little proof to support my case, but why is it that using video and animation is so effective? Think about it. You are an anomaly to the norm because you have read this far into this article. The average person will spend only seconds reading or viewing a web page and if they aren't captivated by something within that time, they're on to something else. Viewers have to find something they relate to immediately, in the look of the page, the graphics, colors, headlines and media. If they don't relate to the site within those couple of seconds, they hit the back button and are onto the next site. The second a person loads a web page, their cursor is already moving toward the back button, so that page better have something that captures their attention quick.

When you use animation and video that is well-produced, concise, short and interesting, viewers won't click away. In fact, they will listen to the message and in a very short span of time, have decided if they would be interested in taking action - like buying the product. In the web geek world, they call this a conversion - the point where a person is converted from a viewer to an action-taker. Video and animation have the power to quickly convert people from passive viewers into action-takers. They get the message, they are impressed by the quality, they see that it's something they are looking for and BAM, you have a converted viewer.

You need to be aware that just because you decide to make a video about your product and post it on your website, put it on DVD's and start showing it to people, isn't going to automatically translate into doubling your sales. There are allot of factors that come into play in producing an effective video, many of which are very complex and require careful planning, strategy and a quality production.

You have to carefully craft the message to communicate that what you have is what the user is looking for. People are turned off by something that looks like a sales pitch, so the message has to be direct and to the point, cutting out the fluff. The message has to also entertain the audience and engage them. They have to relate to it. Animation comes in very handy in several ways; communicating complex ideas quickly, positioning your message with the highest quality - establishing trust from the viewer, entertaining and engaging the audience with visuals and generally positioning yourself as a top-notch organization. I could recite allot more studies on the effectiveness of animation in presentations, but I think you get the idea.

A batch of things you should consider in planning to develop video and animation include;

• How do you get people to watch it?
  
• Keep it short and simple - let the viewer know that it's short
• Get to the point fast and cut the BS
• Give it pizzazz with clever narration, well designed visual schemes, - you have to engage and entertain the audience.
• Fast-paced, snappy delivery
• Good music, narration and sound
• Key messages, coined phrases, buzz words
• Key graphics and animation where needed

These are all issues that have articles and, in some cases, books written about them. If you plan to do everything yourself, it's not impossible to learn this stuff but it does take some time and allot of careful thought and consideration.

You have to keep up with the ever-evolving world of the Internet and media. If you want to convert viewers into action-takers, using video and animation is essential.

Todd J. Robertson
President/CEO, Hyperspective Studios