5 Essential Tips for Creating Engaging Animated Videos
You need a video that wows your audience, something that captures their attention from the get-go and holds it throughout, leaving them with a memorable impression of your business.
Squideo has broken down our strategy for creating the perfect animated video, ensuring your content hits all the right notes, and we’re sharing our secret to success. Read on for our five essential tips, or get your free quote from Squideo and our Production Manager will guide you through our production process which ensures you get the perfect animated video.
01. Conduct Market Research
Whether we’re giving advice about animation, adverts or corporate videos, this Squideo tip will always come first. Know your audience. Who are they? What’s their demographic (e.g., age, ethnicity, buying power)? Why do they need your service or product? Where will they see your video?
Market research needs to start early in the video production process, it cannot be an afterthought. It will inform the style, messaging, and distribution of your video. Consider who, where, what, why and how. If you have created videos before, assess what failed and what succeeded. Talk to your customers to discover what they want to know. Compare your business to its main competitors; what kind of videos are they creating?
02. A Simple Message
Too many cooks ruin the broth, and too many messages overwhelms the average viewer. When only 45% of people who watch the first three seconds of a video will keep watching the next thirty seconds, you’re fighting an uphill battle for their attention. It’s a doom scroll world, and your message is just one amongst millions.
To choose the right message for your video, think about your ideal outcomes. This will inform the message of your video. And remember, if you’re producing a short video – say thirty seconds – you should try to stick to one clear message instead of cramming in several. Find the right message by asking yourself:
- What do you want the viewer to do after watching your video?
- How should they feel?
- What impression do you want them to have of your business?
03. Voiceover and Subtitles
An animated video has the advantage of conveying your message visually and audibly. The addition of a voiceover reinforces your chosen message, making it more memorable. Squideo recommends a 70 word script for every 30 seconds of video, creating plenty of opportunities to explain why your business is amazing and why the audience needs to know it.
If you do use a voiceover, add subtitles. It keeps your content accessible, and it can also boost your on-page SEO. If you are hosting the video on your own website, simply upload the SRT alongside your video and reap the benefits. If you are unable to host the video file, you can embed a video via third-party hosting (such as YouTube) and include a written transcript within your web page copy.
04. Keep in Time
At this point in the process, you should know what the purpose of your video is. This will help you decide how long it should be. Vidyard reports that 68% of people would watch a video in full as long as it lasts a minute or less. This figure drops by 18% if a video is 61 to 120 seconds long. If you think a longer video is needed, be sure your audience feels the same way. There’s little point investing the time and money in producing an animated video if it’s never watched.
For a general audience, it’s best to keep videos under 2 minutes in length. If you’re targeting a more specific group, however, a longer video may work better. For example, viewers are more likely to watch a long explainer or educational video than a long product advert. To help retain audience attention, add interactive elements to your videos such as a short quiz or question prompt.
05. The Right Animation
The final essential step in creating your engaging animated video, is to produce something that is visually stimulating. This is closely connected to our first tip: conducting market research. You need to understand your audience before you can choose the right visual style for them. There are more animation styles available than we could list but, broadly, Squideo breaks down animation into six categories to simplify the process for our clients.
- Character-driven animation
- Icon-based animation
- Isometric projection animation
- Line animation
- Screencast
- Stock-footage animation
A quality video producer will guide your animation choices, explaining which styles appeal to different video genres and audience demographics.
Get Started With Your Animated Video
Ready to create a unique animated video of your own? Watch the video below to get a better understanding of how Squideo can help promote your business, then get in touch with us to find out more!
