Congratulations – after months of research, leg work and good old fashioned slog, your new startup is now up and running. The great news is that you have an outstanding product or service – the bad news? So do a lot of other people.
When looking to buy a product or service for the first time, most people will do an internet search netting hundreds of options. Once they have their page of hits, potential businesses / entrepreneurs will then hit the links one by one, and this is the point at which your site needs to shine. On average, users will spend no more than a few seconds on a website. This means that your site has about five seconds to grab and hold the potential customer’s attention.
For years, companies have used live action video for their website and promotional material. Although video can be effective, it can also be expensive, time-consuming and it dates quickly. By featuring animation on your website, you can gradually reduce your website’s bounce rate, increase the time people spend visiting and raise the page visit rate which will eventually help with SEO and your ranking on Google.
Explain Your Services Simply
A potential customer wants to know what you do and how you do it – and they want to know it quickly! A 90 second animated explainer video is enough to deliver your message in a clever, succinct and memorable way.
Music giant, Spotify, uses this with great effect by using their ‘drummer’ animation, a short piece accompanied by a catchy piece of music which excites and engages immediately. Animation works well for less tangible products and services, for example, software. Using a simple explainer video Talentsoft introduces their cloud-based talent management software which would otherwise take more time and effort to illustrate.
Reach out to Millennials
The Telegraph Online moaned recently that “Startup culture is corrupting our youth and killing real entrepreneurship”. Far from the truth, the emergence of startup culture means very real opportunities for young people to realize their ambitions and to forge their own business.
Animated explainers are particularly relevant for the startup; many startups are run by young people for young people who download apps as a matter of course. Animated explainers are mobile friendly and appeal to millennials who are used to receiving information effortlessly and in a fun format. An explainer video of Ripple shows that animation has the capacity to explain complex issues like financial services and payment methods in an accessible way. Creation Pinpoint explains their online media monitoring tool in a form corresponding to their innovative product.
By creating a character within your explainer video that is appealing to the viewer, you can then create a visual ongoing story in order to engage viewers regularly. Creating a story is beneficial for startups because at inception, the company is a new commodity and, by telling a story which puts yourself in the potential entrepreneur’s shoes, you’re promoting trust. A visual story will create images which will stay in a viewer’s mind much longer than text will. Funnster app is an example of a story that many of us will recognize and identify with.
Engage with a Dynamic Story
In a constantly changing world, nothing stays the same for long, and this means that the live action video explainer that you shot just a couple of months ago is now outdated and useless.
A major benefit of an animated explainer is that it can be easily modified at very little cost. As the world changes, your animation can be updated to keep pace, allowing it to stay fresh and relevant. Although Rehrig Pacific is not a startup they use animated video to present how their products have evolved over time.
Your animation can also be regularly updated to reflect changes within your company and new products and services, making it an investment for the whole of your company’s lifetime. An animated explainer video doesn’t require actors, camera and lighting equipment or location hire amounting to a fraction of the cost of live video, freeing up more of your budget for your business.
Humanize Your Brand
Studies show that we form instant emotional reactions to images of human faces and voices, both static and moving. How many times have you seen an advert featuring live video footage of a persona and immediately been turned off? As human beings, we tend to have a positive reaction to words but, in general, a more negative response to images of human faces. This means that the live video you spent months and thousands of dollars making might be leaving a large number of viewers cold.
The benefits of using animation is that you can introduce brand building by telling a story and the use of humor – make ‘em laugh and they’ll immediately engage with your content.
As well as explainer videos, animation has a myriad of other uses. Something as simple as an animated arrow or pointer on the homepage of your website can be enough to grab attention and hold it, helping you to keep customers on-site and on-side.
Fun, effective and an outstanding tool for new business, animation is the go-to promotional outlet for a successful startup.