Over the past decade, video has become one of the most marketing tools for any business. This is mainly because videos on attention-grabbing and highly engaging.
To give an idea of just how effective video can be in converting potential clients/customers, here are some fast facts:
– Videos on the landing page of your product or service can increase the chances of conversion by 80%. (WordStream)
– The viewership of branded marketing videos has increased by 258% on Facebook and 99% on YouTube. (Tubular Insights).
– In 2020 videos made up for 82% of all the consumer internet data traffic. (Cisco).
– A recent survey has shown that 90% of internet users find videos helpful in making buying decisions. (Forbes).
– As much as 47 seconds of a 60-second-long explainer video are retained by the viewer. (Breadnbeyond).
So videos are a big deal but here’s the thing: not all business videos are the same or even just for marketing. Let’s take a closer look at the main types of animated business videos you should be considering this year and beyond. After reading through this blog post, you’ll be able to better decide which of these 10 types of animated business videos you’ll want to work on in order to boost your marketing efforts and internal communications.
10 types of Animated Business Videos
1. Explainer Video
An animated explainer video is a short animated video, with or without sound, that tells a brand’s story. The ovrerall aim of explainer videos is to familiarize customers with a brand’s value proposition.
Animated videos range from 30 seconds to several minutes. As a general rule, however, the shorter the video, the better when it comes to retention. Some studies have shown that explainer video views are inversely proportional to the duration. If a video is more than 2 minutes, the views can decline by 77% to 57%. (Breadnbeyond).
There are a number of different types of explainer videos. Some of the most common ones include:
– Whiteboard explainer videos
– Kinetic typography animation
– 2D cartoon animation
– Silhouette animation
– Stop motion animation
– 3D animation
2. Sales Videos
Animated sales videos are often confused with advertising videos, but there are differences. Sales videos are tailor-made for a specific group of people that you expect to buy a product or service. Sales videos promote a product or service with the focus on the view. They usually tell the prospects how the product or service they are promoting can solve their problem.
Sales videos are used on the landing page for the people who have clicked an ad or have organically ended up at your product’s page. They can also be sent via emails or other marketing channels. They are not usually used for mass advertisement.
Sales videos can be created in a variety of different formats. Some of the most widely used types of animated sales videos include:
– Q&A videos.
– Product page videos.
– Cost videos.
– Landing page videos.
– Testimonial video
3. Advertising Videos
Animated advertising videos are used for mass advertisement. They are disseminated via different channels like TC commercials, YouTube, and Facebook ads, and many more.
These videos present a product, service, or brand in a more general sense. They talk of the features and benefits of a product or service or promote a brand.
Some video ads can be longer, but the most effective ones are usually 15 to 60 seconds in length. For paid advertising, these videos introduce the concept at the beginning. The viewer can then skip if they are not interested or watch the full video if the proposition is attractive for them.
4. How-To Videos
The single most searched phrase on the internet is “how-to.” You can get an idea of the popularity of how-to videos from the fact that 100 million hours of “how-to” videos have been watched in North America alone since 2015. (Techsmith).
How-to videos can be very helpful in driving sales. If you have a product that solves a problem, you can make a how-to video about the problem and introduce/recommend your product.
Unlike most of the other types of animated videos on this list, how-to videos are not normally used as ads. They are hosted on YouTube and other streaming services and found organically by the viewers.
The most common types of how-to videos include:
– Instructional videos.
5. Demo videos
If you want to communicate the value of your product to prospects, demo videos are a great choice. These videos show your product in action. This is one of the best ways to show what problem your product solves and exactly how it solves this problem.
Good demo videos are focused on core customers or prospects. These are not designed for mass advertisement and need to be fine-tuned to the needs of a target audience.
6. About Us videos
One of the best ways to acquaint your customers/clients with your brand is via “About Us” videos. These videos are generally used on a website’s home page or “about us” page. The purpose of these videos, as the name says, is to tell the world who you are.
About Us videos can be anywhere from one to three minutes and communicate things like what your brand is about, your brand’s history, inspiration, mission, goals, etc.
About us videos are not usually displayed through any advertisement medium. They are hosted on your website and meant to provide visitors with information about you.
These videos generally don’t describe any product or service and are designed to project and communicate your brand’s image.
7. Case Study Videos
Case study videos are perhaps among the most specific and technical types of animated business videos on this list. They communicate that you mean business!
Case study videos describe in detail how you have solved a big problem with your products or services. Case study videos are generally longer and can be promoted as suggested videos on video and social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook.
8. Crowd funding videos
This can be the best approach for a new business or a startup looking for funding. Sure, you can ask people to donate via a blog post but nothing can be as appealing and persuasive as a carefully crafted video.
Crowdfunding videos tell people what your brand or product is about and how you intend to make a difference. Once that is effectively communicated to viewers, you can tell them about your GoFundMe page, and hopefully, they will contribute to your cause.
Crowdfunding videos can also be made to generate funds for charitable purposes or as your promo video on sites like Kickstarter.
9. Social media marketing videos
Social media is the future of marketing. For starters, here’s a little fact: More than 4 billion videos are watched on Facebook alone, every single day. (Omnicore).
That means only one thing. If you are not extending your marketing and promotion effort to social media, you are falling behind your competitors.
Social media videos need a different approach than any other type of animated business video. While sound is an integral part of any good video, 85% of the videos watched on Facebook are watched with the sound off.
Another interesting fact about social media marketing videos is that majority of conversions via Facebook videos happens within the first 60 seconds of the video.
One more thing to consider: social media videos that have captions are 12% more likely to be seen than the ones without captions.
10. Internal training videos
After you have scored a sale or got people to work with/for you, animated videos can still be helpful. Animated training videos are one of the best options for internal uses like training new employees and for introducing the features of your product or service to your staff.
Animated training videos are great for these uses because:
– Anything conveyed through a video is retained better than through text alone.
– Videos make explaining things easier and more engaging.
– Animated videos can be used repeatedly, making them an important asset for any organization.
In conclusion
Animated videos can be highly versatile tools. The types of animated business videos mentioned in this discussion are perfect catalysts for any organization. If you would like to further discuss your video needs or if you need assistance producing one or more of these 10 types of animated business videos, feel free to contact us at Gisteo!
