Entrepreneurs desperately try to attract and retain customers by all means. We have almost no time and desire to read large texts anymore. Or even to spend long hours on a website in search of the necessary news and services. Videos and animations came to users’ rescue.

The goal of any video advertising strategy is to attract the attention of potential customers. Also, to point out the competitive advantage of businesses. You have to find the most compelling highlight of your business feature to choose the style of the video you want. Undoubtedly, you cannot ignore your target audience’s uniqueness. Rely on their preferences and habits. Get to know them better. And then attract them with great video content.

If you’ve already checked why you need videos in your content Marketing Strategy, it is time for some crucial decisions. Read further to know what type of video you must choose.

Live action videos

Live action is a video type featuring performing actors or animals instead of animated models. It is the most common type of advertising. In this case, it seems to be the most popular option but definitely not the cheapest one. Gaining the viewers’ attention requires a lot of engagement and a large human resource capicity.

On the other hand, it is the most universal type of content. Its flexibility lets you adjust the form to suit different target groups. To distribute videos via all social media channels, websites or TV.  Real-time videos with actors, authentic human personalities and emotions. Generally, people acting in familiar places give some kind of life authenticity which animation may be lacking.

That technique is super useful for:

• TV commercials.
• Corporate videos.
• Employer Branding videos.
• Training videos.
• Testimonials

Here are the advantages of live action videos:

• Authenticity.
• Easy to empathize with.
• Showing the brand’s human face according to a specific target group.
• Average faster production time than animation videos.

Considering the cons of using live action videos, notice that:

• Higher costs.
• A larger number of people engaged in the production process.
• Possible difficulties to present abstract ideas.

Live action videos are essential if you want to create a connection between you and potential customers. Aimed at those who prefer realism, it is perfect for PR (public relations) purposes.

Animation videos

Animation techniques have become very popular, especially short-form video content. It is perfect for presenting a targeted message and it depicts a positive image of your company. That’s why more and more companies decided to apply this tool to their businesses’ content marketing strategy.

The clarity of the message, with an appealing form, helps by showing the number of benefits that your product or service can bring to the customer’s life. Explaining the brand’s vision or an application of the new product with Animation Videos is now possible within a minute.

At Craftoon, we use animation video content to provide:

• High-quality explainer videos.
• Product animations.

The most popular animation styles are:

• 2D animation.
• 3D animation.

2D animation is one of the most universal ways to tell about the product to the largest audience. Almost everyone loves cartoons but the style also fits serious concepts. Pay attention to choosing the right characters, as your target group has to identify with them.

3D animation is a style based on the characters moving in a three-dimensional space. That solution is obviously more time-consuming and pricey but works great thanks to brilliant visuals. Extremely useful for the medical education, architecture, automotive, et cetera. Any field where the details or design play a significant role.

Both 2D and 3D animation videos have a wide range of applications in:

• Entertainment.
• Education.
• Promoting brands, services, products.
• Project simulations.

Animation videos are great, especially when your company’s budget for advertising is limited. It also works very well when the advertised object is non-material. For intellectual, digital or multimedia services, start-ups, small productions, unfinished project, et cetera. Animation schematically and beautifully visualizes the message.

If you want to know more about 2D and 3D, check our article on how to choose the perfect style for your business video.

There are also 2 attractive options that you can consider for your content marketing strategy:

Infographics videos

Quite a modern type of video, especially suitable for advertising Internet services. This style fits perfectly in a landing page design and can replace any boring text component. With the help of visual images, schemes, and icons, you can emphasize the advantages of the product or service. Most visitors tend to look for the data or the solution on infographics, not in texts. It’s simple, accessible and understandable.

Motion graphics videos

Animation graphics uses a combination of images, texts, and sounds to convey the information. Turning the static pictures into dynamic ones supports the visualization of the data. It also applies to the most abstract ideas.

Today, animation graphics videos are among the fastest growing content marketing solutions.  With its help, it’s easy to simultaneously attract and inform the viewers. The readability of the messages is several times higher than the usual channels’. Motion graphics videos are a perfect alternative to articles, white papers or presentations.

Motion-design is ideal for creating meaningful and short messages. This is also a good choice for complex projects, harder to present in a standard form. From a business perspective, it is a great opportunity for brands to present their key ideas and values.

Both motion graphics and infographics can:

• Quickly deliver the message. Brevity and clarity are key parameters in advertising and infographics due to time frames.
• Reveal complex ideas, concepts and systematize data in a simple and understandable form.

These are the main pros of choosing animated videos:

• The possibility to present abstract ideas.
• A simple and effective form of conveying information to the larger audiences.
• Lower costs and a smaller amount of human resources involved in the creation process.
• The production time is likely to be shorter.

On the other hand, we must mention some possible negative points of animation:

• Creating high-quality 3D animation videos can require more time.
• Some people prefer videos with actors to better immerse themselves in.

Final thoughts

For the abstract ideas and lower budgets, the animation tehcnique is a perfect solution. If you want to focus on human emotions, live action videos help you impress your potential customers. An individual approach to a project is necessary to provide great and perfectly tailored video content. Before making a decision between live action and animated forms, think about your business needs. You should definitely consider:

• The budget that you can spend on the project.
• The aim of the future video.
• Target audience’s preferences.
• The time necessary for the production.
• What goals you want to achieve.

Check our services to get to know us and how we can support your video marketing strategy with beautiful, decisive content.

Author: Valeria Krivets

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