Achieving the reach, impressions and – perhaps most of all – the engagement that your business needs to grow on social media can be difficult. If you are like most brands, your content isn’t spreading as far and wide as it used to or getting the same levels of interaction from your fans.
However, there may be one trick in the book that you haven’t tried yet. The teamwork of Facebook ads and animation videos. Here’s why it should be part of your marketing plan and how you can make it happen without going bankrupt.
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Why Bother With Facebook Ads?
The ever-increasing dominance of ads on Facebook has made organic reach on the platform seem like a marketing strategy of the past. For small businesses and independent entrepreneurs with a limited social media budget, this can be a source of frustration. In fact, if you are like most small businesses, you want to use Facebook to reach new audiences, connect with consumers and showcase new products without the costs of advertising.
The good news is that Facebook ad impressions are on the rise (up by a whopping 37% in 2019) while the average price per click is decreasing (now at $1.72). In short, Facebook advertisers are getting more bang for their buck than ever before. And as long as you are putting high quality content out there, which can give you the surge of engagement you are looking for, it will be worth your while for the big campaigns you have planned for the year. Particularly, high quality video content.
Why Video?
It will come as no surprise to many marketers that Facebook users love video more than ever, watching more than 3 billion hours per day. Better news still, this extends beyond binge-watching funny cat videos, with 41% of consumers saying that they prefer to learn more about a brand by watching their videos. Your audience wants your messages in video format, which can capture their attention quickly, be engaged with effortlessly and shared easily. For your business, this means you can generate leads, word-of-mouth marketing and brand awareness in a way that static content simply cannot.
Video can also convey a huge amount of information in a very short time – information which your fans, no matter how much they love you, are unlikely to have the time or energy to read. In other words, it’s highly snackable.
So, Why Animation Videos?
Animation videos are great for storytelling, which is exactly what you want to be doing with your Facebook ads. People flicking through their news feeds are looking for entertainment and education – something that will alleviate their boredom, help them learn something, or (preferably) a bit of both. No matter what your ad is trying to achieve – whether you are introducing your brand, showcasing a new product or telling everyone about an event – playing it out like a story is going to encourage your audience to watch until the end, share it with their friends and family and have it stuck in their head for days.
Creating animation videos for your Facebook marketing is also extremely cost-effective. You don’t need the budget for a production company, team of videographers, actors and props to create a rich, engaging ad that will get your message across with animation. Nor do you need a professional animator. There are various options of free animation software for all skill levels, from beginners to experts, which can help you produce a whole array of content. You can be as simple or ambitious as you like – from creating infographics and overlaying typography to 3D modelling and motion tracking.
Many of these programmes come with templates, tutorials and forums which help you get started on where to begin your campaign. But to get your creative juices flowing, let’s take a look at some of the most inspiring and successful animation ads out there helping businesses connect with their audiences through storytelling.
Headspace: Changing Perspective
We can see that Headspace uses animated video to help their viewers visualize intangible concepts. Thoughts, feelings, peacefulness and anxiety can all be shown with moving images, and it allows their ad to move from one complex metaphor to another seamlessly.
Hendrick’s Gin: A Moving Picture
Here, animated video allowed Hendrick’s to depict a weird and wonderful world, giving the viewer the sense that people who like Hendrick’s Gin belong to an exclusive club of oddballs. Along with the powerful voiceover and speakeasy music, this animation beckons you to an underground adventure.
Harvey Nichols: Love Freebies
Harvey Nichols ingenious way of marketing their rewards app was to mix animation with real CCTV footage of shoplifters in their stores. It’s funny, gripping, and probably the cheapest ad this high-end brand ever made. It’s a perfect demonstration of how animation can help you use resources you already have.
NYP: Unmasking a Killer
This simple, vivid animation keeps the viewer’s eyes glued to the screen with a morphing puzzle-piece style animation, which gives the same type of visual satisfaction that we get from “things fitting perfectly into other things”. The very serious message about cancer research is delivered while the audience is wowed with animation tricks, helping them to understand a complex medicinal breakthrough while still feeling entertained.
Microsoft: Hybrid Cloud Flexibility
Microsoft is aware that many people have no idea what hybrid cloud flexibility is (perhaps because it’s a term that they just made up). But everyone can understand that they are watching a building connected to WiFi journeying safely through rain and shine. This simple animation guides the viewer through complex terminology and allows them to see how it will benefit them without them having to fully comprehend all the details.
Also Read: 6 Benefits Of AD Position And AD Rank
