5.5 More Ways Smart Marketers Successfully Use Animated Videos

Last month, we discussed 5.5 ways smart marketers use animated videos.  If you haven’t read that article yet, you should definitely check it out here and be sure to incorporate some or all of those great ways to use animated videos as part of your marketing strategy in 2016 and beyond. 

Those aforementioned uses, however, truly are just the tip of iceberg in terms of what is possible with animated marketing videos. So, without further ado, let’s jump right into reviewing 5.5 more ways smart marketers can use these videos to drive results.

1. Create an animated video for internal communication & training

Marketing, of course, is not always about influencing external consumers, clients or prospects. Internally selling ideas, platforms, processes etc. is an important part of what many organizations do on a daily basis. Educating employees, generating awareness, fostering adoption and getting “buy-in” for an initiative can be critical to any company’s success. 

Larger, multinational corporations in particular have a great deal of internal communication and training needs. Savvy companies look to bypass lengthy emails, boring PowerPoint decks and stale PDF attachments and replace them with more dynamic, efficient videos that better engage their internal audiences.  

We frequently create internal communication or training videos for a number of our clients, including the global pharmaceutical giant, Roche.  Here is just one example that we produced when Roche launched a new worldwide directory platform/app:

Peeps from Gisteo.com on Vimeo.

2. Use an animated video to recruit

Animated videos can be excellent recruiting tools for businesses and organizations of all kinds.  They represent powerful storytelling vehicles that can be effective when you are looking to court a specific target audience. 

When we create these types of videos at Gisteo, we like to directly address the potential barriers and competing interests that those being recruited may face in their decision process. 

For example, in a fun project we did for the Boy Scouts of America a while back, we tackled a serious road block that the Scouts face when it comes to attracting and retaining boys: youth sports. The video makes a compelling case for why parents should think twice before putting sports over the Scouts when it comes to their kids’ extracurricular activities.  The result was a tongue-in-check, irreverent video that one Scout Leader called “the best Boy Scouts recruiting video I've ever seen.” You can view the video here:

Boy Scouts of America from Gisteo.com on Vimeo.

3. Add an animated promo video to the App Store or Google Play Store

If a picture (or screenshot) is worth a thousand words, imagine how powerful including a video to promote your app could be. 
Last year, Apple added what’s called “App Preview” to its App Store, enabling you to upload a 30-second promotional video in addition to screenshots. The Google Play Store also allows you to upload a video alongside your featured app screenshots. 

Animated videos are perfect for providing a brief overview of your app and its functionality to potential users. Here is an example of one such app promo video we created a few months back:

NextPlus from Gisteo.com on Vimeo.

4. Use an animated explainer video to pitch potential investors

A well-crafted explainer video can help take your elevator pitch to the next level, bring clarity to your offering and generate investor interest. Whether it is for your own website, for a crowdfunding platform like Kickstarter or for an in-person presentation, these types of videos can be incredibly useful. Even if you are still in the pre-launch phase, animated videos can be designed to keep things high-level and conceptual, focusing more on the idea and less on the more detailed aspects of your product or UI. 

Here is an example of a pre-launch video we created for a start-up that was later acquired by OpenTable (for millions of dollars). 

Chalo from Gisteo.com on Vimeo.

5. Advertise on TV with an animated video

While the majority of what we’ve discussed has been focused on the many online uses of animated videos, there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t use them on traditional broadcast TV as well.  

Creating an animated TV spot can be a highly economical solution vs. hiring talented actors, dealing with unions, securing filming permits, relying on optimal weather conditions to shoot, finding  an experienced director and production house etc. You can also re-purpose your content online, of course, by including your video on your website, using it for Facebook and Youtube advertising etc. 

Here are a couple of spots that aired in the seven states in which this particular insurance client does business:  

Insurance King: Super Saver TV spot from Gisteo.com on Vimeo.

Insurance King: Motorcycle Insurance TV Spot from Gisteo.com on Vimeo.

5.5 Bonus use! Use your animated video for in-store displays

This one obviously only works if you’re selling a physical product that is sold in “brick and mortar” stores. Animated demo videos are perfect to put on those in-store screens that you sometimes see in aisles at retail outlets.  By all means, you should still post the video to your website, Youtube etc. but don’t forget that videos like these can help close a in-person sale too. 
We’ve created a number of videos for Imation, who frequently uses the videos we produce for in-store displays (in addition to using them online). Here are a couple of examples: 

LINK Mobile Express from Gisteo.com on Vimeo.

LINK Power Drive by Imation from Gisteo.com on Vimeo.

Conclusion

These 5.5 uses, along with the previous 5.5 ones covered in our last article, should give you a great taste of just some of the countless ways your product, service, company or organization leverage animated videos.  So what are you waiting for?  Kick off 2016 the right way by incorporating these videos uses into your marketing program! 

About the Writer 

Stephen Conley is the Founder & Creative Director at Gisteo. Since 2011, he has overseen the production of nearly 700 animated marketing videos for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to tech start-ups.