While animation and video can take many forms, we’d like to look at 4 types of motion graphics in this blog and explain where they can work best in your marketing communications.
1. The ‘explainer’
Explainer videos break down complex subjects and explain them in understandable, manageable, logical chunks.
They employ animation to tell the story which makes the information more attractive for viewers and helps people absorb the different points more easily because all they need to do is watch (as opposed to reading dense text which all too often puts people off).
Explainers are great for new products or services that involve processes, for example recruitment, legal, accountancy or financial management.
2. UI Animations
Making your brand assets move is a great way to engage your audience and really bring your brand to life.
You can also animate inanimate objects which is even more eye-catching thanks to the law of counter intuition.
Imagine your office walking?
Or your price list filling itself out?
Or your products working?
These will immediately stand out from the other posts on social media and catch your audience’s attention.
UI animation works best for consumer industries that don’t take themselves too seriously like retailers and hospitality and leisure. They also work surprisingly well within the charity sector.
3. Infographics
You can animate graphs and other pieces of information to make an infographic (which is exactly what it looks like – a portmanteau of information and graphics).
Seeing what would otherwise be impenetrable numbers or trends as images emphasises the key points visually and instantly draws the audience’s attention to the most important elements.
It can also allow you to order your information. You can place the most important bits at the beginning so that even if you lose viewers midway through, you’ll have told them what you absolutely want them to know.
Infographics work particularly well when promoting research statistics and financial results.
4. Short films/‘talking heads’
This is probably the simplest form of motion graphics. It is literally just a film of someone talking into the camera, telling their story or explaining something.
These also work well as conversations between two people. As with presentations, a chat is easier and more enjoyable for the audience than a lecture. But two is the max. Any more than that and it is hard to follow in a short video.
These work really well for new or complex subjects and for employer branding exercises where you are promoting how great it is to work for you and your organisation. They present a much more human element that animation and infographics can’t.
If you think of these options will help you bring your brand and your message to life, please get in touch. We’ll be more than happy to give you some suggestions as to which would work best for you and show you some examples of the motions graphics we have created for our clients.