Stock images are big business, but agencies typically take a huge slice of any image you buy, up to 85% of the sale price! Photofolio is different, they give the majority of their revenue directly to the photographer, so you get great images and the creative people get the reward. See this great animated demo video for more information.
1 – They’re short.
As Oscar Wilde once said, ‘œbrevity is the soul of wit’, so if you want your message to be clever and memorable then it’s a good idea to keep it short and concise. It’s no coincidence that most of the best explainer videos are short, normally 60-90 seconds, as this is pretty much the limit of most people attention span. It sounds a bit pathetic but the average Internet viewer (and that includes you and me) finds it a bit too tedious to stay watching the same thing for more than 2 minutes at a time, so try and limit the duration of your video. Two short videos will have more effect than one long on.
2 – They’re simple.
As well as being concise, simplicity is also a key trait of great videos. It’s no good keeping a video nice and short in duration if you’re going to cram it with countless points, statistics and features. You’ll end up with information overload, your viewers are going to be left disorientated and none of the information will sink in.
Before you start your video you should write down 2-3 things you want your viewer to take away from watching your video and base your project around this. Be wary of statistics, it’s tempting to throw in loads of numbers to back up what you’re saying but they often have the opposite effect to what you’re after. Select one or two headline grabbing stats and throw away the rest, or leave them for another video. Keep everything on message and to the point and you’ll get much greater rewards.
3 – They target the right audience
Consideration of your audience is crucial to any successful video marketing campaign, and you should have a clear idea of who you are trying to reach before you start production of any video project. You should try and define your audience clearly and try and make content that is tailored specifically to them. Ask yourself a few questions about who you think they are and think of categories you can fit them into, such as: age, gender, occupation, interests, location or any other niches you can think of. Once you have a profile of who you are trying to target then you can set about creating the right tone and style to appeal to them. If you’re promoting a B2B service and you’re trying to attract business owners over 30 then you should end up with a drastically different video to one that is trying to attract young consumers to buy a clothing product. The best and most effective videos will start with their audience at the core and work outwards from there.
4 – They’re original
It’s no good going to the trouble of defining your audience if you then serve them up something they’ve seen before. Videos that are seen to be unoriginal, or copying an existing idea aren’t going to get watched, shared or enjoyed and you run the risk of being seen as an imitator and unoriginal. To get peoples attention you need to be fresh and creative. The best videos will have something about them people haven’t seen before: some funky designs, a play on words or an innovative idea. It’s hard to be 100% original these days and good ideas are hard to come by, but a good place to start is looking at things you’ve enjoyed watching and try to take inspiration from them. You could do a different spin on a concept you’ve seen, or you could try and combine elements from a few sources to try and create something different.
5 – They don’t cut corners on quality
You can have the best idea in the world, a fantastic concept that perfectly targets your niche audience, but if you hand it over to the wrong person to create it then you could end up with a product that is a real let down. As the age old saying goes ‘œyou get what you pay for’, so don’t skimp on quality. Your video should be an extension of your company and your brand so it should contain the same level of quality and attention to detail that you give every other aspect of your business. The good news is having a great animated video produced is more affordable than ever. Mooviemakers have low fixed price packages so you can keep in control of the cost whilst being assured of great quality, and we turn things round really quickly so you can get busy showing off and sharing your video. We’re happy to talk things through with you and answer any questions you might have so get in touch with us and we can have a chat.
This amazing new product promises virtually zero calorie food! It could be the start of a new revolution in the diet industry. Check out the video and prepare to be amazed.
You might have seen that in recent years animated video is on the rise. Your competitors might have adopted video marketing strategies or you might have noticed websites you visit have more and more video content.
You might be tempted to think it’s a passing phase, over hyped or just the latest fad, but actually the reverse is true. Video is gaining strength because it’s a great source for content, is incredibly popular with viewers, and is now seen as an essential part of any successful marketing strategy.
But why do we love video? Is it just that we’re all too lazy to read? Not quite. Video connects with us in a way that written words simply can’t. For starters the sound of a human voice resonates with us and is amazingly powerful at conveying information. If you hear something you’re much more likely to absorb the information, and much less likely to get distracted, than if you were trying to read the same information in text form. Movement also grabs people’s attention. This is hard wired into our DNA, since the Stone Age we’re survived by noticing things move. Looks like we still do! Animation and movement captures people’s attention and keeps it, so you’ve got more chance of getting your message heard and absorbed.
So now you know why video is a great way of getting your attention, you might be surprised to that the second most popular search engine in the world after Google isn’t Bing or Yahoo, its actually YouTube. There are millions of searches on it every day, so if you’re not on there you’re missing out on a huge section of your audience. Google, the biggest search engine, also owns YouTube and it factors in YouTube videos into its search results. You might have seen the little video thumbnails that show up sometimes when you do a Google search, these generally appear higher up and have more prominence than regular search results, so by having a presence on YouTube you’ll instantly improve your chances of being on the first page of Google.
It’s not just about search engines though. These days a lot of traffic to your website is going to come from social media, and the posts that generally get the most interaction are images and videos. They’re more likely to get shared and people are more likely to click through on the links. If you’ve got a Facebook page and a Twitter account you might have noticed that your posts aren’t getting the reaction you’d hope. By creating more entertaining content, such as an animated video, you’re going to drastically increase your chances of getting a positive response from your audience.
Video is also incredible cost effective. Unlike print ads, SEO services or pay-per-click advertising, video is a one off cost that stays online and is effective for years, not just weeks or months. No monthly subscriptions, just one price that is lower than the cost of a single print advertisement.
We might be a little bias here at Mooviemakers, but we think video is absolutely essential for any business. It’s definitely here to stay and is only going to increase in popularity as people reaslise that its cost effective, delivers real results, and increases your chances of connecting with your audience.
If you’ve got some toys lying around the house that aren’t being used then you can now swap them for new ones! Get rid of clutter and make your kids happy in one go. Fantastic. See more information about how it works in our latest animated video below.
If you’re a small business the chances are you’re running on a pretty tight budget, and the pot of money you can dedicate towards marketing and advertising is going to be pretty small, or even non-existent. Nevertheless you’ll also be aware that there are a whole host of companies out there willing to take your money off you promising returns on your investment that will never amount to anything.
There are the print advertising companies charging you thousands of pounds for a small half page advert in a local publication. If you’ve been suckered into this one then I’ve got bad news for you, despite what the salesperson told you it will only ever get seen by half a dozen people and they’re pretty unlikely to do anything when they do see it. I mean, lets face it, when was the last time you responded to one of those adverts? You might as well throw your money out of the window because you’ll never see it again!
If you’ve any sense you’ll be looking online to promote your business. Google is the first place most people look these days when they’re after a product or service, so you might have decided that an SEO company will do the business for you. Well, again you’re probably going to be in for a nasty surprise. Most SEO companies will gladly take a hefty monthly fee from you, normally hundreds of pounds per month, but results aren’t guaranteed and if you’re in a highly competitive sector then things can get really expensive. And as soon as you stop paying them all that work gradually fades away and you’re back to square one.
Luckily there is a better end more efficient way to invest that money by using an animated video. It’s a one off cost that’s cheaper than print, will reach more people and will last forever, not just a few weeks or months. If your company has an entertaining and engaging animated video to show off then you can share it online. Then other people will share it too, because its fun, they enjoyed it and they want other people to watch it. This leads to great word of mouth exposure, which we all know is the only tried and tested way of getting your name out there.
For small businesses it’s a win win, spending less money and getting better exposure from it. If you’d like more information on how an animated video can help you promote your business then head over to www.www.mooviemakers.co.uk where you can see some great examples of previous videos as well as some stats that might surprise you!
Getting yourself heard on the Internet can be an uphill battle. If you’re like most people you spend a lot of time online, reading emails, checking social media, reading blogs and generally getting bombarded with information. The problem is so does everyone else. To make sure you’re the message that jumps out at them you need to be a bit different, a bit eye-catching, and most importantly entertaining.
This is where animated video can come in. Video is a tried and tested way of engaging your audience, with stacks of figures out there to back up its effectiveness. You’ve probably noticed yourself that you’re more inclined to watch a video on YouTube or next to a product you want to buy rather than have to read stacks of text. It’s just an easier way to digest information. Live action video is a great when done well, however it’s not without its drawbacks. Firstly, because of the amounts of expensive equipment involved it can be really expensive, and slow to produce, and you’re limited to what you can film if you’re on a tight budget.
Animated video opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Firstly it’s relatively cheap to produce. Mooviemakers videos are all fixed prices, so you can really keep on top of the costs from day one. As well as this the only limitation on what can be produced is what you can imagine in you head so you never have to throw away an idea because it seems too fantastical. Original and clever animation gives a slick, professional feel to any website and really gives your brand a boost.
When someone gets introduced to your company you’ve got a few seconds to grab their attention. This is your golden window of opportunity and its vital you have something to stick in their mind. An animated video of 60-90 seconds can tell a potential customer everything about you and your company, and connect with them in a way written text just can’t. It doesn’t have to explain in detail every aspect of your company, rather give a brief overview of what you do in a way that entertains them and makes them want to know more.
Animated videos are on the rise for this very reason. They’ve proven to be an effective and affordable way of increasing traffic to websites, increasing sales and also search engine rankings. We think they’re great, although we might be a little bias!