Whiteboard animation and explainer videos can be a fabulous addition to your digital marketing strategy. Before we go into how animation can improve your digital marketing, let’s review the basics:
What is digital marketing?
Digital Marketing refers to marketing efforts that take place online. Even if you are new to the term, chances are you are already employing some digital marketing tactics. Digital marketing strategies include:
- Your Website
- Social Media
- Pay Per Click advertising
- Blog
- Online media coverage (like press releases)
- SEO/Organic
Why does digital marketing work?
People are spending more and more time online. Digital marketing is about meeting people where they are. Think about how much time you spend on social media, or how often you consult Google when you have a question. Digital marketing is about bringing your brand into the spaces where people are already spending their time.
How can an explainer animation fit into this?
It’s one thing to employ digital marketing tactics in various spaces around the web; making sure your content is engaging is a whole ‘nother ball game. Let’s look at some places where animation can improve your digital marketing:
Website
Websites are often an organization’s main public face. When someone wants to learn more about your organization, chances are they will look up your website first thing, so you want it to be attractive, engaging, informative, and actionable. But did you know most people leave a webpage after less than a minute? How do you capture someone’s interest enough to keep them around to actually learn about your organization and maybe even take action? A video on your landing page can increase engagement, keep people on your site for longer, and create a memorable association with your organization.
Paid Advertising
You might be familiar with some of the many ways organizations can run paid advertising on the web. Some of the most common paid advertising avenues are through search engines like Google and Bing. Google also has the option to run video advertisements on YouTube. They are called pre-roll ads and they run before YouTube videos (click here to learn more about pre-roll ads). With pre-roll ads, you have a partially captive audience (they have the option to skip after 5 seconds) and can cater them to a particular demographic. Another popular space for advertising is on social media sites like Facebook, and turning a plain ad into a video ad can get you the attention you want on a crowded feed.
SEO
SEO refers to Search Engine Optimization, and is a strategy used to improve search engine results organically (AKA, without paying for it). This can be done with the careful use of keywords, frequent creation of relevant content, and by creating a clean, fast site. Another way to boost SEO: video. By simply including video on your website you signal to the search engine that your site has rich, varied content, which is a major bonus in the SEO world. Pro-tip: include video on MORE than just your landing page, such as blog posts. And remember to include keywords in your video description, title, and tags when you upload it to youtube. Doing so will earn you extra SEO points.
There are so many ways video can fit seamlessly into digital marketing strategy, improve on what you already have, or help you get your digital strategy off the ground. We’ve detailed a few ways you can use video, but encourage you to dream up ways to incorporate video into your marketing strategy. The possibilities are endless!
