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Why You Need an Animated Video Company

February 19, 2024

Why You Need an Animated Video Company

So you’ve been looking for ways to step up your marketing game and you’ve seen some of the stats on explainer videos (like how 95% of marketers say video marketing has helped them increase brand awareness). Now where do you start? How do you find the right animated video company? What’s the process of creating one look like? This week, we’re going to explore in depth some of what goes into creating an animated explainer video. From our wide breadth of services and our rich experience in marketing, let’s look at why having an animated video company like Digital Brew at your side makes all the difference.

How Difficult Can It Be? – Why Making a Video In-House Isn’t the Way To Go

When inspired with the idea of making an explainer video for your company, you’re probably wondering how hard it can really be. There’s so many out there the tools of creating a video are more available than ever. You or your boss’ first thought is probably something like, “Can’t we just do this in house?” Well maybe. But only if you can write, do voiceover, draw, and animate all on your own. There’s a lot of work that goes into making a single video.

And sure, you could probably slap something together and get your point across. But a bad explainer video could actually cost you more in the long run. Your video is probably going to be your first impression with a potential customer. First impressions are everything so if a cheaper video gives a bad first impression, you could actually be costing yourself business. Then you’ll need to spend money on a better video anyway.

But an animated video company specializes in creating visual stories that engage and inform audiences. While you may think it’s easy to do in house, it’s better to leverage their expertise to create the best video possible. These companies utilize a broad spectrum of animation styles, including 2D, 3D, and motion graphics, to produce compelling content. Their work ranges from animated explainer videos that simplify complex topics to entertaining marketing videos that captivate target demographics. With a focus on visual storytelling, agencies like Digital Brew adeptly transform ideas into animated narratives that resonate with viewers.

What An Animated Video Company Does – Everything That Goes Into Creating Your Video

Well, to put it simply, we make explainer videos that take the large ideas of your brand, product, or service and distill them down into a bite-sized, compelling piece. We’re able to tackle a wide range of animation styles like 2D, 3D, motion graphics, and even live action (but this blog is focused on animation). With our focus on visual storytelling, we’re able to transform your ideas into animated narratives that will resonate with your audience and potential customers.

Creating explainer videos involves extensive planning and art direction. Something Digital Brew works closely with you to write scripts, craft storyboards to map out visual narrative flow, and develop unique illustration styles tailored to client brand identity. This pre-production phase ensures all stakeholders are aligned, allowing for an efficient animation process with fewer revisions.

How Digital Brew Does It – Our Workflow

We can’t speak to other animated video companies, but Digital Brew has a tried and true work flow for our videos. And it’s one that makes sure we’re including you in every step of the way. Of course brewing that final video is no simple task. There’s a lot of processes that happen behind the scenes to help get us there:

  • First, you’ll have your creative brief call where we nail down exactly what kind of story you want to tell. We’ll gather any information about your company and service you feel is relevant to your video.
  • From there, our writer will take everything we learned on the call and craft the script for your video. Then we’ll send it back to you for feedback. We know we don’t always nail it on the first try so there’ll be a little bit of back and forth to get it just right.
  • Once the script is finalized, we’ll create “Style Frames.” These are a handful of frames that’ll be used in your actual video that will give you an idea of what your artwork will look like. 
  • After those are approved, we’ll storyboard your entire video. Of course, just like the script, we can make any adjustments you want until you’re happy with it. With the entire video storyboarded, you’ll have a really good idea of what your video will ultimately look like.

And that’s just part of the process! There’s still working with a voice over artist, assigning one of our talented artists to actually animate the video, and even help you define the style of your video. We never want to make the same video twice and we’re certain you don’t want to get a knock off of someone else’s video. Each video we create is tailored to you. We want to capture your unique voice and style. 

Not only does this better help capture your company, but it allows for your video to stand out in a crowded digital landscape. Our goal goes beyond making a great video. It’s about making a great video that makes you money! Whether you’re a small startup looking to get the word out about your brand new app, or a well-established brand aiming to enhance its video marketing strategy, we’re here to provide the animated video services necessary to achieve your goals.

Animation Styles – What to Know

Choosing the appropriate animation style aligns visuals with messaging for maximum impact. A company explaining a complex process may leverage motion graphics to clearly demonstrate functionality. Alternatively, an animated video meant to connect emotionally may opt for hand-drawn 2D characters that audiences can relate to.

The array of animation techniques is vast, encompassing everything from traditional hand-drawn 2D to cutting-edge 3D and motion capture technology. At Digital Brew, we leverage an array of tools like Cinema 4D, Unreal Engine, and Adobe After Effects to achieve stunning visuals. Advanced techniques like particle effects, dynamic cameras, and detailed environments create immersive animated worlds.

  • 3D Animation: Offers a realistic and immersive experience, ideal for demonstrating products, visualizing complex concepts, and showing exploded views inside your products.
  • 2D Animation: Tailor-made animations that align closely with the brand’s identity and marketing goals, providing a unique touch.
  • Motion Graphics: Simplifies information delivery through engaging and dynamic graphic elements, perfect for explainer videos and presentations.

What’s Best for You? – Helping You Find the Right Style

A great thing to have when starting your journey with an animated video company is an idea of what you want your video to look like. It’ll help guide us on what the scope of your project will look like. But even if you have an idea going into your initial call, it’s not set in stone. Maybe you’re thinking about going with a 2D video but as you talk through it with us, we realize that maybe 3D would be a better route. Maybe you’re looking for something more realistic and immersive? Something that captures what your product actually looks like instead of a more stylish version. 

We often get the comment “I don’t want something too cartoony.” Which we totally understand. That’s part of our job as an animated video company. Thankfully, we can do any kind of video you could need! Live action? Got it! 3D? Got it! 2D? Got it! 2D with characters? Got it! A mix of styles? Well we can do that too! Choosing the right animation style is crucial for the project’s success. Factors such as the target audience, message, and brand identity play significant roles in this decision.

The process of getting an explainer video can seem a little overwhelming, especially in the beginning when you could go in a million different directions. We’re here to help you. That’s why it can be so important to work with someone like Digital Brew. You’ll have an experienced studio to guide you through the process.

Custom Animation – Designing the Perfect Animation Style For You

Everything at Digital Brew is custom created for your company. Creating custom animations starts with deep consultation to pinpoint brand personalities and visual aesthetics. Warm, friendly styles may be suggested for approachable brands, while sleek, high-contrast looks align with luxury brands. We’ll even animate logo reveals to seamlessly introduce brands within videos.

Custom animations crafted by an animated video company like Digital Brew can foster a unique brand image and amplify video marketing strategies. By creating content that is distinct and reflective of the brand’s values and personality, companies can stand out in a saturated market. Custom animation allows for complete creative control, ensuring that the video aligns perfectly with the brand’s marketing goals and aesthetics.

Beyond the Video – Everything Digital Brew Does to Set You Up For Success

But what happens once your video is completed? Here’s where you’ll really notice the Digital Brew Difference. We don’t just spend all this time working with you and kick you to the curb with your brand new video. Our job here is to really make videos that convert. So we want to make sure you’re completely set up for success with your video. That’s why we provide a slew of additional content to help your video do the best it can.

So, in addition to your video, you’ll also get:

  • Access to our educational video series where we break down best marketing practices around topics like landing page optimization, email sequencing, and scheduling software
  • A social media accelerator kit that includes a cutdown of your video and static social media to kickstart your new social media campaign
  • Two 1-hour strategy sessions where you’ll get to work one-on-one with our marketing team to help shape your campaign around your new video
  • Full access to all your custom vector artwork so you can match your upcoming marketing campaigns to your new video.
  • An SRT file for accessibility so you can add subtitles to your video

Of course, all of that comes included in the cost of your video. We want to make sure you’re set up for success on the rest of your marketing journey. We even created a free vlog series called The Drip, where we explore the tricky intersection of marketing and video, and how to be good at both. 

Brewing a Partnership – Developing a Relationship with Your Animated Video Company

Entering into a relationship with an animated video company is a big step. That’s why it’s important that you choose the right partner. The quality of your video significantly impacts engagement, message delivery, and ultimately, the effectiveness of your video marketing strategy. An experienced animated video company will help you tell your story in the most compelling way to ensure your message resonates with your target audience.

Sometimes it goes beyond a great portfolio or even industry experience. Nobody wants to work with jerks. So you want to make sure you’re working with a team that is going to be collaborative and help guide you in the right direction. That’s why us at Digital Brew are so transparent about our process. We want to make sure we include your feedback every step of the way.

Even though we’re the video marketing experts, we know you’re the expert in your field. Whether it’s the terminology your brand uses or how those in your industry prefer things explained a certain way, we’ll always make sure your video fits your company and hits its target audience. Like any good relationship, communication is key. And good communication comes from listening to and trusting each other.

Like we’ve said before, our goal is to always make the best video that hits your goals and makes you money. So if you want to know more about how we can do that, we’d love to hear from you. We’re also happy to answer any general marketing questions you might have or how you can beef up or better use a video you might already have. You can always reach out to us here.

Let’s Brew This!