Business owners that don’t have a background in marketing understandably find it difficult to work out the difference between PROFESSIONAL Animation agencies … and amateurs.
The problem is, if you don’t choose the right agency to partner with, you simply won’t get the business results you need. Wasting time and energy on a project that doesn’t deliver is the last thing you need when your schedule is already jam-packed!
However, when done right, a professional Animated Explainer Video becomes the centrepiece of your marketing.
Everyone who comes in contact with your business will see it. And it will define the way you communicate your service to your prospects.
So here are some simple ways to ensure you are choosing a PROFESSIONAL Animation agency that will get you tangible business results …
1) Is there a strategy behind the video?
Any marketing project should have a well defined strategy before it starts.
The Strategy Session at the start of a project is an excellent way for you to feel assured you’re working with the right team of professionals.
Generally, amateur animation agencies won’t even run a Strategy Session at the start of your project!
Simply because there is no actual marketing strategy behind the project …
On the other hand, a professional agency will educate you about your offering and your marketing. They will teach you about what angles will drive buying decisions in your prospects …
And then they’ll show you how this strategy can be infused in your video …
2) How do their design skills make you FEEL?
Strategically designed marketing videos will make you FEEL like the brand they are explaining is established, credible and trustworthy. Professional agencies will use modern design concepts to develop videos that look cutting-edge.
Conversely, agencies that “production line” many projects at once tend to use silly-looking characters, “wacky” voiceovers and minimal detail (ie. whatever is quickest to produce).
This one is easy for you to work out …
When you look at example videos from an agency, do you FEEL like the brands being explained are credible? Trustworthy? Industry leading?
Quality of design affects the way your prospects will think about your brand.
3) How do you FEEL about THE AGENCY’S brand?
Animation agencies are in the business of emotionally inspiring a target audience to make buying decisions.
So it goes without saying … you should FEEL an emotional connection with THEIR brand. You should feel DESIRE to work with them. You should innately know that they are professionals at their craft.
If they are unable to create this emotional desire in you, for their own product … how will they be able to inspire YOUR prospects in the video they produce for you?
4) Do they effectively use their own product?
Animated Explainer Videos should be incorporated as part of an overall marketing strategy. And any marketing company should, as a prerequisite, have an excellent knowledge of marketing strategies!
So it follows that an Animation agency with professional marketing experience should be using their own product throughout their marketing strategies.
When assessing whether an agency are professional, check the following:
– Can they explain to you how they are using their own Animated Explainer Video to generate sales and leads in their own company?
– Have you seen their video on their website, in their emails and across their social media channels?
– Are they using their own video to advertise on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn?
– Can they advise you about marketing strategies and advertising on social media platforms using video?
– Do they have landing pages that are separate from their website (which indicate they have an understanding of how video marketing funnels work)?
5) Review their content
In digital marketing, content is king.
All professional marketing agencies consider themselves thought leaders and release regular content to prove it. Reading through a company’s blog, and requesting white papers and eBooks, can give you an excellent insight into their level of knowledge and passion … or lack thereof.
It will also be a great indicator of how much they can educate you on your own marketing throughout your project.
6) Are they over-delivering at every step …
… even before you start your project? Or are they just trying to get you into a sale as quickly as possible?
(note – see what we did there!)
7) Assess their industry experience
There is no hiding in the digital age!
It’s easy to assess the historical experience of the company you are speaking to, using LinkedIn. You can quickly get an idea of an agency’s skillset by reviewing the experience of not only the contacts you speak to, but even their staff.
Past experience will obviously provide an excellent indicator of the team’s level of knowledge. But also, use LinkedIn for an insight into their industry connections, the resources they have access to and the impact their company is making in the industry.
Wrapping it all up …
Here at Visionary Digital Studios, of course we believe that we are industry leaders in our craft!
However … we believe that EVERY professional company should have this vision for themselves (yes, we admit it’s a delusional level of confidence!) …
Regardless of who you choose to work with, as long as your agency infuses professional marketing science into their videos – instead of just “video for the sake of it” – we’re super-excited for you!
This article should provide some simple steps you can use to rest assured that the animation agency you choose will produce a project that gets you the business results you need.
If you’d like to see more examples of videos we produce for our clients, see here:
http://www.VisionaryDigitalStudios.com/visionary-explainer-video-solution
