You don’t have to be an expert in animation or video production to get excellent results from videos. You just have to choose the right creative team.

The reason cartoon animation works so well for online videos is because they are entertaining – even to adults. With animation, you can present your information in a professional manner while graphically depicting interesting content that users will watch to the end because of its entertainment value.

Let’s face it. People want to be entertained. In today’s fast-paced culture, entertainment marketing is the best way to reach your audience no matter who they are.

Cartoon Animation Is Simple, Easy, And Inexpensive
It’s a simple negotiation exchange. You want to present your product or service to your audience, the people who can benefit from it. Web users want to be entertained. So provide your potential customers with what they want while getting what you want.

That’s cartoon animation in a nutshell.

And because modern technology has made it possible, small businesses like yours can get professional cartoon animation videos at an affordable price. It doesn’t cost thousands of dollars to get an entertaining and informative video.

You’ll reach more people through a creative and professional video using cartoon animation than you ever will with an article, a blog post or paid advertising. YouTube is the second largest search engine online and one of the top five most visited websites in the world. People are watching videos and they’re waiting right now for you to entertain them. Don’t disappoint them.

Why Videos Are Powerful Marketing Tools
Video is a powerful communication medium. With video you can inform your audience and entertain them at the same time.

YouTube is the second largest search engine online – right behind Google. It’s also one of the top five most visited websites online. Why not leverage the power of YouTube by using it to present your message to people looking for information that will help them solve a problem? You can do that through your very own explainer video.

Information + Entertainment = Infotainment
A good explainer video does two things. It entertains its audience while explaining how something works. And video is a powerful medium because it uses more than one sense. An article can only reach certain people – individuals who don’t mind reading. But not everyone likes to read.

Since a video uses sound as well as visual images, it’s a much more powerful communication tool.

Explainer videos rely on computer graphics – cartoon animation or motion graphics – to communicate your message while entertaining your audience. That means the information you present is more likely to be retained and more likely to be shared. The key is to answer a question about your product or service that a typical user would have. If you can answer that question successfully while providing infotainment value, then you’ll get more viewers, more shares and more business.

Where Can You Use Explainer Videos?
Explainer videos can be posted on your website or blog, sent through e-mail, or shared on social media. And by social media, I mean more than just YouTube.

Facebook is the largest social network in the world and one of the top two most trafficked websites online. You can share your videos on Facebook. LinkedIn is a very popular business-to-business social network. Twitter allows you to share links to your online videos. Google+ is connected with YouTube because they are sister sites owned by the same corporation – the largest search engine in the world. Pinterest allows you to share your online videos with your friends and is an up-and-coming social network.

So, you see, there are a lot of ways you can share your explainer videos and get them the exposure they deserve.

Postal rates just keep going up. Not to mention, the cost of paper products and the services required to create greeting cards are getting more expensive. When gas prices doubled at the onset of the current economic recession, that led to a chain reaction in products and services also increasing in price. That affects your bottom line.

There are online greeting cards that you can send for free, but there is something a bit impersonal about those. You can add your own personal notes, but it just isn’t the same.

How about trying something different? Send a greeting card to your business associates in the form of a video. It’s a lot less expensive than postal greeting cards, it can be more personal than online greeting cards, and it’s much more entertaining than either of the other two options.

What A Video Greeting Card Can Do
With a video greeting card you can tailor your message to your audience. It’s a creative endeavor that you control – unlike prewritten greeting cards you send through the mail.

You can embed a video greeting card to your website, send it through e-mail or share it on social media. You can make it public or share it only with your private network. You have total control over the production and distribution of your greeting card. Plus, you can brand it with your own logo and business name, giving it a unique flare that generic greeting cards can’t touch.

Since there’s no paper involved, video greeting cards are environmental friendly – and no one can toss them or treat them like junk mail.

Greeting cards are good business. Video greeting cards are great business. It’s a quick, easy way to let your customers, suppliers, and partners know you are thinking about them and remind them that you care about their business and about them personally.

 Animated video marketing, of course!

• Customers want professionalism, a great story, and a wonderful business that they can remain loyal to for years to come. Animated video marketing can help tell that story and provide a professional, custom web presence that showcases you, what you do, and what you can offer a potential customer.
•  The Internet has exploded in popularity, and it’s not just your son or daughter who is using it; grandma and grandpa are on the Internet, and the collective digital literacy of our society has increased exponentially. Because of that, it’s critical that you understand how to leverage and use viral video methods and techniques across all your marketing channels. Not only is it cost-effective, it’s fun and will give your clients or customers something to talk about and enjoy as they learn your business and decide whether to buy.
• Animated video helps explain you, your products, and your philosophy, and the best news is that it can do the job in only a few seconds that you would take minutes or hours to complete. It’s efficient, cost-effective, and it stays out on the Internet and gets shared through social networks without you having to do the work of moving it around and sharing it endlessly.
• Animated video can be promoted 24/7 through QR codes, social media channels, email marketing, mobile devices and apps, landing pages, or virtually anywhere else that you see the Internet. In short, animated video provides for sustained marketing tools and campaigns without you being completely committed to marketing in favor of other important areas of your business.

So whatever the company, whatever the campaign, online and animated video can get the job done when it comes to raising your presence with potential customers. After all, that’s what marketing is all about; showcasing yourself to potential customers and their purchasing power.

Animated video does just that for a fraction of the cost of hiring a cast and crew to do a commercial, and it is designed specifically for this fun, new age of social media and web sharing. So, get on it and get yourself in front of new consumers and potential customers today!

First, don’t forget to promote your video adequately. There are hundreds of millions of different videos surfing around the web, and just because you made it doesn’t mean that anybody is ever going to see it. Most online videos of products and services are only found on a company’s official website, which is fine, but what happens when you’re trying to convert customers that aren’t already on your website? Promote yourself using keywords in Google searches, buying advertisements on YouTube, and sharing your video on social media sites. You’ve got the content – now it needs to get out there!

Second, the physical creation of the video is critical and really, second to none. Don’t forget that the message and content is the central aspect of any good online video, meaning you must make sure your message is appropriate and on point. People are bombarded by too many options in online video, and it’s necessary to always keep your content on point, on task, and relevant.

Third, don’t forget to find the right talent – such as excellent animators or skilled crew and cast members to make a truly good online video. Yes, the barriers to entering the world of video creation are lower than they have ever been before, but that doesn’t mean you should be the one on camera every day. Let professionals take part in the craft, from producing and editing the video, to being the on-camera talent and personnel on the content itself. Talent makes you look good! Or of course, have it animated

Finally, never forget to do a test run of your video with your friends, family, or even a focus group. Find people you trust, who are going to tell it like it is, and get them to review your video and critique it. If something looks funny to them, it’s probably going to look funny to viewers at home – so trust their opinions and use their reactions to judge if what you have is a strong online video.

At the end of the day, if you’re going to do online video, make sure you do it right. And w

Above all else, viewers look for online video that matters to them. Because they can search on demand for videos on any topic imaginable, it is necessary that you immediately get to the point and cut to the chase in your video content. It’s too easy for people to change the channel, so to speak, and find a new video that better suits their needs. Because of that, it’s important to be quick, straight to the point, and efficient with your online video work.

The good news, and challenge, with this is that too many media companies still think that video is a one-way discussion. They fail to acknowledge and understand the potential that online video provides, and how it makes available a discussion and chat forum and so called two-way street when it comes to interaction with viewers.

Viewers today are searching for interaction and recognition when they watch videos online. They want to add their opinions and thoughts, and they want to react in real time to video channels and segments. Because of that, it is critical to use channels and streams that allow for that two-way communication, and give viewers the opportunity to respond to you and your content.

A video channel or segment that doesn’t allow comments and discussion misses a huge opportunity to interact with and gain new followers and viewers as potential loyal customers. Viewers of online video want people to know that they are watching and interacting – encourage that sharing, and take part in it!

At the end of the day, viewers of online video want speed, efficiency, and professionalism. People are consumed by and pointed to so many different pieces of content that demand their attention each and every day. It becomes too complicated and difficult to expect an online audience will sit through your slow-paced show or segment when faster-paced content is on the way elsewhere.

Because of that, remember to give your viewers what they want. Straight, to-the-point content with no frills that is done professionally and efficiently. Online video viewers are bombarded every day with good and bad videos, but it is possible to make yours stand out and succeed!

To stay ahead of the competition, many businesses begin blogging (like this!) without thinking about why they are doing it, or where they are looking for customers. But instead of just interacting with no plan, the savvy businesses among us recognize the value of using online video and developing good relationships with their customers and fans.

The use of visual and audio effects in an online video is critical to its success as a great media platform and option, and in today’s quick and dirty world, it’s a much better solution to give people what they want, when they want it, with no frills or excess. Online video is catered to the quintessential Internet user – fast and useful information, easy access to more, and entertainment.

There are a few things your business can do to make the transition to online video and use it to your advantage. The biggest idea, though, is interaction and entertainment. Sure, you can do product descriptions until you are blue in the face – and depending on your product and business, they do work – but more than that, they provide energy, entertainment, and a face to your business.

Web video allows your business to develop a personality, some energy, and a progressive, professional brand on the Internet. Gone are the days of relying on blogging alone. Blogs like this are great, but they’re text – and text isn’t as interactive, entertaining, or as fun as video content.

So focus on the video aspect, show off your strengths, and reach out to your customers. You might just be surprised how quickly and strongly they reach back, and how positively they take on your videos. The best part of it, too, is online video provides a much better opportunity to show off your business’ strengths, energy, and passion than just a simple blog post or boring old website.

With the right content that fits your brand perfectly, and the right advertising and marketing of your online videos and advertisements, using web video is a powerful, interactive, and energetic tool for every business in any industry.

1. Professionalism

There’s a difference between the video that comes from your webcam and/or smart phone and a video that‘s professionals produced. How you produce videos is going to make a difference to a lot to viewers. For instance, marketing videos by just slapping a few photos and a music track playing in the background isn’t doing much to boost your brand. Videos that are produced professionally have an aesthetic appeal…having mastered the usual elements of video creation such as storyboarding, professional shooting, voiceover,  animation, cast ( if needed), and hours of editing. It’s a lot of effort, but well worth it.

What’s your video saying about you?

2. Communicating Intent

Every message that goes out to a general audience or potential customers must have intent. It’s the intent of your message (especially for businesses) that forms the core from which businesses calculate the return on investment (ROI). Each time a message goes out – through a video for the purposes of our discussion here – that message should have intent. What is the purpose of that message? What do you want your recipients to do after viewing your message? Without intent, no message is worth communicating.

What’s your intent?

3. Storytelling using videos

Videos are great storytelling tools. In fact, videos can do this so well that no amount of text or images can actually beat the effectiveness of video when it comes to storytelling. On a parallel note, all of us have a weakness for stories. We all love stories, don’t we? If businesses can use the power of grabbing attention using stories, effectiveness of marketing goes up by several notches. It can be difficult to tell stories on brochures and flyers…or on pages and pages of text on a website. Infomercials were successful but were limited in use due to that fact that they were expensive. The Internet, of course, is a new media which allows for endless opportunities for storytelling.

What’s your story?

4. One message per video

Focus is powerful. And it’s hard to come by these days. Some ads work best when they have one focus, one single idea or a single call-to-action. The story doesn’t end with just ads. Presentations, stories, marketing material, advertisements, text ads, and finally videos will all work so much better when you have a single idea to communicate. When you focus your message and keep it short and succinct, your videos become much more impactful.

5. No stories without a persona

Videos can risk being boring, drawn out, or completely irrelevant to the message you are trying to communicate. One of the reasons why a video cannot engage sometimes is because there’s a distinct lack of a personality. We are humans. We are drawn to attractive and fun personalities; this holds true no matter what the medium of communication is (that includes video). Animation is a great and inexpensive (compared to using actors/actresses) way to achieve a persona through your story. Have your persona touch on points that resonate with the viewers…almost as if they feel their pain and experience their excitement with your product/service.

Online video is powerful and there’s a lot of potential given the number of viewers, the power of video to engage, and the fact that audio-visual messages are incredibly effective. No matter how you to intend to use video, incorporating these five points into every video you use for communication helps in making videos that work for your business.

If you’ve been thinking whether video works for your business, here are at least six substantial reasons why it will:

1. The numbers are staggering

Comscore  notes that in June this year,  180 million viewers watched 33 billion videos, which also includes a staggering 11 billion video ads.

Danny Goodwin of SearchEngineWatch.com points out that Youtube – the popular video hosting giant – records 48 hours of video uploaded per minute, with at least 4 million people who connect and share at least on one social network. Youtube also reports that its daily views on mobile touch the 100 million mark already. According to a recent survey conducted by adap.tv and Digiday, brought to you by Marketingprofs.com  – an authority site on new age marketing for businesses — 96% of respondents in the survey predict that video ad spends are going to inch close to a 23% increase by the end of this year.

Those numbers are a marketers’ dream, aren’t they?

2. Videos help communicate with Impact

Rebecca Richmond – research director and content strategist for Melcrum (a training agency) wrote a post titled “maximizing the Impact of Video ” where she refers to a research conducted involving thousands of communicators. The fallout of the survey is simple: video impacts communication in a big way, especially where there’s no possibility of a personal meeting. In the survey, more than 92% respondents feel that visual communications is more important in communications.

3. Video offers the best engagement, ever

In an article on emediavitals.com titled “Driving Video Engagement Through Better Context”, Mark Jacobs – the CEO of MeBox Media – claims that those little calls-to-action that run through the video such as “learn more”, “visit us”, “practice for free today”, “sign-up for more” work tremendously well within a video taking user engagement to a whole new level. He further said:

As a user’s curiosity rolls to aspiration, they’re given access to a call to action or more information

If you have a call-to-action that your business will benefit from, you should put that in a video for maximum effect.

4. Videos convert like magic

An article on Practical Ecommerce  drives a point straight home: nothing beats video as far as conversions are concerned. The article mentions a case study (among others) of Treepodia.com (an e-commerce  video creation company) at least 46.22% increase in conversions for two retailers.

So, you think only big budget retailers use video for high conversions? According to Visual Website Optimizer, Carl Juneau – a personal trainer – uses videos at his website SixPackAbsExercises.com and saw his conversions peak at 46%. Bodybuilding.com — the popular authority site on Muscle Power building – almost entirely uses videos for training, conversions, and boosting its own store sales or paid expert training programs.

5. Video brings personality and an “in-person” feel virtually

The video is the closest you can come to actually being “In-person” with every viewer watching videos. Video multiplies the power of “being there” to an enormous scale. With video instruction videos, for instance, it’s as good as sitting in a class. While the video itself is hosted on a scalable infrastructure allowing for multiple views at the same time, every user gets the feeling of exclusivity apart from the flexibility of viewing, pausing, stopping, or returning to the instructions much later.

6. Use video to grow your business

Onemarketmedia.com published atleast 51 Ways to use Web Video to Help Your Business grow , and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. For all you know, your videos might just get “viral” with you possibly flirting with one of the many secret strategies that make videos go viral. As for most things in business, you’ll need a strategy to use videos, but rest assured it has a resounding payoff…making videos an undeniably tempting marketing channel.

Videos engage, teach, communicate, inform, motivate, convert, persuade, and sell.

Can you think of more reasons as to why businesses should use video? Please let us know here in the comments below.

The Baby Grocery Store Community Room (in progress)

Over the weekend, our little Grow Web Video family went on a behind-the-scenes tour of one of our new clients, The Baby Grocery Store. First, we love their motto: Because your baby deserves more than an aisle. If you are a parent, then you get it. You get that most grocery and big box stores only give you an aisle of baby necessities…and it’s not even the good stuff! You are hard-pressed to find organic products and if you do, there are only about 3 food flavors to choose from. Our baby needs more variety than that…isn’t variety the spice of life?!

So, what is it?  The Baby Grocery Store is an all-inclusive baby shopping experience, that will forever change how parents shop for baby essentials. The store carries products from companies that care about the environment and care about taking care of babies in the most natural & healthy way. When we visited the store here in Charlotte, NC, we got a glimpse of what will be the Community Room, where you can host baby showers and playdates for free. We saw the wall of freezers being put in next to the in-store kitchen…Can’t wait to take some baby food prep classes here! One of our favorite things about this store is that you can drop off your shopping list and they’ll do the shopping for you while you wait…or while you circle the parking lot (to keep the baby asleep lol).

We just finished an explainer video for The Baby Grocery Store and we will be debuting it soon. They plan to use it on their website, social media, and at health-focused expos. Give them some love with a “Like” at www.facebook.com/thebabygrocerystore Stayed tuned this week for their video!