Why You Should Be Using Motion Graphics to Promote Your Brand

Everyone knows they need to promote their brand, but the world of video production can be scary and expensive, especially when so many people have ZERO experience with it. You’ve even heard me caution against trying to shoot your own footage in previous blog posts. You may ask, “well, if hiring an agency to shoot a video is too expensive, and shooting my own video is too hard, what options am I left with?”

To that I respond: “motion graphics!”

Full disclosure: I am, in fact, a motion graphics artist, so there’s bound to be some measure of bias in this post, but I assure you that many of the things I’m about to say are objective facts, not just the opinions of one random dude on the internet. It would be helpful to define what I actually mean by “motion graphics.”

The term “motion graphics” is something of an umbrella term used to describe a variety of techniques involving 2D animations, generally done with a program like Adobe After Effects. Think “graphic design” but with motion involved. If you need help visualizing these ideas, here’s an example of a bumper we made for an event, involving lots of movement and typography:

So, there you have it! Looks professional and clean, and didn’t require any camera equipment, microphones or complicated shoot schedules. Obviously, not everything can be done in this format, but it works for many forms of content. So why are motion graphics so ideal for promoting your brand?

Because they cost a FRACTION of the amount that a full, live-action production would cost!

They also generally take less time to create, though that depends on the scope of the project. The average motion graphics project can often be completed by a single artist and in just a few days. The example above was made by yours truly, taking about the aforementioned timeframe to complete. When compared to the cost of hiring an entire crew to write a script, shoot footage and then edit the video together, you’re looking at an entirely different ballgame when it comes to cost.

So, what’s the tradeoff, then? Are motion graphics just “better” than live video? Of course not. No form of media is inherently “better” than another, they just have different purposes and areas they excel in. For example, if the owner of a small business gets in front of a camera and talks about why they’re so passionate about what they do, it’s likely to land better with viewers than text on a screen. On the other hand, if that same owner gets on camera to explain the details of their new extended warranty policy… well, that might just be better explained with some text and graphics. The point is that motion graphics can help with brand promotion in ways that live-action video sometimes cannot.

“Ok, well what do you mean by ‘brand promotion?”

That’s probably best saved for another post, because the concept of branding is a deep one, and we’re certainly not experts. However, it boils down to this: everyone has a “brand”, whether they like it or not. Your “brand”, is essentially how the public perceives you. You can either sculpt your brand to help the public see you in a positive way, or you can simply leave it up to them to draw their own conclusions. As you can probably guess, if left to their own devices, the public will often arrive at some unusual or possibly incorrect conclusions.

Let’s do a little exercise to demonstrate what I mean.

When I say “Apple”, what do you think of? Their logo probably comes to mind. You probably think of not-so-cheap electronics and clean, white designs.

How about when I say “McDonalds?” That’s got to be one of the easiest ones out there! Golden arches, cheeseburgers and a clown in a bright yellow costume probably come to mind pretty quickly.

Now how about when I say “Mike’s Pizza Shop?” This business is a fictional one (though I imagine there’s probably one or two “Mike’s Pizza Shops” out there somewhere), but already, the images you think of become a little hazier, don’t they? Maybe you’ve never heard of Mike’s pizza shop, and probably can’t think of what their logo looks like. “Mike” isn’t exactly an Italian sounding name, so maybe the quality of the food isn’t as good? We’re making some assumptions here, which isn’t a super great practice, but that’s what people will do, whether consciously or not. If we take the time to consciously sculpt and promote our brand, we can help the public see us in a more positive or accurate way.

So why do I bring this up in a post about motion graphics? It’s because brand awareness isn’t just about selling to customers. Even non-profits or charitable organizations need people to be aware of who they are and what they do. Motion graphics are so great for brand awareness because they are a powerful tool for delivering information in an interesting and engaging way. Let me give another example.

In the following video, I was asked to animate some graphics that a marketing agency had come up with. The ad was for a dentist’s office, who were running a special promotion, where some of their profits would be donated to charity:

This is great for brand awareness on a couple of levels. First, it just gets their name out there for people to see. Second, people seeing that you donate to charity is always going to generate some positive buzz. Knowing that you donate to charity is sometimes what convinces people to go with you versus a competitor. And finally, imagine if the owner of this practice had gotten on camera and droned on about how they were running a special promotion and referring a new customer would yadda, yadda, yadda. Even a paid actor would have trouble holding everyone’s attention through that sort of information. But some cute graphics with fun music in the background? That’s a lot more likely to get someone to watch through to the end.

I could give example after example, but you get the point. Motion graphics are a powerful, cost-effective tool that can help you improve awareness of your brand and reach potential customers. Consider getting your feet wet in this area by reaching out to a local artist who does this. They’re almost always willing to work within your budget and can create something awesome for you!

Cover Photo by Sarath P Raj on Unsplash