The demand for video content is growing as if it’s on steroids. (Jokes apart, consumer usage of View on Demand (VoD) is expected to double by 2019.) Some sources predict that online video will make up 55% of consumer Internet traffic by 2016, while others predict that 2017 will see an increase of 74%. Adults in the US will spend an average of 5 hours, 31 minutes watching video each day this year (source: e-marketer). While all these figures are slightly different, they all agree on one thing: The demand for the video monster is growing exponentially and video content is needed to satiate this hunger.
The net result is that marketers are under pressure to create more, and better, videos for their brands. What this means, is that you need to determine and implement your video strategy as of yesterday.
Big brands, with their fancy marketing and communications budgets are feeding the video monster – the year on year increase in online video creation and seeding is a whopping 43%. The effort these brands are making is for domination of established platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo, and other less traditional ones like Instagram and Vine, Flickr and Facebook video.
Now that you’ve seen how the ‘video monster’ is your primary weapon in the war for consumer mind space you will obviously invest a large part of your marketing budget in your online video content. With so much dependent on your video content, it stands to reason that you should question whether your video animation partner is up to the challenge of delivering high standard video that can meet your ever increasing requirement, ballooning consumer demands and ever changing technology.
If the answer is yes, then you can just shrug your shoulders and go about your routine with no care. If no, then you might want to consider changing your partner.
While there could be many reasons to consider changing your video animation partner, there are some that are just undeniable. Below, we list the top 5:
1. You are getting poor service – Your partner takes you for granted and the quality of the video and the service provided is below par (of course assuming that you’re paying standard market rates). Both, for you, as well as your audience. And, you really don’t need us to tell you what will happen if the audience rejects your video. You can kiss your brand’s success goodbye.
2. Your video animation partner lacks creativity – According to recent CMI across-the-market surveys, many brands do not have a documented content strategy, where each video either complements or supplements another. This will, of course, reflect in their return on content marketing initiatives. Therefore, what you need is not just an animation studio, but an idea driven partner who can not only fill in the strategic gaps but also be creative at the same time. The million dollar question arises (and it can literally mean millions of dollars worth of sales) – Can your partner create a unique piece of content every time so that you can stay on top of the competition?
3. You are being over-charged – Expensive does not mean quality. Did you know that high quality animated explainer videos can be produced for as little as $5,000 per minute? No. Well, now you know.
4. Your partner lacks an understanding of, and insights into, your target customers–The key to the success of your video is that it appeals to your target audience. If the video can connect with your TG half the battle is won. Does your video animation partner understand your TG? Does he/she even make an effort to?
5. Your video animation partner has slow turn-around times and your work is not prioritized–Is your partner keeping your project on the backburner? Well, its time you put your foot down, ideally on his/her neck. On an average, other things being constant, a one minute video shouldn’t take more than a week after you have approved the content for the script.
If it’s a check for even 2 of the above points, then you should be shortlisting other video animation partners already. If not, keep watching out…
If you’d like us at Ripple Animation to help you create video content, email us at v@ripplemedia.co. We currently have an offer of 10% off on our published rates.
Source: Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2014
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/the-future-of-content-marketing-is-online-video/626021
http://www.emarketer.com/Article/US-Adults-Spend-55-Hours-with-Video-Content-Each-Day/1012362