5 Reasons to Create Animated Demos
Did you know that when asked how they’d most like to learn about a product or service, two-thirds of people (66%) said they’d prefer to watch a short video?
It’s clear video content works for demonstrations, but whether you need to create a demo for a product, service, app or other piece of software, doing this as an animation could be a smarter choice.
In this blog, we’re looking into 5 reasons to consider using animated demos rather than live action video.
1 – It’s easier to make changes
Of course, it is possible to film a screencast to create a product or service demonstration, but this might not always be the best option. The main reason being that if you are working to always keep your customers happy, then products and services inevitably need to be updated. Unfortunately, updates can mean that any screencasts can be out of date or need to be re-recorded, which can be costly.
Animation on the other hand allows you to distil a customer journey to the key steps and remove all other elements. If you only focus on the key elements of that journey in the animation, you only need to be concerned if these elements or features change. Because every element of an animation is created from scratch, if the colour of a button changes for example, an animation can be quickly updated to reflect this change.
2 – You can simplify topics
We want to make demonstrations of our products and services as simple as possible and this is where animation is a perfect fit.
Using animation, a complex process can be broken down into simple visual steps. This means your audience can follow along visually with every aspect of your demonstration and retain it. After all, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is completely visual, so using animation for demos makes sense.
3 – It can be more engaging
When creating a demo for an app or web platform, using animation or a blend of filmed footage and animation can be more engaging than filmed footage alone.
You could film someone demonstrating the process to show what happens on screen, but using animation gives you the option to showcase and highlight the important elements within your customer’s journey. For example, you can make prominent buttons move or change colour, so that they really stick in the audience’s mind.
4 – It can embrace multiple target markets
One of the issues with filming live action is that if we are using people, we are often excluding many others. This makes it hard to embrace multiple target markets with a single filmed demonstration.
With animation instead of using ‘real’ people we can use anthropomorphism. Attributing human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities such as animals, aliens or even blobs! Creating and using characters that are not confined by gender, race or age, opens up the ability that multiple people can connect with them and ultimately your animated demo.
5 – It can be cheaper
Think about it, if you are trying to create a demonstration although it might seem simple there are lots of elements when you are filming. You need to consider locations, actors, props, schedules, reshoots, editing and a whole lot more.
Whereas with animation these elements can be animated! Although there is pre-production work needed in terms of script, storyboard and other elements, if changes are required, they can be factored in without the need for re-shooting.
This can make animation a much more cost effective and future-proofed option for creating your demos.
Let’s Get Animating
Thanks for reading our top 5 Reasons to Create an Animated Demo, we hope it’s helped you see how animation might be the perfect fit for your next demo.
Why not book a call with our team to see how we can help you create animations that work.
