The Power of Animation to Drive User Engagement

By RS Raghavan

DariaNK/Getty Images

It’s no surprise that the world wide web is at its most accessible with the various number of channels and devices available to individuals in today’s day and age. From smartphones to social media to online gaming, users can easily log onto their online accounts to search and find any information they need with a click of a mouse. However, this overwhelming amount of information offered is also a contributor to the short attention span of the human mind. For example, Microsoft found that the average human attention span is down to eight seconds from 12 when it was originally measured in 2000. We can blame these channels and devices for being the vessel to the lack of memory, but the decrease in attention span isn’t the challenge — it’s the oversaturated amount of information available on the internet preventing brands from their maximum potential of fully engaging with users and widening their brand awareness.

How Brands Can Accelerate User Engagement

Today’s consumers are visual people. With 65 percent of the U.S. population who classify themselves as visual learners, there’s no denying that fact. In a generation where user attention levels are as low as eight seconds, visuals in the form of animations can effectively capture an audience's attention. Humans, by nature, are wired to correspond better to visuals over text. For example, a simple animated presentation with minimal text can convey the message quicker and clearer compared to a slide filled with bullet points.

While the internet can provide a wealth of information, this begs the question: how can brands stand out from the noise and drive user engagement? Here’s why leveraging animations, video, and mascots can boost user engagement and drive brand awareness:

1. Boost social media engagement. Social media is one of the best ways for brands to express their creativity through images or video. It is a collaborative platform: individuals can share content with a brand, comment on the posts, provide recommendations, and more. Animated visuals and videos are trendy on social media with its eye-catching affect it can have on an individual. As such, this can drive more user engagement, garner wider brand visibility, and improve metrics organically.
2. Animated explainer videos engage even the laziest of buyers. Videos are a great tool for learning, but an animated video can be even more appealing and easier to consume to the eye. Buyers today are too busy to take the time to read long product descriptions or conduct research on services they’re interested in purchasing. Modern website visitors want to see the product in action before hitting the“Upgrade/Buy Now” button. By leveraging animated explainer videos, brands can engage even with the laziest of website visitors and boost their conversion rate.
3. Improved brand awareness. Research shows that animated visuals increase the chances of information retention making it a long-term memory. By leveraging visual elements like animated mascots in marketing collateral such as websites and other marketing materials, individuals are more likely to remember it and instantly recognize the brand the next time the mascot comes to mind.
4. Improve search engine rankings. Not only can animated videos boost user engagement and brand awareness on social media, it can also boost search engine rankings. When an individual searches for a specific video online, the search engine populates videos in the results, which typically appears at the top of the page. This gives brands the opportunity to drive both new and returning customers to its webpage when an individual performs a search relevant to its product or service. Creating animated videos can act as a stepping stone to draw brand awareness in a brands’ space.

Animated visuals create a persuasive experience that cannot be mimicked by any other form of content. Using animated content can be a game-changer in providing a clearer picture of a brand’s business, helping to accomplish the bottom line by boosting customer engagement and driving brand awareness through social media, improving search engine rankings, and reaching a passive audience.

R.S. Raghavan is the CEO at and founder of Animaker.

The views and opinions expressed in Marketing Maestros are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the ANA or imply endorsement from the ANA.