In an age of information overload, we are constantly bombarded. So your brand needs to find diverse ways to make its messages really stand out.

Enter animated infographics.

From making your message more memorable and easier to digest, to increasing the number of times it’s shared, there are huge benefits to investing in this form of content marketing, especially if you’re in the UAE.

Let’s look in more detail.

1. Easier to digest

Even basic infographics, compared with text, can increase the number of people who understand the whole message by 380%.

Back in 2005, researchers in South Africa compared text to infographics when helping people understand the label on their medicine. When it came to a complete understanding of the message, 72% of the infographic viewers achieved this, compared with just 15% for text.

There seems to be a truth to that old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Why this is important to your brand

You’ll build more of an emotional connection with your audience.

By taking this a step further and animating your infographic, you have the power to break the information down even more. No need for a single visual having to display everything.

An animated infographic lets you quickly and succinctly build your brand story in an engaging way. And if people understand what you have to say, they are more likely to connect and become emotionally engaged.

2. Less lost in translation

The UAE sits 71st out of 88 countries for English proficiency.

This is based on the 2018 Education First English Proficiency Index. And when your company is based in such a diverse country like the UAE, English is hugely important as a go-between. Yet, if it’s few people’s first language, how can you avoid that ‘lost in translation’ problem?

Animate it. Turning your story or idea into an animated video will help you communicate with people across all languages.

Why this is important to your brand

It lets you reach more of your target audience.

All brands want to engage as much of their target audience as possible. But it can be difficult to have content translated into multiple languages each time.

Animated infographics let you break your message down into individual points that can be rapidly absorbed by all consumers. The same visual can be understood by all, not just a few.

3. More memorable

The average person will read 20% of the words on a webpage.

This data comes from the Nielsen Norman Group, who analysed 45,237 page-views. This highlights that if you rely purely on text for your content marketing communication you need to make sure you get your message across quickly and memorably.

In reality, people are more likely to remember an infographic. This only increases if the infographic is animated.

Research from Microsoft conducted in 2018 looked at the overall effect of animated infographics versus static ones on 120 people. It found that animated infographics offered a significantly higher overall engagement, enjoyment, and cognitive involvement.

In other words, they were more fun and more understandable.

Why this is important to your brand

When the time comes for the consumer to make a purchase, they’ll remember you.

When you create content, the ultimate goal is to improve brand recognition and sales. In markets as demanding as the UAE, employing animated infographics could make all the difference to your message being remembered and understood.

Animated videos let you create leads and building a connection.

4. Increased sharing

Around 50% of people have shared a company video. Over 80% have liked one.

The above stat actually comes from 2015, so I’d expect the numbers to be even higher now. The research was performed by Animoto, who conducted a web survey of 1,051 consumers.

Videos and animation are also important when it comes to the likelihood of emails being opened. The same survey found that consumers were 50% more likely to read a newsletter if it had video links.

The upshot is that providing more animated infographics enables your company to get greater traction from the content produced.

Why this is important to your brand

It allows you to reach out to new customers as much as your current ones.

‘Word of mouse’ is a vital part of a content marketing strategy. The more content is liked and shared, the more it is seen and trusted.

So when you send an email to your mailing list, you’ll not only have more of those people opening the email, it will be more widely shared as well. This helps you connect with people previously unaware of your brand.

So, should I have animated this?

Probably. But, then again, maybe you can have both. Write up your content. Publish it. And then use it as the basis for a script for an animated infographic.

It’s win, win.