What sets animated medical videos apart in pharmaceutical marketing?

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Animation is the powerhouse behind many brands’ marketing campaigns.

One example of where you might not necessarily expect to see animation is in pharmaceutical marketing. Don’t limit animation to cartoon animals and wacky storylines, however - alongside these more conventional use cases, animated videos are also an invaluable addition to medical and pharmaceutical marketing.

And below, we’re going to show you exactly what benefits animation can offer to this field.

Keep reading to learn more about the growing popularity of animated medical videos in pharmaceutical marketing, the challenges they address, and the benefits they unlock.

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Why are animated medical videos becoming essential in pharmaceutical marketing?

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In recent years, animated medical videos have experienced a rapid popularity surge in pharmaceutical marketing. So much so, that many pharmaceutical brands now rely on this content type as an integral component of their marketing campaigns.

So, why exactly are animated pharmaceutical marketing videos becoming so widespread?

Animations are proving essential to pharmaceutical marketing because they combine versatility and customisability, with unparalleled engagement and digital appeal. The result? Bold, impactful and memorable videos, which make even complex medical concepts easy to understand.

Let’s go into this in more detail.

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Firstly, animation is the perfect way to simplify information, and keep your communication clear and easy to follow (even for viewers without a medical background). In the case of the medical and pharmaceutical industries, this clarity of communication is vital, especially when your content is being directed at patients.

Then, once you have determined the topics you want to cover, animations offer extremely engaging visuals, and their video format makes them ideally suited to further maximising audience engagement. As a result, they are a fantastic way to captivate audiences' attention, and keep them listening right through to the very end.

At the same time, these striking visuals - which can include creative colour palettes, relatable characters, mesmerising animation styles, typography and audio elements - also ensure your video secures maximum digital appeal. In a crowded digital landscape, animation will make sure your content stands out, stops your audiences from scrolling, and keeps them watching.

Finally, animation is inherently versatile. This content can be tailored to suit the full range of digital channels and platforms, ensuring maximum outreach and effectiveness. For instance, a professional animation agency will work with you to create tailored content for social media, websites, digital displays, TV or internet advertising, e-learning guides, seminars or training sessions, and many more.

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How do animated videos address common communication challenges in the pharmaceutical industry?

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Although clear communication is absolutely vital for pharmaceutical brands, that’s not to say it’s easy.

Naturally, communicating core topics will be far more difficult for medical and pharmaceutical brands, due to the more complex nature of their products or services. Then, when you’re trying to direct this message to patients, the challenge gets multiplied even further.

This is precisely where animated videos come in.

An animation agency will work on a close one-to-one basis with a pharmaceutical brand, to understand the full nuances of the topic at hand. Then, they will collaborate with the brand to create a carefully crafted script, and tailored characters, settings, typography and other content - all of which are precisely geared to maximise understanding.

In short, by combining bespoke visuals with perfectly timed audio elements, animation ensures even complex medical concepts can be conveyed with ease.

The list of benefits certainly don’t end there though!

Beyond clarity of communication, the other benefits of animated videos for the pharmaceutical industry include:

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Clear visuals - animations feature illustrations that are not only bold and entertaining, but serve to enhance audiences’ understanding of the topic being outlined.
Tailored messaging - animations are completely customisable. This extends to include everything from the characters to the script, and the typography to the audio effects. As a result, animators will work with you to gear all the content to best support your intended messaging.
Increased engagement - Statista data revealed that, last year, more than 3 billion internet users watched, streamed or downloaded videos at least once a month. What’s more, this high engagement clearly translates into impressive KPIs for brands. Recent research found that 92% of businesses are satisfied with their social media video marketing ROI, and 96% of marketers say that video is a vital component of their marketing strategies.
Visual storytelling - animations also hold great emotive power, and their ability to captivate audiences is equally down to their immense storytelling abilities. Animators are extremely talented storytellers, and these videos connect with the audience on an emotional level, through a moving, relatable and engaging narrative arc.
Brand differentiation - firstly, by keeping your animation firmly on-brand, these videos are a brilliant way to boost your brand identity. Secondly, if your competitors aren’t investing in animation, what better way to stand out from the crowd? ‍
Multichannel deployment - animations (even if you created it with one fixed purpose in mind) can be deployed across any digital channel. With the assistance of your chosen animation studio, you can repurpose this content to be deployed across all your online and digital platforms.
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How do animated videos enhance understanding of complex pharmaceutical products?

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These advantages extend across the entire product range of a pharmaceutical company.

However, the benefits that animation offers for the more complex pharmaceutical products extend even further.

More advanced products can encompass those that provide more specific use cases, are more difficult to use, or that are used to treat a more complex condition. While it’s easy for a trained medical professional to understand these products and their use cases, an ordinary consumer can quickly feel lost.

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If patients don’t successfully grasp the nature of your products, then they either won’t be convinced to make a purchase or, if they have already received the product, they won’t be able to use it correctly. This can dramatically impact the product’s effectiveness, or even pose a health risk to the patient.

So, when it comes to these more complex products, the benefits unlocked by animation can include:

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Visual representation - animation can simplify intricate medical concepts through visual aids. For example, this could be an illustration of how the product works in the body, or an animated guide of a character using the product.
Step-by-step explanation - animation uses keyframes, settings and a precise script to break down complex processes into digestible segments. This helps to further aid audience understanding.
Engaging storytelling - in addition to making these complex topics extremely clear, animation also presents this key information in an engaging way. The narrative format of animation maintains viewer interest, and means you can communicate these key messages to your consumers, via a video that they actually want to watch.
Customisation - to achieve maximum clarity, brands can also tailor their animations. Animations can be made bespoke to both the company’s branding, and also to the needs of the specific audience they are trying to target.
Clear demonstrations - animation is perfectly suited to product marketing. The customisable nature of this content (coupled with its visual representations) means brands can actually demonstrate how product works, show it being used in action, and maximise the audience’s understanding of its benefits.

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How do animated videos improve patient engagement and education?

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For pharmaceutical marketing, patient engagement and education are among the most powerful benefits of animation.

In fact, although pharmaceutical companies’ first thoughts may be to turn to live-action videos, animation offers a number of critical advantages against all other forms of content.

The interactive features, complete customisability, captivating visuals and ability to visually render otherwise inaccessible content are all unique to animation. And, they are extremely effective aids to patient engagement and education.

In this critical field - where the content being communicated is not only more complex than most brands’ requirements, but also more important to secure full understanding - this is an invaluable benefit.

So, in terms of fostering patient engagement and education, animated videos benefit brands by:

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Creating captivating visuals - which are full of fun and entertainment value. Beyond keeping audiences engaged, this is also an extremely effective way to boost the content’s memorability.
Simplifying explanations - as we’ve covered above, animation’s combination of crisp visuals and precise audio ensure explanations are made clear and easy to follow.
Including interactive features - you can also work with your animation agency to include a range of extra interactive features, to make the content even more informative. Depending on your requirements, these can include polls, 360-degree views, interactive virtual product demos, AR, or live chat (for example).
Striking an emotional connection - with its clever use of characters, relatable settings and crafted storylines, animated videos can further understanding through emotional connections, and personal links that audiences resonate with.
Maintaining consistent messaging - with an animation specialist at your disposal, you can ensure your video maintains an even pace, a consistent communication style, and a calm, even tone, which is easy to follow, while creating a professional, dependable feel.
Ensuring accessibility - professional animators will ensure that the content is accessible for viewers with different disabilities, and that it can be followed by viewers of any (or no!) pharmaceutical backgrounds, too.

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What impact do animated videos have on brand recognition and recall?

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Beyond the broader benefits that animation unlocks for the pharmaceutical industry, animation also offers critical advantages to individual brands, too.

From the perspective of a pharmaceutical brand, animation is a fantastic strategic addition to your marketing campaign.

Again, it all boils down to animation’s ability to help you stand out from the crowd, put your brand in front of broader audiences, and make your brand’s benefits and USPs clearer, and more memorable.

In terms of business branding, the impact that animated videos can achieve include:

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Enhancing brand visibility - thanks to their high engagement rates and immense popularity amongst viewers, animated videos have a knack for getting your brand in front of wider audiences.
Increasing brand recall - plus, because animations are so inherently memorable, they help to strengthen brand recall amongst your viewers. This is because, when they have a need for the product or service that you offer, engaging and memorable marketing means they’re far more likely to have your brand ‘pop’ into the forefront of their minds.
Improving brand recognition - the memorability and strong brand identity of animation also work in reverse. If at a later date your audiences see your brand in a pharmacy or on supermarket shelves (for example), chances are they’ll remember the animation, and instantly recognise your branding. As a result, this means they’ll be far more likely to then make a purchase with you over your competitors.
Strengthening brand identity - the combination of all these elements results in a far more strong, well-established and effective brand identity. Through animation, you can build a brand that audiences recognise, have a clear and instant sense of what you do, and immediately and independently recall your USPs.

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Pharmaceutical marketing is about far more than creating fun and informative content (as great as that is).

The benefits of pharmaceutical animation videos extend far further, to encompass much more powerful advantages. With this content in their repertoire, pharmaceutical companies can strengthen their brand identity, foster greater patient engagement and education, and communicate in a far clearer way, ensuring a supportive and conscientious approach to product marketing.

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Why work with an animation agency like OK Social?

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At OK Social, we are a 2D animation studio, trusted by countless brands across the UK.

We offer a broad range of specialist animation services, and work with brands across all industries to create bespoke branded content, which is precisely geared to achieving their vital KPIs.

We have worked extensively with healthcare brands, supporting many of the UK’s largest names in the sector. This includes creating impactful healthcare and pharmaceutical animation videos for the likes of Lloyds Direct and the NHS.

So, to find out more about our services, or learn how animation can strengthen your marketing campaigns, speak to the OK Social team.