How can you create a marketing plan for an animation series that targets a niche audience?

Golden rule. Before thinking about an animation, make sure you are clear about the message and how to make it appealing to those viewing. I recall producing a TV advertisement for a charity who were looking to support people suffering in various parts of the globe. I designed a morphed animation that initially looked innocent, but then changed shape to depict the suffering. Impact... most definately. It was original and very well received as I took the audience from their comfort zone to a place one could not imagine. Simple, but effective as the whole animated piece resonated with the audience.

It is very useful to interview your clients to determine who their ideal Customers are vs their Consumers. Try and determine the current turnover so that you can create forecasts with your client to work out your reach with the intensity of the campaign. Be it drip or aggressive, this will determine the frequency and type of platforms to consider to amplify your clients brand presence.

Animating for the sake of animating “almost always” results in bad design. I remember in my own experience when I spent a significant amount of hours on an animation for an Intro and it was so long but so long that it reached ten seconds and lost its purpose in the Intro diverting the user's attention instead of directing it towards what the team wanted, satisfactorily I was able to solve it in less time and with a more pleasant appearance, and take the idea to just three seconds. When an animation carries no functional purpose, it feels unnatural, or even annoying. Another parameter to take into account is the longevity of the animation.

Knowing the target audience is important, their needs and interests are also important, how do they use motion graphic content and for what purpose do they use it, how much does animation content help businesses?

One of the things I learnt in my business group about niche is to go 'one step deeper'. One of the example is Coco, the animated featured film from Pixar. It may seem that it was targeting 'family' audience with the type of heartwarming story and its visual. This resonated with all ages and background due to the universal themes of family, culture and determination. It doesn't appeal only to children but also adult audiences with much more emotional depth. In my view, this is one animated movie that masters the rule of niche storytelling and bending it creatively.

One interesting experience I've learnt from my ex employer is to turn things around by reaching out to people who are seemingly our 'competitors' and seeing it the other way. We could see them as collaborators instead and form a strategic partnership whereby we could complement each other, playing to each of our strength. This way, we can also tap into new audience and possibly create more opportunities. For example, we often partner up with another animation studio, branding agency or video production house when there is a suitable project that can make use any of those expertise to make the work stands out.

For animation this will help to work out which distribution channels to scan so as to determine the type of target audience that switches onto the channel. This will help to determine where and how often to place advertising slots to promote your animation as well as to determine the tonality with which animation frames to promote.

In the animation industry, understanding competitors is crucial for differentiation. A thorough analysis can reveal gaps in content and audience engagement that your animation series can fill. By leveraging unique storytelling, art styles, or innovative marketing approaches, you can carve out a distinct place in the market.

It's good to know your competition, however it shouldn't be your main focus. It's much more productive to look to your own business and your audience on how you can improve. You won't know what you can improve by looking at the competition. They could make the same mistakes as you do or even do worse. Don't be a copycat, be you, be unique. Ask your audience how to improve your business, appeal to them to create a better service or product. Afterall you're selling to them, not your competitors.

Define your niche audience's characteristics thoroughly. Focus on targeted digital marketing channels like niche forums and social media groups. Create engaging content and partnerships within the niche community to drive awareness and viewership.

Creativity is dynamic and while we do need certain parameters to succeed, it is also a good practice to set a more fluid/flexible goals that can accommodate certain changes within the budget that has been set. Some example would be when we were required to create a scene of a stop motion studio setup fully in digital, we found better method along the way after setting a clear goal initially. With the better method, it meant that our timeline had to be stretched. A good planning in creative work involves some flexibility and it has to be fluid enough especially at the start to give more buffer for some experimentation and discovery along the way in making the work better

In the animation industry, setting Smart goals is crucial for a targeted marketing plan. For instance, if your animation series has a unique art style, your goal might be to captivate a specific demographic that appreciates this niche. Measuring success could involve tracking engagement on platforms where these audiences are most active, like DeviantArt or Tumblr, rather than just mainstream social media. Aligning these goals with your business vision ensures that every marketing effort contributes to the overarching narrative and identity of your animation brand.

Set SMART goals for your animation! Target brand awareness, leads, loyalty, or sales – track & adapt for success! Don't just throw spaghetti at the wall; define clear objectives and KPIs to measure your animation marketing magic!

Marketing objectives are very important, the objectives must be smart to achieve success, that is, they must be specific, understandable, measurable, and capable of being achieved, and they must also be flexible in order to be flexible when it depends on the situation.

Being SMART with your goals will help the team to review the weekly messages that need to be created to drive the promotion campaign. The nuggets with key messages will come from the review sessions with the animators and copyrighters as they review the work that has been done consistently.

Your marketing magicis very important . Tailor strategies to your audience & goals. Consider website, social media, trailers, and even influencer partnerships to make your animation shine!

Marketing strategy planning is very important in success, we should consider our own budget and time and how to spend this budget? By launching campaigns on social media or collaborating with influencers and creating a website and...

The weekly review sessions with the animators and copyrighters will help to determine the promotional elements that are created. The content for the website with trailer is also going to assist with the messaging for social media.

You can compare a marketing strategy to having a storyboard for your animation series. It's a sketch of the story you want to create with rough outlines of the characters. Your strategy is that sketch with a rough outline of your goals and how to reach them. Over time those storyboards improve and become the series. Just like your strategy becomes your marketing over time.

Don't settle for basic #animationmarketing! Engage your niche with: *High-quality trailers & clips to build anticipation. *Thriving online communities through contests & forums. *Data-driven tweaks to optimize your strategy. *Long-term plan to keep your animation top-of-mind.

The level of engagement and interaction will help to determine the momentum of the campaign. Begin with survey designed promotional boards which reward and probe the audience with questions that test their understanding of the campaign. Close off with testimonial boards to determine how many people engaged by liking and re sharing the last "Thank You" phase of the campaign.

Considering budgets keeps multitudes of new media not only in the minds of individual creators but across the screens of today's world of at home digital media consumers that are constantly demanding something unique and new.

If you are talking about marketing plans, then you have decided to make your series. And since I doubt any studios are looking to LI for marketing advice, I'd say that means that you are planning a DIY series to launch on social media. So, before you get locked in, research where there is white space for your series to succeed, talk to a LOT of folks who have already successfully launched a series on your preferred platform AND in your specific niche. Some advice will be universal but a lot will be specific to who you are targeting. For instance, thumbnails are critical but if you are targeting preschool kids who can't read, don't add text! Further, consider whether you can x-pollinate w/ game development, comics, merch.

Before starting this endeavor, you need to weigh the costs vs the rewards. How big is the niche? What is the spend for conversion? How can you leverage other ways of funding for marketing aside from cash out of pocket?

Every campaign has a beginning, middle and thank you. Ensure that a framework is determined around these 3 phases for consistency.