The renewable energy industry is now one of the most influential industries in the world: with growing urgency to find alternative energy solutions, businesses are keen to invest in future-proof methods.
In 2017, the global renewable energy market was valued at $928.0 Billion and is expected to reach $1,512.3 Billion by 2025.
As the energy sector becomes more crowded, we have to ask: how can renewable energy companies stand out from the competition?
By building a strong brand identity as part of their creative and content marketing strategy. Including renewable energy video content as part of this strategy is key. It will help clear the fog between a seemingly complex industry and your customers. Here’s why video marketing – especially animated video – is a crucial component of a successful renewable energy marketing strategy and how to get started.
Videos on renewable energy: why they work
With 85% of users wanting to see more videos from brands, video is quickly becoming an essential part of any renewable energy content marketing strategy. But with so much video content out there, you need to prioritise high-quality creativity and branding or your efforts will get lost in a sea of similar content.
More companies are investing in animation to help create a unique brand identity while delving deeper into the core messaging.
Animation is effective for most industries, but for the renewable energy industry, it is especially powerful because it:
- Reaches people on new channels
Video marketing is widely supported by most platforms. Whether on your website, social media platforms or at in-person or virtual events, it’s a valuable tool for you to improve your presence on new channels
With video content tailored to social media posts, you can create a short series of Instagram stories to explain how your product or service works. It’s a great way to generate awareness amongst potential customers without taking up too much of their time. Utilising more video content also means you are more likely to rank higher in search engine results, which will drive further traffic to your website.
- Explain complex subjects
The topic of renewable or alternative energy could fill countless books. The subject matter is complex and few people have the time to fully understand it.
With animated video, you can use different animation styles, such as kinetic typography, to clearly demonstrate statistics and explain complex subjects simply.
The nature of animated video also means that the script is written to be as short and concise as possible. This often includes putting it into a language that everyone can understand. This helps to avoid common myths or misconceptions about the subject, giving your audience a better sense of confidence in your business and what it stands for.
Plus, by investing in bright and even humorous animated content, you will make your message instantly more interesting and entertaining to those who are newer to the industry.
How to get started
Thinking of incorporating animated video in your creative strategy? Here are a few steps you can take to ensure a successful campaign:
- Choose your target audience
This step is crucial, as it will set the tone and the message you want to convey. A helpful exercise is to create 3-5 personas of your typical consumer, noting down all of their pain points, to help you get into their mindset. - Choose your message
Once you know who you want to reach, structure your message around what would appeal to them the most. Explain how your solution can solve their problem. - Align your message internally
An issue that companies in alternative energy industries can face is an internal disconnect with how to position their product or service. For example, your marketing team might have a surface-level understanding of your solution, but not to the same extent as the engineering teams. Take time to present your ideas to multiple teams internally to make sure you’re aligned with the messaging and the benefits of sharing it. - Decide where the video will be shown
The platforms your video will be shown on can impact the cost of commissioning a video from an animation studio, as well as the design. Knowing where you want this video to be shown will help you formulate a clear brief ahead of time. - Curate your video
If you don’t have an in-house team, you might find yourself commissioning a studio to help you with your video. Make sure to take your time on this step and work with a studio that will guide you in the right direction creatively and align with your brand values. - Share and monitor your performance
After your video is complete, you will want to share it and monitor the performance of your video. This includes organic views, view rates, and video completion rates to help you understand how your video performed.
Case study: KBR – Animated explainer video
Content Creatures created this engaging animated explainer for KBR Project Solutions to share with the renewable energy industry.
We were invited by KBR’s Project Solutions team to create an animated video to share on social media and in meetings on the subject of the energy transition. We wanted to create an animation that would tell the story of energy from the beginning of the universe through to a carbon-neutral world in the not-so-distant future.
In commissioning this film, the client took a creative risk by choosing a style, unlike anything they had produced before. Fortunately, they were fully invested at every step of the way, enabling us to deliver a distinctive animation for the renewable energy industry that everyone was proud of.
Case study: Climate Outreach – Promo Films for Charity
Content Creatures worked with Climate Outreach to develop an animation style for a series of promotional videos for a charity campaign.
The events of 2020 gave them an opportunity to explore new ways of communicating online. They turned to animated promotional videos as a way to appeal for donations and promote their work on a UN climate change paper, UNEP.
We worked closely with the Climate Outreach team to hone the scripts. For the UNEP film, it was important that the content was factual and not frivolously presented. Our copywriting team struck a balance between substance, style and duration.
As well as the charity campaign films, we also provided short looping animations for use on the UNEP microsite.
Working with Content Creatures
Whether you’re looking for branded content, an animated explainer video, an animated film for an event, or general video production services, we’d love to connect with you. Simply book a time in our calendar that works best for you!
In our consultation, we will take time to understand more about your brand and what you want to achieve and help you formulate a brief based on your communication needs, among other things.
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