A client recently asked, “How do I know if animation is worth the investment?” It’s a question we hear a lot, and the answer isn’t as simple as comparing price tags. Let’s walk through how to approach this decision.
Think about the last time you tried to explain something complex to someone. Maybe it was your company’s software platform, or a new process you were implementing. Or perhaps you needed to capture pure energy — that impossible-to-film moment when your brand promise really comes alive. In both cases, animation might be your answer.
We just worked with a telecom company that had been struggling to explain their installation process to customers. They’d tried different approaches — flyers, explanatory brochures, online step-by-step walkthroughs. Nothing quite landed. Animation let us quickly dig into the process, following the path from planning and permits to smooth streaming. Suddenly, a complex multi-step process became a story anyone could follow.
On the flip side, another client came to us needing a brand anthem that would get their sales team fired up. Live action felt too limiting – they wanted something that could break physics, transform products into experiences, and build pure energy from scratch. Animation let us create exactly that.
But animation isn’t always the answer. For example, there’s a particular startup we know of that relied on an animated explainer video for their launch. They had a charismatic founder with an incredible story about why they started the company. Going with animation actually buried their strongest asset: the authentic human element that made their brand special.
Let’s talk about when animation makes sense and when it might be steering you wrong.
The Sweet Spot for Animation
You know those moments when reality just isn’t enough? Like when you’re trying to show how your sustainable manufacturing process works, from raw material to finished product. Or when you need to visualize data in a way that makes people actually care about the numbers. That’s where animation earns its keep.
Consider what happened with one of our B2B clients. They needed to create content for multiple international markets. With live action, they were looking at separate shoots for each region, different actors, and multiple locations. Animation let them create one core video that could be easily adapted for each market — just change the voiceover, adjust some text, and they’re good to go.
When Real is Really Better
But sometimes, animation can feel like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. We recently talked a client out of animating their customer testimonials. Their customers were passionate advocates with genuine enthusiasm — no amount of animation could match the authenticity of their real voices and faces.
Live video often wins when:
- Your story is fundamentally human
- You need quick turnaround
- Your budget is tight (and yes, good animation is expensive – we’ll get to that)
- Authenticity is your main currency
Keep Reading: Best Marketing Videos for Lifestyle Brands
Let’s Talk Money (Because We Have To)
Here’s where people usually get sticker shock. Quality animation starts around $3,000 per minute for basic motion graphics, and can easily run up to $50,000 per minute for premium 3D work. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story.
Think of animation like building a digital asset library. Most of the time, once you have your animated elements, they can be repurposed endlessly. That explainer video can become social media clips, website headers, trade show loops, email graphics — you get the picture.
Making the Investment Work Harder
The smartest animation investments all start with the same question: “How many ways can we use this?” One of our retail clients built their entire year’s content strategy around a single animated brand video. They broke it into seasonal campaigns, created GIF sets for social media, pulled still frames for print ads, and even used elements in their email marketing.
Keep Reading: Types of Paid Advertising to Boost Your Ecommerce Business
When Energy Matters
Sometimes you need content that gets hearts racing. Think brand anthems, product launches, or campaign kickoffs. Animation gives you control over every frame, every transition, every moment of excitement. While live action can capture real energy, animation lets you craft it precisely.
We recently created an anthem video for the KC Chamber where animation let us defy physics — oversizing people, giving energy form, transforming landscapes into logos, and building impossible camera moves that no drone could achieve. The result? A piece that captured the energy of their annual anthem better than any live shoot could have.
Animation particularly shines for anthem videos because it lets you:
- Build perfect pacing from scratch
- Create impossible transitions
- Mix styles and approaches
- Control every detail of timing
- Scale energy up or down exactly when needed
But here’s the catch: high-energy animation requires high-end execution. The gap between good and mediocre becomes especially obvious when you’re trying to create excitement. If you’re going for an anthem video, budget accordingly.
The Reality Check
Before you commit to animation, ask yourself:
- Do I have at least 3-6 weeks for production?
- Can I afford good animation? (Bad animation is worse than no animation)
- Will this content have a shelf life longer than a few months?
- Could this message be conveyed just as effectively with simpler means?
- Does the creative vision demand pixel-perfect control?
Sometimes the answer is obvious. Sometimes it’s not. But understanding why you’re choosing animation — whether it’s explaining the complex, energizing an audience, or transforming your brand into pure visual excitement — is crucial to getting real return on your investment.
Remember, animation is a tool, not a solution. The best results come when it’s chosen strategically, not just because it’s trending or because your competitor did it. Think about how your audience consumes content, what emotions you’re trying to evoke, and whether animation genuinely adds value to that conversation. Whether you’re breaking down complex ideas or building up pure energy, make sure animation serves your story, not the other way around.