Voices

Why Contently Clients Get Animated Over This Video Studio’s Content

By Patrick Mezeul November 8th, 2022

Here at Contently, we know that multimedia is key to content marketing success for any publication—and video sits at the top of the list of multimedia must-haves.

There’s a reason video has become such a popular option among content marketers. The medium tends to be easy for general audiences to consume, especially in the case of tough or complex topics. Animated videos in particular are a great option for those who wish to educate customers or explain something in a digestible way.

Matt Byrom is one of Contently’s renowned animators. His production company, Wyzowl, based in Merseyside, England, is a world leader when it comes to creating explainer videos. Matt and his team have assisted countless Contently clients across multiple verticals over the years.

We asked Matt for his insights on the animation production process. Here’s what he had to share about the best practices he employs at Wyzowl.

How did you first get into video marketing?

Matt: I started Wyzowl back in 2011. Over the last 11 years, we’ve created more than 3,500 animated videos for 1,500 companies across more than 40 countries.

“Good content doesn’t need to be long, but it does need to be comprehensive.”

We’ve created videos for almost every use case and industry imaginable. We’ve also created hundreds of infographics, ebooks, and guides. As a team, we [live and breathe] content!

How do you tailor your animated videos to a specific target audience?

Matt: We research the audience first to understand what their pain points are, what problem they’re looking to solve, what level of understanding of that problem they have, and their commitment to engage with content to learn more. The commitment part is particularly important, as it determines the length and type of content we create for any specific reason.

[A good brief is our jumping-off point for a new project.] It’s particularly useful when a client has considered the most important points to include. This gives us a strong starting point for the areas that need to be covered.

In your opinion, what makes for ‘good’ content?

Matt: Content is ever-evolving, and there are so many content types, channels, and ways to get your message out there. It can be hard for the average company to keep up. But in my opinion, good content is easy to read, contains opinions, exudes authority, and is backed up by examples and data. It doesn’t need to be long, but it does need to be comprehensive.

How do you make your content SEO-friendly?

Matt: Over the past five years, we’ve had a big focus on SEO. We realized that ads were getting extremely competitive in our industry and were no longer providing good ROI, so we switched to an [organic] SEO focus.

I’m happy to say that [our strategy shift] worked, and we now generate more than 150,000 monthly visits to our website. To make our content SEO-friendly, we research keywords and phrases and look for results that fit our target market, have volume, and are achievable.

“Good content is easy to read, contains opinions, exudes authority, and is backed up by examples and data.”

We then write strong, authoritative content. After a few months, we review, update, and nurture the content toward strong rankings. We actually created a video on this exact topic here: 5K to 190K Organic Search Traffic In 2 Years.

To finish off, what content marketing blogs/newsletters do you read?

Matt: [I’m a big fan of] Indie Hackers and The Hustle.

Take a look at Wyzowl’s portfolio to see more of Matt’s work. While you’re at it, be sure to subscribe to Contently’s blogs, The Content Strategist and The Freelance Creative, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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