The Difference Between a Good Video and a Great One
You’ve done the hard part. You’ve filmed a brilliant corporate video with great interviews, beautiful shots of your business, and a compelling story. It’s a good, solid video that does the job. But in a world where everyone is creating video content, how do you make yours stand out? How do you give it that extra ten percent that makes it look truly professional, polished, and authoritative?
The answer, more often than not, is motion graphics.
Think of it like this: your filmed footage is the main body of a high-performance car. Motion graphics are the sleek paint job, the polished chrome, and the high-tech dashboard. They are the design elements that elevate the entire package from something functional to something that looks and feels premium. They’re the secret sauce that takes your video to the next level. This guide is all about the power of adding motion graphics to corporate videos and how they can transform your content.
So, What Actually Are Motion Graphics?
“Motion graphics” can sound like a super technical, complicated bit of jargon, but the concept is actually very simple. In a nutshell, motion graphics are graphic design elements—like text, shapes, and logos—that have been brought to life with animation.
You see them all the time. It’s the way your company’s logo elegantly animates onto the screen at the start of a video. It’s the slick, professional-looking text that appears at the bottom of the screen to introduce a speaker (that’s called a ‘lower third’). It’s when a key statistic or a powerful customer quote slides onto the screen in a dynamic, eye-catching way.
They are the animated elements that work with your live-action footage to add a layer of polish, professionalism, and visual flair. They help to explain complex ideas and reinforce your brand identity. Understanding the term is the first step in appreciating why adding motion graphics to corporate videos is such a powerful tool.
Level Up Reason #1: It Brings Your Brand to Life
Your brand isn’t just a static logo on the top of your website; it’s a living, breathing thing. Motion graphics are the best way to inject that life and personality directly into your video content, creating a powerful and consistent brand identity.
The most obvious example is your logo. A simple, static image of your logo is fine, but a slick, professionally animated version that appears at the start and end of your video? That looks a million times more professional and memorable.
But it goes deeper than that. Every piece of text on screen, from the speaker’s name to a key bullet point, can be designed to use your exact brand fonts and colours. The style of the animation itself—whether it’s fast and energetic or smooth and elegant—can be designed to perfectly match your brand’s personality. This brand reinforcement is a huge benefit of adding motion graphics to your corporate videos, as it creates a cohesive, recognisable, and incredibly professional look.
Level Up Reason #2: Simplifying the Complex by Adding Motion Graphics to Corporate Videos
Some business concepts are just a bit… dry. Trying to explain a complicated process or a set of statistics with just a person talking to the camera can quickly send your audience to sleep. This is where motion graphics come in to save the day.
They are the ultimate tool for making complex information simple, engaging, and easy to understand. Instead of just saying that your sales grew by 50%, you can show a slick, animated bar chart that grows on screen to represent that success. It’s a thousand times more impactful.
Trying to explain a tricky, four-step process? You can use simple animated icons and flowing arrows to visualise it, making it crystal clear for the viewer. You can use animated text to pull out and highlight the most important takeaway from a dense paragraph of information. This is the educational power of adding motion graphics to corporate videos; they don’t just present data, they bring it to life.
Level Up Reason #3: It Boosts Engagement and Screams ‘Professional’
Let’s be blunt for a second. A video that uses slick, professional motion graphics just looks more expensive and more credible. It’s a powerful signal to your audience that you are a serious, professional brand that invests in quality.
This has a huge impact on viewer engagement. In a long interview or presentation, the viewer’s attention can start to wander. A well-timed, dynamic piece of on-screen text or a slick animated graphic acts as a “pattern interrupt”—it re-engages their brain and draws their attention back to the screen. It breaks up the monotony and makes the video much easier and more enjoyable to watch.
This polish has a direct impact on your brand’s perception. When a potential customer sees a video that is polished with professional graphics, it sends a subconscious message that your business itself is polished, professional, and successful. The perceived quality that comes from adding motion graphics to corporate videos can have a direct impact on how much a client is willing to trust, and spend, with your brand.
Level Up Reason #4: They Create Seamless, Professional Transitions
A corporate video is often made up of different “chapters”—an introduction from the CEO, a customer testimonial, a product demonstration, and a final call to action. Just jump-cutting between these different sections can feel jarring and a bit clunky. Motion graphics are the perfect tool to smooth over these gaps and guide the viewer seamlessly from one section to the next.
Instead of a simple cut, a professional can create a custom, animated branded transition. Imagine your company’s logo smoothly wiping across the screen to take us from the interview to the product shots. It’s a slick, high-end touch that makes the whole video feel cohesive.
For longer videos like a recorded webinar, short animated “bumpers” or “stings” can be used between different topics, acting like visual chapter breaks to keep the viewer engaged. Using them for transitions is a subtle but high-impact way of adding motion graphics to corporate videos, ensuring your final film flows beautifully from start to finish.
Your Final Graphics Questions: An FAQ
Q: I already have a finished video. Is it too late to add motion graphics to it?
A: Not at all! In most cases, a motion graphics artist can take your existing, finished video file and add professional elements on top. Things like an animated version of your logo, slick lower thirds to introduce your speakers, or dynamic on-screen text to highlight key points can all be added after the fact. It’s a brilliant way to give your old video content a fresh, modern update.
Q: Does adding a lot of graphics make the editing process much longer?
A: It does add some time, which is why it’s a specialised service. Simple, clean graphics like a logo and some text are relatively quick to create and add. A more complex, fully animated infographic or a custom-designed transition will naturally take more time to design and animate. The best approach is to be clear with your editor from the start about the level of graphics you’re looking for.
Q: What’s the one motion graphic that gives the most bang for your buck?
A: A professional logo animation at the start (an ‘intro’) and a clear, branded ‘call to action’ at the end. These two simple elements instantly frame your video with a sense of quality and professionalism. They reinforce your brand and tell the viewer exactly what to do next. They are a fundamental part of adding motion graphics to corporate videos to get a real return on your investment.
