As a freelance animator, you are required to be versatile, a real jack-of-all-trades, as it were, and, to receive a steady influx of work, you need to be able to offer your animation clients a variety of services.

Put simply, as a freelance animator, you will be working with a plethora of different types of clients to create motion graphics for an assortment of purposes. 

This is why it is important to consider a medley of freelance animation ideas to determine what you can offer your animation clients and how best to service them.

There is certainly no shortage of animation ideas that you can offer to clients as a freelance animator, from animations that they can use for online ads, clear, visual explainer videos, or even to just take a story and bring it to life. 

From sales videos to social media ads, to promotional product videos, to instructional how-to videos, to internal employee onboarding videos, the list of freelance animation ideas you are able to offer potential animation clients is practically endless.

Beyond the creation stage itself, you could also entertain the idea of providing supplementary animation client services such as edits and revisions on your work, or charging for additional special effects that can take the animation to the next level. 

Remember, the more adaptable you are with your animation clients, the stronger a relationship you build with them and, in turn, are more likely to retain them as a client in the future.

In this blog post, we’ll delve into the various animation ideas for freelancers to offer their animation clients. Consider the below list of freelance animation ideas as your comprehensive database to prepare you for approaching new animation clients with what you have to offer:

Cover the Basics Before Looking for Animation Ideas

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Before we take a look at some of the top animation ideas for freelance animators, let’s make sure we cover the basics of what you need to get animation clients as a freelance animator.

When you come across a standard job description for freelance animators, it is likely that you will notice that the general, basic requirements clients expect are that:

• A freelance animator should be well-versed in and able to create professional animations using tools such as computer and animation software programs.
  
• Freelance animators should also be able to produce the expectations set out by the animation client in terms of animation motion graphics and 2D/3D graphics.
  
• As a freelance animator, you will also be expected to create characters, background imagery, or special effects in the animation to optimize the viewing experience for the animation client’s target audience.
  
• Often, as a freelance animator, you will also be required to present animation ideas to the client in terms of brainstorming sketches for storyboards to implement for the animation client and their projects.

Understanding these expectations as a freelance animator will enable you to provide your animation clients with the best animation ideas and, with some hard work and problem-solving, facilitate a lucrative freelance animation career for yourself.

Marketing Video Animation Ideas

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Marketing animation continues to become increasingly important as a key component of a business’s advertising strategy. It should go without saying that marketing animation ideas should be at the top of your list when approaching animation clients with what services you can offer them. 

Here are some marketing animation ideas that you can offer to your animation clients: 

• Animated Social Media Ads – Social media advertising has become a prominent component of a company’s marketing strategy. As an animation idea, offer your clients short, focused, 30- to 60-second-long social media animations that demonstrate key products or services and are focused on brand familiarization.
  
• Animated Product Teaser Videos: Another animation idea you can offer potential animation clients is delivering brief, 15-45 second teaser videos that give customers a sneak peek into the key features of a yet-to-be-launched product.
  
• Company and Brand Jingle Animation Videos: A short, fun, and catchy animated company jingle is an effective way for your animation client to help familiarize their audience with their brand or call to action.
  
• Animated Landing Page Videos: Offer your animation clients the animation idea of creating a short, looping, animated landing page video to replace the traditional website background colors and draw the audience in. These types of videos can also be utilized as banners on social media platforms.
  
• Animated Product Launch and Event Videos: These videos can be useful to your animation clients insofar as the focus is entirely on the product and because they are product-centric, they minimize other variables that may that the viewers' attention away from the product.
  
• Animated Brand Anthem Video: The purpose of a brand anthem video is to stir emotion and a deeper connection with a brand. Offer this to your animation clients as an animation idea that can show their audience what the brand is all about and how it will help the customer or bring about change.
  
• Animated Product and Service Videos: Animated explainer videos are popular across a number of different industries and can be useful to your animation client because they focus on addressing customers’ concerns and offering solutions to problems they may be experiencing.
  
• Animation Product-Focused Animation Ads: Another of the top animation ideas you can offer to your clients are product-focused social media adverts, which serve to market the specific features of a product in order to educate consumers.
  
• Animated Case Study Videos: An informational case study video is a fantastic animation idea for your clients due to its ability to educate their customers on the problem-solving capabilities of their product or service.
  
• Animated How-to Videos: A popular animation idea for freelancers to suggest to their clients is creating animated how-to videos that focus on explaining the basic usage of a product, membership procedure, how to sign-up to use their services, or any information your client would like to provide step-by-step to their audience.
  
• Animated Sales Videos: If your animation client’s bread-and-butter relies on sales, an animated sales video is an appealing way to present information that their sales team would usually have to repeat over and over to every client.
  
• Animated Video Manuals: Not many customers have the time, or interest for that matter, to spend hours reading through a wordy product manual. This is where animated video manuals come in. This simple animation idea is able to educate and provide support to your animation client’s customers in a more engaging method.
  
• Animated Testimonial Videos and Success Stories: Offering your animation client an animated testimonial or success story video is another great animation idea. These videos are effective in terms of manufacturing brand loyalty and could be invaluable for your client’s success.
  
• Animated Specific Audience-Focused Videos: Suggest to your animation clients the creation of specific audience-focused animated videos. While it is impossible to please, it is possible to create animated videos targeting specific age ranges, projected market profiles, or any demographics your animation client aims to reach.

Company Promotional Video Animation Ideas

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Aside from offering your animation clients ideas on how they can market their products or services to their target audience, you can also suggest animation ideas related to promoting the company as a brand, giving their customers insight into who they are, what their values are, and showcasing their successes.

Here are a few examples of company-specific animation ideas you can propose to your animation clients:

• Animated Industry-Focused Ads: You can reach out to potential animation clients to produce animated industry-focused ads that can be highlighted for specific industry markets and needs.
  
• Animated About the Team Videos: Another fun and simple animation idea to offer to clients is to create an animated ‘about the team’ video. For example, if a company wants its customers to learn more about who they are behind the scenes, you can create animated caricatures of the team members to introduce them to the public.
  
• Animated CEO Videos: Similarly, your animation clients can introduce the CEO to their audience by making use of animated CEO videos, portraying a strong figure established as the guiding light of the company.
  
• Animated Company Core Videos: Rather than a written mission statement that gets lost among all the other text on a company website, suggest that your animation clients educate their customers on what they stand for by turning their mission statement into an animated company core video.
  
• Animated Company Outreach Videos: An animated company outreach video is an excellent way for your animation client to show the heart behind their products or services. This animation idea is centered around evoking an emotional response from the audience.
  
• Animated Membership Videos: If your animation client is focused on membership retention, you can offer to create animated membership videos to bring about awareness of the advantages of being a member of their organization through membership or subscription programs.
  
• Animated Product Update Videos: As a freelance animator you can appeal to product-oriented animation clients to keep their customers up to date about the latest changes, upgrades, or any other updates about their product or service by creating animated product update videos.
  
• Animated Wildcard Videos: In a content-saturated online space, unique animation ideas can make the difference between standing out and being lost in translation. Offering outlandish, non-conventional animation ideas to your animation clients can help them attract the right kind of attention.
  
• Animated New Product Line Videos: Think about Apple or Samsung. When they are getting ready to release a new smartphone model they spend months hyping up the new products and getting customers excited about what is to come. As a freelance animator, consider providing your animation clients with a similar offering.
  
• Animated New Market Promotional Videos: Perhaps your animation client is considering entering a new market. In this case, you can create short and enticing videos to introduce your client as an emerging player within this new marketplace.

Recruitment Video Animation Ideas

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With a massive push in recent years for businesses to utilize animation as a means of promoting their products, services, and brand image to the public, animators globally are scrambling to offer product videos, social media ads, and website animation. 

However, internally, within these businesses, are a wealth of animation ideas waiting to be offered to potential animation clients.

The work-from-home trend continues to gain popularity among the global workforce, and with more and more people applying for jobs and hiring candidates to fill positions online, creating animated videos for several aspects of this process can help to streamline this strategy. 

Here are some animation ideas related to recruitment that freelance animators can propose to their animation clients:

• Social Media Company Animated Videos: As social media marketing continues to gain traction, short 30-60 second animated videos that can be distributed across companies’ social media platforms are an enticing way to highlight the prestige of working for a particular company looking to hire candidates.
  
• Animated About Us Videos: Companies looking to fill roles within their various departments can utilize short and to-the-point videos as a means of attracting applicants. As a freelance animator, you can achieve this by helping to define the purpose of your animation client’s company.
  
• Job Post Animated Videos: Job posting websites such as LinkedIn are often overwhelming for applicants as they navigate seas of text-heavy posts. Instead, reach out to potential animation clients to stand out from the crowd with an engaging animated video to attract attention and draw in high-quality applicants.
  
• Animated How to Apply Videos: In some cases, the job application process can be lengthy and complicated. Offer potential animation clients animated explainer videos demonstrating how simple it is to apply at their company.
  
• Animated Application Process Videos: To prevent interviews from running overtime, help your animation clients eliminate repeated questions in the application process by offering to create an animated video answering frequently asked questions. A win-win for both the company and its applicants.
  
• Best Interview Practice Animated Videos: Another animation idea to propose to potential animation clients is an animated video to help prepare applicants for the interview by summarizing the optimal means of preparing for an interview, such as specific instructions for connecting to an online interview.
  
• Animated Hiring Process Videos: As a freelance animator, you can suggest to potential animation clients to formulate a hiring process video that takes them through the steps following the interview, what the timelines are, and what expectations they can have during the next phases of the process.
  
• Requirements Animated Videos: During the hiring process there is often paperwork or documents the new hire needs to prepare during the onboarding process. Save your animation clients time and energy by suggesting that they consider an animated video outlining these requirements.
  
• Animated Benefit Videos: Another animation idea you can offer to potential animation clients during their recruitment process is the creation of an animated video highlighting the benefits and perks employees will receive upon joining the company.

Employee Onboarding Video Animation Ideas

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The onboarding process for new employees can be time-consuming for companies. Freelance animators can appeal to potential animation clients with animation ideas to make life easier for everyone involved during this process. Here are some animation ideas for employee onboarding videos:

• Animated Welcoming Videos from CEO or Department Head: Freelance animators can offer brief animated welcome videos to their animation client’s new employees. Not only will this help the companies save time when new employees begin their journeys, but also make the new hires feel like part of the team from day one.
  
• Animated Company Tools Tutorial Videos: Freelance animators can offer potential clients an animated company tools tutorial video to reduce the burden on HR by answering all the basic questions employees might have during their initial days at the company.
  
• New Employee Animated Onboarding Videos: Over and above the typical HR questions, new hires are required to be equipped with processes and technical instructions in their new roles. An animated onboarding video is more likely to make an impact than a hard-to-follow wall of text.
  
• Animated Company Ethics Code of Conduct Videos: As a freelance animator you can also offer your potential animation clients an explainer video highlighting the company ethics code of conduct to distribute to new hires, or even as a refresher for long-term employees. 
  
• Company Culture Animated Training Videos: Freelance animators should add company culture animated training videos as part of their package to potential animation clients that can be utilized to explain the company’s unique work culture to new employees.
  
• Department-specific Animated Training Videos: Rather than spend unnecessary time and energy conducting live training for each separate branch, offer clients the opportunity to create company-wide department-specific training videos that can be employed throughout all the company’s branches. Additionally, the same principle can be applied to job-specific animated training videos.

General Internal Video Animation Ideas

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Beyond creating animated recruitment and onboarding videos for companies freelance animators should consider simple animation ideas to assist with animation client retention. 

Here are a few examples of general internal company video animation ideas that freelance animators can offer potential animation clients for follow up work: 

• General Company Animated Announcement Videos: Large companies like Microsoft, Apple, Mcdonald's, and Target are responsible for making announcements to a large number of employees across the globe. Even smaller companies need to inform their employees of company news and updates in a short, brief, concise, and informative manner. 
  
  • Rather than waste time with in-person meetings, video conferencing, or emails, implore potential animation companies to adopt the strategy of creating animated company announcement videos to get the message across in an easy-to-distribute and entertaining manner.
    
• Animated Company’s Earning Videos: Offer your animation clients an opportunity to add some life to all the charts, numbers, and other data with key icons and motion graphics in an animated company earning video to distribute company-wide.
  
• Animated New Company Rule Announcement Videos: As a freelance animator, you can offer to create animated new company rule announcement videos to ensure that their employees stay up to date about and truly understand any new rules or ways of doing things.
  
• Animated Congratulational Videos: Most companies acknowledge the successes of their departments and employees. An animation idea freelance animators can suggest to their clients is to promote animation congratulation videos to share words of appreciation.

Why it's Important to Know the Top Animation Ideas for Freelance Animators

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When we think of animation ideas for freelance animators, the first projects that spring to mind are creating animations for film or television series, animating logos, or designing NFT art. These are all wonderful undertakings for freelance animators to become involved in. 

However, the world of freelance animation is highly competitive and freelance animators need to think outside of the box when it comes to the animation ideas they offer potential animation clients. In fact, they need to create new boxes entirely.

It is important, as a freelance animator, to have the capacity to offer potential animation clients as many different animation ideas as possible. The world is full of companies, institutions, and organizations desperately trying to stand out from the millions of others just like them.

This is where your versatility as a freelance animator serves as a massive advantage. Offering businesses a variety of services and animation ideas, from marketing animation to company promotional animation to general company promotional animation, the more you are capable of offering, the more success you will have as a freelance animator. 

Consider this your raison d'être as a freelance animator - offering a plethora of freelance animation ideas to your animation clients and determining the best ways to help them reach their goals.

To learn more about how to best optimize your skills as a freelance animator and for the top animation ideas, we recommend watching our free masterclass, downloading a copy of our free marketing handbook, and checking out our blog on “How to Start an Animation Studio”!