Sales Training Animation Case Study for eLearning (Autodesk)

Empowering Autodesk Sales Staff with Engaging 2D Animation

Training employees can be difficult, especially in sales. When it comes to promoting positive sales behavior and getting the best results, animated training videos stand out above all other forms of corporate training, but may not seem like the best choice for a fast-paced, professional environment like sales. But, with a unique style and the ability to make your content feel educational, animated videos work wonders in sales too.

Why Animate?

Animation isn’t just for kids—it is a versatile medium that can be used in many ways to help learners retain information. In sales training, animation can be used to display statistical information, infographics, and discuss complex topics in an impartial, easy-to-understand way. Plus, simplified characters and a distinct style can help set an internal tone for your company and make content memorable.

Of course, the more memorable the content, the more it will “stick” with your target audience. Animation doesn’t always have to be stylized with children in mind. Artists can create beautiful, smooth animations without the high-energy, over-the-top animation that we normally see in children’s shows.

Artists can create beautiful, smooth animations without the high-energy,
over-the-top animation that we normally see in children’s shows.

Tips to Make Your Videos Brilliant

While the animation is important, there are a few things to keep in mind to take your content from “great” to “amazing”: 

Keep it short

The first and arguably most important thing to consider when making any educational content is time. Employees may not have the time necessary to watch a 30+ minute training video, and they certainly won’t be able to remember everything in it easily.

By keeping your content short and sweet, your employees can study content one topic at a time in the process we call microlearning.

With microlearning videos, learners can watch as many as they want in one sitting, or learn a concept and test it out right after finishing the video.

Plus, these videos are easier to review as needed, so whenever new hires come in, they can get right to learning. 

Keep it simple

The best part about animation is that you can cut out extra details and make content more memorable. Animation as a medium is supposed to act as a guide or a simplified representation of more complex characters. This means it’s the perfect medium for guiding learners through complex topics since other distracting aspects of the video are toned down.

Learners can instead focus on the content being taught, with simple animations and color palettes to help emphasize the content presented. Simplicity can also be used to help make content memorable.

With a distinct style that stands out compared to standard video, animation can make a lasting visual impression on viewers. In addition, color scheme, lighting, and other aspects of the video can be altered to make them more recognizable as well. 

Animation in an eLearning environment has many benefits,
read more about eLearning Video Animation.

Animation Variety: The Key to Engaging eLearning

Don’t just stick to one animation style. Mixing it up keeps learners engaged.
Character animation and animatics are great for human connection. They’re perfect for explaining policies or sales pitches. But sometimes, you need something different.

3D animation is ideal for showing how things work. Think step-by-step tutorials or complex machinery breakdowns. Motion graphics are perfect for data-heavy content or sensitive topics. They offer a clear, unbiased view.

The real magic happens when you combine these styles. Character animation with motion graphics can highlight key points, while motion graphics on a screen recording can guide users through software.

Remember: Variety is the spice of eLearning.

Keep it Online

To help keep content accessible and relevant, online platforms work best. Although some companies may be averse to a change in format, with online platforms, employees can access training resources anytime, anywhere.

This means employees can review training protocol at home, at work, or in their free time. Because of this, your business can get stronger employee engagement and knowledge transfer. With an online learning database, employees will also be made aware of their company’s tone, which can be transferred into their sales pitches.

Another way online learning platforms can help your business is by making user feedback accessible. The ability for users to leave comments, reviews, or simply “likes” on a video can show creators how well the content fits with the employees learning style and tone.

Plus, if something doesn’t seem to be working with your content, you’ll have feedback to look to, so you won’t have to go searching for what your training program is missing.

Sales Training Animation Case Study

We recently had the pleasure of working with our friends at Autodesk to create sales training software for their digital drafting programs. Autodesk is famous for creating intuitive art programs that allow users to animate in 2D, create 3D renders, and even paint realistically on a computer.

Their most recent program, Autodesk Digital Draft, is designed specifically for architects and anyone who needs to make a blueprint design. Here is what we did to help incorporate animation into their sales training program.

The Problem

Our client wanted a sleek, eye-catching series of videos to help teach their sales staff about the software. Since Autodesk’s salespeople don’t program the software itself, chances are they’re not going to know all the ins-and-outs or selling points of a product right away.

Because of this, our client wanted to create an engaging series of videos that can help salespeople learn the basics of the software and explain why it’s great!

Our Solution

Creating an engaging and interesting set of videos was initially to animate using 2D character animations.

With a strong color scheme and motion graphics to highlight important information, we knew this format would be especially effective when combining screen share videos of the software itself.

That way, the information could be delivered quickly and in a style that is unique to the company.

The Process

The team at Autodesk wasn’t entirely sure about using 2D characters in their videos, since they were worried the product would end up looking childish.

However, when we provided them with a sample of the style we’d wanted to use (including a cartoon version of their subject matter expert), everyone loved it!

We actually got asked to make more cartoon versions of other speakers with the company too!

The Result

In the end, we managed to help our client not only create educational content for their salespeople, but to help create a tone for the company’s internal affairs.

With an established style and tone for the workplace, sellers are now more able to match the tone Autodesk wants from them and can continue to work in a positive environment.

If you are looking for a team to create Sales animations for Training just like Autodesk, reach out to us today!

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