Service simplifies creation of marketing and product animations

There is plenty of data pointing to the enormous value of images and video when conveying a specific message.

One statistic from ComScore suggests there are more than 180 million unique video viewers poking around the Internet. Another piece of data claims that a person's purchasing appetite increases up to 85 percent after watching a product-related video.

But let's be real: very few small businesses have the wherewithal to hire a professional production company to create some sort of video for their Web sites and other digital marketing efforts. Nor do they have the luxury of waiting six to eight weeks for a production cycle.

That's a challenge that Web service provider GoAnimate is seeking to address. The company's platform supports the creation of animated videos that are simple to assemble and produce using a series of predesigned components and templates that can be dragged-and-dropped into his or her storyline. Other content can be imported if you'd like, such as pre-existing video, audio files or images, said Gary Lipkowitz, COO of GoAnimate.

"People are distributing the videos on YouTube, and they are starting to use it in their marketing automation software," he said.

The service costs anywhere from $25 per month to $70 per month, depending on the features that the small business chooses, as well as its hosting requirements.

Vincent Messina, CEO and founder of Optimo Sales and Marketing, has been using GoAnimate to help share information about walking tours in the Boston area, and to create videos on behalf of other clients.

"Animation livens up the discussion and the engagement," he said. Even though he has no graphics design training, Messina finds the application relatively simple to use to create "animated stories" for his clients (and for his own business). Similar services start at up to $20,000 per video, Messina estimated.