Complete Guide to 2D Animation Services: Costs, Timeline, and ROI

The state of play for video marketing in 2024:

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I think it comes as no surprise that attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. The world’s becoming more distracting, and everyone seems to be vying for your attention.

So, the state of play in 2024? Videos need to be shorter, clearer, more concise. People won’t give you 5 minutes of their time anymore. 15 seconds and that thumb is looming over the screen, ready to pull down on the slot machine, loading up the next video. Because of this, search engines are prioritising video content because people just can’t read any more. And I say can’t rather than won’t.

We’re all slowly being conditioned to not read things. The majority of people prefer to learn from videos. They watch videos for news, entertainment, information, education, pretty much everything. So it’s no surprise that in 2024 we’ve seen a convergence on shorter videos, more videos, and video in general. 

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Where does animation fit into that? 

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Well, by using animation you can explain things easier.

You can use diagrams, graphs, text, imagery, footage, characters and illustrations all to your advantage. You can hook people in with fast-moving, highly engaging intro’s to your videos. Capturing attention in those all important first few seconds. By highlighting text with motion graphics, you improve knowledge retention. And typically, the style will last longer, aging at a much slower rate to live action.  

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So, what does 2D Animation cost?

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The simple answer is; it depends.

Unlike live action video, we don’t need a crew, location, equipment or actors. We just need time with scriptwriters, designers, illustrators and animators. The more time we have, the more detailed and beautiful we can make the animation. 

A simple motion graphics animation can start at a couple of thousand pounds. For that, you’d have a scriptwriter take your material and shape it into something usable and strategic. We’d understand your audience, what the benefits are, who’s going to watch this, and what they want to hear/see. You’d have a bit of design time to layout a simple, but effective, storyboard to show everything that’ll happen in the animation. Some fluid, smooth transitions will be added by the motion designer, and you can have the option of a voiceover for the video.

Things start to get more expensive as we add elements like creative direction. What’s this animation going to look like? Let’s do mood-boards, style-frames, sketched storyboards and asset creation. Let’s make bespoke characters specifically for your brand. Let’s sweat the small stuff and create incredible animation that makes the audience really pay attention. 

For a simple explainer video, we’d recommend a budget between £4-6k. For a really highly polished, top of the line 2d animation, you’re looking between £6-10k. If you want to use characters, typically it's more expensive as they need to be ‘rigged’ (so we can animate their limbs). These numbers are simply to give you an idea of the costs. Our average project across absolutely everything in 2024 was £4k. For new business (people we’ve not worked with before) that average number increases to £6.5k. This is because we tend to have smaller projects updating older animation with new information, which cost significantly less and therefore bring down the average project price.

We worked on a 60 second animation with a budget of £15k, a 60 second animation with a budget of £8k and a 60 second animation with a budget of £2k. It completely depends on what you want to achieve, who the target audience is, and how quickly you’d like the project completed. 

The main influences on the price of a project are:
1) how quickly you’d like it turning around,
2) how complex the material is, and
3) what design style you’d like.

If we’re using characters it’s typically more expensive, using 3D animation is typically more expensive and typically the longer the animation the more expensive. 

If you’d like a couple price options for you to consider - just give us a call.  

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Hidden costs to consider

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We give you a turn-key, all-in-one price.

We actually give you 2-3 prices. You can choose your level of investment based on your budget, and what you’d like to achieve.

However, there are additional services that can impact your budget. In our briefing call, we’d ask you all of these questions so that we could factor this into your budget options. If you’d like a very specific voice, or a famous one, that’s going to add to the budget. We sourced a male, 30-40, northern irish voice for a client this year, and that particular actor charged a premium. We sourced a semi-famous voice for a client this year, and that also came with a premium price attached. If you want to use a specific (well known) piece of music, that can cost additional money to license. We also regularly offer our clients a custom piece of music from our composer. It can really add that last piece of brilliance that takes an animation to the next level. Maybe you’d like the animation to be translated into multiple languages for a global audience. Maybe you’d like different shapes, sizes and lengths of animation for multiple marketing channels.

These are all things that add time, and therefore money, to a project, and could trip you up if you didn’t realise they were things you needed at the start of the project. 

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Timeline Expectations

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We say the sweet spot for a project is 8 weeks. Most projects that we work on can be delivered very comfortably in this timeline. If you want 3D animation, then we’d recommend 12 weeks, as there’s a few extra processes that go into that, which naturally can extend the amount of time it can take. 

We routinely deliver projects in far fewer than 8 weeks. In fact, whilst I’m writing this blog, we’ve got a client who needs their animation before Christmas, the scripts not approved and it’s 12th December. But we like the 8 week project as it keeps a steady momentum, gives you enough time (2-3 days per stage) to properly review the materials, and gives us enough time to do our best work.

On any project, you’re going to go through a series of set stages. Discovery and brief is first, followed by script writing, followed by creative direction (mood boards, style frames, design), followed by storyboarding, followed by animation production. For some projects each stage might be a week or more, for others it might be a single day or actually omitted. And because no two projects for us are the same, this is why we can’t offer a single set price.

What influences your timeline? How can you get the work quicker? Well, have your ducks in a row. Condense that 40 slide powerpoint deck to the absolute key information. Make sure all your internal stakeholders are on-board, aware and motivated. If you need compliance and legal to be involved, let them know and try to pre-schedule their time. Make your rounds of amends succinct, and try not to go backwards through the process. Don’t start making changes to the script when you’re storyboarding! 

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Measuring animation ROI

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Measuring animation ROI is typically dependent on the client and their audience.

Whilst we may have some data around click-through rates and conversion rates when working on a paid social campaign, a lot of the work we do is for more intangible purposes. A company wants to better explain their product on their website. They want to increase brand awareness and perception and help boost their SEO over a 6-12 month period. How can we measure the ROI on that? It’s extremely difficult. 

What we know for sure is that people prefer to learn from video. Video is becoming more and more relied upon when selling products and services, especially anything even slightly complex. And if your competitor has effective video marketing, you’re probably lagging behind them.

We know that highly engaging, compelling videos that hook attention, tell stories and showcase features and benefits are going to far outperform a sales brochure, leaflet or website page. 

We’ll always ask the same question at the start of every project: How will we know this has worked? Depending on your answer to that, we can work on ways to measure the performance, and ultimately the success of your project.

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Getting the most value from your budget

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Try to come with your ducks in a row. The better the quality of the input, the better quality of the output. Spend some time before the project starts thinking about the strategy. Who’s going to see this and where. What information do they want? Could we make a 2 page PDF with all the key information in it? 

Think about how you can re-use and repurpose what’s created during the animation process. We might develop a series of custom illustrated characters for the project. Could you (or we) adapt these to work in a static context? Could they be packaged across multiple marketing channels? Could we create stills from the storyboard that can be published on different channels? 

Think about different formats for your animation. Can a shorter version be made? Take a 90 second animation and make it 30 seconds, 15 seconds and 5 seconds. Suddenly you’ve got 4 videos from 1. Could you turn it from a landscape 90 second video, into a portrait 10 second video?

It’s also worth thinking about the shelf life of the animation. Could you adapt certain elements in the future, update content within the animation, or highlight different messages depending on the overall strategy or the audience watching? If the animation can last for longer, you’re going to get more value from it.

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How to choose a 2D animation

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We’re a bit biased when it comes to choosing 2d animation. We believe it’s an excellent choice for the majority of usages. However, it works particularly well when talking about something that’s hard to film, or impossible to film. It’s hard to film the science within a block of foam insulation. It’s incredibly powerful to use animation to talk about the molecules that react in certain ways, and show those reactions taking place. 

You could look at a live action video. It might be a bit more cost effective, the same price, or a bit more expensive (depending on what you’re trying to do, and who you choose to do it). 

When looking for a 2D animation company, ask them about their process. Ask them how they solve challenges that come during the production process. Ask them about their project management. Ask them for a reference from a client. 

When speaking to a potential 2d animation company, be conscious of the questions they’re asking you.

Do you feel they’re asking the right questions? Do they have a proper understanding and grip on what you’re looking to achieve? Do you feel they might even be able to spot things you haven’t? It’s very easy to get on a call and tell them exactly what you want, but can they put that to one side and show you things you didn’t know you actually needed?

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At a glance

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Attention spans:

• Attention spans continue to decrease
• People prefer watching videos over reading
• Search engines love video content

The animation advantage:

• It makes explaining things easier 
• You can use multiple elements like diagrams, graphs, text, and imagery
• Highlighting text improves knowledge retention 

What it can cost:

• Simple motion graphics: From £2,000+
• Standard explainer videos: £4,000-£6,000
• Premium 2D animation: £6,000-£10,000+
• Tricks average project cost (2024): £4,000
• Tricks new business average project cost (2024): £6,500
• Character animation typically costs more

Main Price Factors:

1. Turnaround time
2. Complexity
3. Design style choice

Additional Cost Considerations:

• Voice talent (especially famous/specific voices)
• Licensing famous/well known music
• Multiple language versions
• Different formats/sizes
• Custom music composition

Timeline:

• Standard project length is ideally 8 weeks 
• For 3D animation this increases to 12 weeks
• Faster delivery always possible but may impact cost

ROI & Value:

• Depends on what success looks like for you
• Paid/advertising campaigns are easier to measure
• Helps to differentiate in a crowded market
• Reuse and repurpose your video (multiple formats/lengths)

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