Analysing and Dissecting the Top 40 NHS YouTube Channels’ Most Popular Animated Videos
The National Health Service (NHS), a cornerstone of public healthcare in the UK since 1948, has embraced the digital transformation to keep pace with the evolving needs of its population.
Utilising animated videos, the NHS breaks down complex health concepts into clear, engaging visuals, ensuring essential health messages are accessible to all.
Delving into animated videos from the top 40 NHS YouTube channels, we discover how these creative animated videos play a pivotal role in health education, engagement, and motivation, highlighting the NHS's innovative strategies for promoting well-being.
Live Action vs Animation
Before we start analysing the animation video landscape, let's glance at the broader spectrum of content types, focusing on the 20 latest videos uploaded by 40 different NHS youtube channels.
Live action unmistakably takes the spotlight, commanding an 86% majority. Animation, though not as dominant, still carves out a significant niche at 11%.
The remaining slivers of the pie, mixed formats and purely audio content, together account for a mere 3%.This trend highlights a strong lean towards live action but also shows animation's enduring appeal.
But live action is not the main character of this blog! Let’s shift our spotlight to the world of animation, a domain where creativity knows no bounds.
Dissecting the Engagement Trends
Our exploration is grounded in an extensive analysis of key metrics surrounding 40 standout animated videos.
We examined their performance through various lenses—scripts, tones, viewer engagement, and the presence of comments.
This rigorous approach allows us to distil insights into what drives the success of animated videos in healthcare messaging.
Decoding the Language and Engagement
When examining the language distribution and its correlation with viewer engagement metrics, English emerges as the dominant language across the videos, featured in 96% of the content.
Now imagine this: each video racks up an average of 253,676 views, gathers around 1,660 likes, and sparks 9 comments. Picture a bustling city square, each person representing a view, like, or comment—now that's a crowd!
However, it's important to note that this "average" paints a somewhat skewed picture, inflated by a handful of exceptionally popular videos.
Let's further zoom in on this interaction—the ratio of views to likes to comments stands at a striking 297:01:13. Imagine for every 297 spectators in this digital square, one raises their hand to like, and every 13th person, stirred by what they see, starts a conversation.
This dynamic reveals an environment where silent viewers predominate, but a meaningful fraction steps forward to engage more deeply—through likes that signal enjoyment and comments that spark dialogue.
Viewer Interaction
Diving into the comments section of NHS animated videos is like wandering through a lively healthcare forum, vibrant with the voices of patients, professionals, and the public. Now 68% of the animated videos have their comments open, welcoming different types of comments ranging from personal testimonials and gratitude expressions to advice, questions, and critiques. Here’s a breakdown of the comment types observed:
Personal Testimonies and Gratitude: "This is a great video! I am an adult currently undergoing radiotherapy for a benign tumour... Thank you for putting this video together. You are helping many!" (@gtjackets8)
Advice and Tips: "You forgot to mention that you need to keep your urine cool and refrigerate... this may get good for someone who may be in a wheelchair..." (@adamguymon7096). This quote offers practical advice from a viewer responding to an NHS video guide on 24-hour urine collection by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
Questions and Confusions: "I'm a little confused on what happens with the belly button." (@TechnologyFML)
Critiques and Feedback: "bad cgi" (@JackSimons)
Praise and Support: "excellent video. Everyone to whom I have shown this has been very impressed... by the compelling narrative" (@dpencheon)
Humour and Memes: "I swear this is gonna be a worldwide meme" (@DHAdArchivez)
Casual Remarks: "my teacher made us watch this" (@lindbric458)
Breaking Down the Animated Videos’ Anatomy
Now let's move into what's really inside each video, dissecting the anatomy of animated content from duration to tone, and beyond.
We'll peel back the layers to explore the core elements that make these videos not just watchable, but informative and memorable
Duration Over The Years, Is There Really A Pattern?
On average, the videos clock in at 3 minutes and 20 seconds. When looking at how video duration has changed over time, we find an intriguing, albeit faint, pattern.
The correlation coefficient between the age of a video and its length is about -0.09.
Basically, this suggests a very subtle trend: older videos tend to be slightly shorter than their newer counterparts. However, this connection is so slight that it's hard to pin down any significant shift in video lengths over the years. Essentially, while there's a whisper of a trend towards shorter videos in the past, it's not a strong enough signal to make a definitive statement.
Crafting the Voice: The Art Behind Animated Video Narratives
The choice of voiceover artist and the narrative style play important roles in conveying the message and engaging the audience.
The gender distribution of voiceover artists in NHS animations shows a preference for female voices at 61%, male voices at 33%, and a mix of both in 6% of the content.
Comparatively, our previous blog, "Corporate vs. Nonprofit YouTube Animated Videos" revealed corporate animations slightly favour female voiceovers more, at 64%, and also present a higher proportion of male voices, at 44%, with about 6% featuring both genders.
Nonprofit animated videos lean even more towards female voiceovers, at 70%, with male voices represented in 33% of videos and both genders used in about 3%.
All three sectors—NHS, corporate, and nonprofit—prefer female voiceovers, with nonprofits leading in female narration use.
In assessing the tone of the 40 NHS animated videos, we employed a ranking system from 0 for informative explanations to 5 for emotional storytelling.
The analysis reveals an average tone rating of 2.16, showing a lean towards straightforward, explanatory content over highly artistic or emotionally driven narratives.
This suggests that NHS animated videos prioritise clear, accessible information, subtly blending in storytelling elements to engage viewers without overshadowing the educational content.
The pace of information delivery is also crucial, with an average of 150 words per minute. This brisk yet manageable speed suggests an intent to keep viewers engaged without overwhelming them, allowing for effective communication of key messages within the typical short duration of animated videos.
When delving into the scripts of NHS animated videos, we find a rich tapestry of topics all aimed at educating and raising awareness about health and safety, medical information, and personal experiences.
Here’s a closer look at the common threads weaving through these narratives:
Direct Address and Inclusive Language: The "How to access your GP practice" video by NHS England exemplifies direct address and inclusive language, making the guidance personal and accessible.
It communicates directly with viewers, using "you" to engage and inform them about safe access to GP services amid the pandemic. The script offers clear options for contacting healthcare professionals, emphasising safety and convenience for all.
Personal Stories and Examples: Bringing abstract concepts to life, animated videos like "Rita May's Story - Radiotherapy at Weston Park Hospital" by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust share real-life experiences. Rita May's journey through radiotherapy provides a tangible, human context to the medical process, making the content more relatable and impactful.
Health and Safety Emphasis: With a keen focus on empowering the audience, the scripts delve into preventative measures and management of health conditions, underscoring the importance of knowledge in personal well-being.
Instructional and Supportive Tone: The tone across scripts is instructional yet warm, offering guidance coupled with encouragement, making the advice not just informative but also supportive.
Call to Action: A defining feature is the conclusive call to action, motivating the audience to apply the information in a meaningful way to improve their health or safety.
Visual Descriptions and Analogies: Complex ideas are made accessible through creative analogies and vivid descriptions, facilitating a deeper understanding in an engaging manner.
Beyond the Voice: How Subtitles, Music, and Imagery Shape Animated Videos
Subtitles seem to be splitting the scene, with 46% of animated videos locking in open subs, embedding the words right onto the video itself. Yet, 54% skip this, keeping their visuals uncluttered.
Closed subs, those you can turn on if you choose, are less common, appearing in just 22% of the videos. This hints at creators betting on their visuals and voiceovers to carry the message home, with a vast majority (78%) leaving the option for subtitles off the table.
From our previous blog that was mentioned above, it revealed that corporates lead with 53% of videos featuring open captions while nonprofit animated videos lag at 28%. Closed captions are underused by both, at 19% for corporates and 23% for nonprofits.
Subtitling in NHS animations leans more towards open captions than the nonprofit sector but doesn’t reach corporate levels. For closed captions, NHS animations use them less frequently, similar to the nonprofits animated videos.
Moving further, music isn't just background noise; it's a key player in 70% of the videos, setting the tone and enhancing the mood, proving that a good soundtrack can be just as attractive as the animation itself.
When it comes to bringing characters to life, a whopping 95% of videos go all in with animated characters that move and interact. This approach to animation shows a clear preference for full-bodied storytelling, where every gesture and expression counts.
Lastly, humour plays a cameo role rather than leading, with only 18% sprinkling in laughs to lighten the tone. The majority, 82%, opt for a direct approach, prioritising clear, impactful messages over comedic relief.
In the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust's video "Resilience but what is it? Here's 5 ways to build resilience", humour is skillfully portrayed through both script and animation to simplify a complex subject.
The video employs the familiar analogy of a smartphone, using phrases like "phones are getting smarter, just like you," to draw parallels between everyday tech use and mental health practices.
This script, combined with lively animation featuring expressive characters engaging in relatable activities, such as painting and cooking pancakes, effectively brings the message home.
Conclusion: Key Insights from NHS Animated Video Analysis
Our analysis of the Top 40 NHS YouTube channels' animated videos reveals a strategic blend of accessibility, engagement, and education.
Animated content, while less prevalent than live action, plays a crucial role in delivering health messages, with a strong viewer engagement reflected in high view and interaction rates.
Meanwhile, The NHS's animated videos feature a lot of character animations, emphasising a commitment to engaging, dynamic storytelling in health education.
Lastly, female voiceovers dominate while humour is used selectively, underscoring the NHS's focus on clear, impactful health communication.
We're keen to know what you think, particularly if you're involved in marketing or communications within the NHS or a related healthcare sector. Are there specific comparisons or topics you'd like us to delve into further?
Email us your suggestions because your suggestions are invaluable to us, helping to steer our research direction as we uncover more insights and trends in healthcare video content
