Let's face a harsh reality: running a marketing agency means juggling multiple deliverables—and animation isn't always feasible to do in-house.
Your clients want it. You need it.
But building an internal animation team is expensive, time-consuming, and a headache most agencies simply don't need.
Picture what your agency could accomplish with a reliable animation partner. A team that works invisibly behind the scenes, scales with your needs, and helps you deliver amazing results without the stress.
In this guide, you'll discover exactly how to outsource animation for agencies and find a partner who becomes your secret weapon—delivering stunning videos on time, on budget, and on-brand, every time.
What Agencies Should Look for When They Outsource Animation
When trying to find a reliable animation partner, reviewing portfolios or getting promises about great results isn't enough.
You need to dig deeper and understand the company's culture and processes to ensure you'll get the results you need.
Otherwise, your business might suffer and you could lose clients. Here's what to check:
Proven experience working with agencies
This is non-negotiable. Your animation outsourcing company must understand agency dynamics—tight deadlines, complex feedback loops, and the importance of meeting both your requirements and your client's objectives.
Look for studios that clearly mention agency partnerships on their website or can provide examples of successful agency collaborations. These partners will understand your unique challenges:
- Managing client expectations
- Following established briefs
- Spotting issues in feedback and suggesting solutions
- Coming up with creative ideas
- Adapting to changing priorities and timelines
- Supporting you during client presentations
- Working within budget with no surprise costs
Useful resource:
7 Benefits of Outsourcing Animation Production for Agencies
White-label friendly and non-competing
Want proof your agency animation partner has your back? Make sure they offer professional white label animation services. This means:
- Respecting NDAs without question
- Never contacting your clients directly
- Delivering unbranded files you can present as your own work
- Offering both white-label and co-branded options
The truth is: when you outsource animation for your agency, you need a partner who enhances your capabilities without threatening your client relationships.
Streamlined communication and fast turnarounds
Communication can make or break your experience when you outsource animation production.
The right partner should:
- Send deliverables using tools that match your processes for easy sharing with clients
- Use collaboration tools you're comfortable with (Slack, Dropbox, Zoom, Frame.io)
- Assign a dedicated project manager to each account
- Respond to messages within hours, not days
- Provide regular updates without you having to chase them
Pro Tip: Speed is key—make sure they respond quickly during your working hours and speak your language. A 24-hour wait for simple feedback can derail project timelines.
Flexible pricing that fits diverse client budgets
Your clients have varying budgets, and your animation partner should offer flexible pricing options.
Look for studios that provide:
- Clear package tiers with defined deliverables
- The ability to scale projects up or down based on budget
- No hidden fees for standard revisions
- Discounts for agencies with regular work
Remember turning down animation projects because you couldn't find solutions that fit your client's budget?
When you outsource animation for agencies to the right partner, those missed opportunities become a thing of the past.
Step-by-Step Guide to Finding the Right Animation Partner
Now let's look at the exact process of finding and vetting potential animation production for agencies.
Step 1 – Assess your agency's animation needs
Before searching for white label animation services, get clear on what you need:
- How often will you need animation projects?
- What's the typical budget range your clients have?
- What styles do you commonly need? (2D explainers, 3D product animations, motion graphics)
- What are your usual turnaround requirements?
- If you work in a specific niche, what specialized knowledge should your animation partner have?
This clarity helps you eliminate unsuitable studios early and focus on partners that match your needs.
Step 2 – Shortlist studios that specialize in agency partnerships
Animation studios that regularly work with agencies understand your business model better than generalists.
When creating your shortlist of potential partners:
- Look for studios who clearly mention working with agencies
- Ensure they're flexible and ready to adapt to your production process
- Consider both local and offshore options—offshore studios can cut costs by up to 3x while maintaining quality
- Check reviews from other agencies
Example: At Yans Media, over 50% of our work comes through agency partnerships, which has shaped our entire process around agency needs.
Step 3 – Review their portfolio and production process
All studios show their best work, and visually they can be stunning. But there are many pitfalls if you only evaluate by portfolio.
When reviewing portfolios of animation outsourcing companies, look for:
- Range of visual styles (can they adapt to different brand identities?)
- Consistency in quality across projects
- Storytelling capabilities (not just pretty visuals)
- Brands they've helped and what objectives they achieved
- Whether their client size matches your clients
- Evidence of 100% custom design rather than templates
- Whether they can show source files to prove they created the work
- Whether their current staff can match the quality you see (some show work by designers who no longer work there)
Also important is understanding their production process:
- Do they provide end-to-end production (script, storyboard, voiceover, animation, music, subtitles)?
- Is their revision process clearly defined?
- What's their typical timeline for standard projects?
Step 4 – Test with a low-risk project
The most effective way to evaluate an agency animation partner is to test them on a small project.
Start with:
- A short social media animation
- A simple explainer video
- A motion graphics intro
This approach minimizes risk while giving you insight into their workflow, communication, and quality.
It's even OK to invest a few hundred dollars to check several studios. When you find the right partner, you'll earn that investment back hundreds of times.
No risk check: At Yans Media, we offer the first project at no charge—you only pay if you're satisfied with the result.
What Sets Great Animation Outsourcing Companies Apart
To you, it's not enough to have a good partner. You need to find a great one, an exceptional partner.
Exceptional partners who offer animation production for agencies demonstrate:
Creative flexibility
- Ability to follow strict brief guidelines including small details your client will appreciate
- Creative problem-solving when concepts aren't working
- Balance between "based-on-reference" and original concepts
- Proactive suggestions that improve the initial brief
The best studios don't just execute—they enhance your ideas with their expertise when you outsource animation for agencies.
Strong collaboration culture
You're probably wondering how to identify white label animation services with a true collaborative spirit. Look for these signs:
- They ask thoughtful questions about your brief
- They accept feedback without defensiveness
- They offer constructive pushback when it serves the project
- They communicate proactively about potential issues
Remember working with someone who took feedback personally? That's exactly what you want to avoid when you outsource explainer videos.
True support partner, not just vendor
The best agency animation partners go beyond basic deliverables.
They should:
- Support you during client bidding with reference examples and estimates
- Offer advice on style recommendations
- Be available during off-hours when emergencies arise
- Provide quick turnarounds on small revision requests
This level of support transforms the relationship from transactional to truly collaborative when you outsource.
Scalable support for retainer or high-volume work
The right animation outsourcing company grows with your agency, offering:
- Capacity to handle both one-off projects and ongoing monthly work
- Team scaling for busy periods
- Consistent quality regardless of volume
- Priority scheduling for regular clients
Trust me, scalability becomes crucial as your agency expands its animation production, and as a visionary, you must plan for expansion.
Common Mistakes Agencies Make When Outsourcing Animation
Let's explore the pitfalls to avoid when searching for the perfect agency animation partner.
Prioritizing the cheapest bid
STOP and ask yourself: Is saving a few hundred dollars worth risking your client relationship when you outsource animation production or explainer videos?
Selecting white label animation services based primarily on price often leads to:
- Template-based videos lacking originality
- Missed deadlines and communication headaches
- Poor quality requiring extensive revisions
- Hidden costs that eat into your profits
The cheapest option almost always becomes the most expensive when you factor in time spent managing problems and potential damage to client relationships.
Skipping onboarding
Rushing into projects without proper onboarding creates misalignment that can doom projects when you outsource animation for your agency.
Agencies often fail to share with animation outsourcing companies:
- Communication specifics needed to organize deliverables smoothly
- Your expectations and objectives
- Revision policy you have with your client
- Project brief
- Specific file types needed
- Approval processes and key stakeholders
Invest time upfront to avoid costly miscommunications later.
Overlooking usage rights and file delivery terms
Before signing any agreement with white label animation services, confirm you'll receive:
- Source files (not just rendered videos)
- Multiple file formats if needed
- Clear commercial usage rights for your clients
- Permission to modify files in the future
Visual checklist:
- ✅ Ownership of source files specified
- ✅ Commercial usage rights clearly stated
- ✅ Delivery format requirements documented
- ✅ Future modification permissions agreed upon
- ✅ Client usage scenarios covered
Questions Agencies Should Ask Before Partnering
These questions will help during your first call with a studio representative:
- "Have you worked with agencies similar to ours before?" (Ask for specific examples)
- "What's your typical turnaround time for a 60-second explainer video?"
- "How many rounds of revisions are included in your standard packages?"
- "Can you adapt to different brand guidelines, even strict corporate ones?"
- "As a provider of white label animation services, do you provide files with no attribution requirements?"
- "What payment methods do you accept, and what are your payment terms?"
- "As an agency animation partner, do you operate in our time zone or have representatives in our country?"
Note: Offshore partners with local representatives or alternative payment options can reduce friction and ensure faster collaboration, even across time zones when you outsource animation for agencies.
Why YansMedia Is a Trusted Partner for Agencies
Yans Media has established itself as a preferred animation outsourcing company for agencies worldwide since 2012:
- 10+ years of agency collaboration across diverse industries
- White label animation services that are NDA compliant for all projects
- 100% custom designs—never templates or stock characters
- Dedicated team with lightning-fast response times
- Scalable capacity—from one-off jobs to long-term partnerships
- Flexible pricing options that protect your margins (For a deeper dive into pricing details, take a look at our guide: How Much Does It Cost to Outsource Animation?)
Our agency animation partners consistently report three key benefits when they outsource explainer videos to us:
- Reduced management overhead and stress
- Increased client satisfaction and retention (we have agency clients that created over 35 videos for a single client)
- Higher profit margins on animation projects
Why Agencies Choose to Outsource Animation for Agencies
Let's examine why so many successful agencies choose to outsource animation rather than building in-house capabilities.
Expand capacity without internal hires
Building an in-house animation team requires:
- Hiring multiple specialists (animators, illustrators, editors)
- Investing in expensive software and equipment
- Managing talent during slow periods
- Ongoing training and skill development
When you outsource animation, you eliminate these fixed costs while getting on-demand access to top talent.
Win more clients with full-service offerings
By partnering with white label studio, you can:
- Pitch comprehensive campaigns including video
- Say "yes" to client requests you previously declined
- Position your agency as a full-service provider
- Increase average project value and client lifetime value
Focus on creative strategy, not production bottlenecks
Your highest value as an agency comes from strategic thinking and client relationships—not managing production details.
When you outsource animation production, you free your team to focus on what truly matters while trusted agency animation partners handle execution.
Conclusion – Build a Relationship, Not Just a Resource List
A great animation outsourcing company doesn't just help you deliver projects—they help you grow your agency.
When you find a team that's creative, fast, and committed to your success, it feels less like outsourcing and more like an extension of your own team.
The right partner becomes a competitive advantage when you outsource animation for agencies, allowing you to deliver higher-quality work, take on more projects, and focus on strategy rather than production headaches.
Let's talk! See how Yans Media can become your go-to agency animation partner and help take your agency to the next level with our professional white label animation services.
