No Video Camera? No Problem!
Yesterday, I was browsing the web looking for various topics and also reading up on how to promote businesses by using social media. One of the best ways to help promote your business is by making videos. Videos are an important way to help new customers or fans find out more about your business. Then as part of a social media campaign, businesses make a video and post it on YouTube and Facebook. So, I started looking around for an easy to use way to make a video. I wanted it to be intuitive and basically where all you had to do was drag what you wanted into different categories. I wanted something that wasn’t going to give me a headache. I’ll let you in a little secret. Even though I work for and am part owner of a website design company, I still want programs and/or software that are user friendly.
The Internet is a glorious thing because I found exactly what I wanted. Here is it. One of the easiest ways to make video. It’s from Animoto and it is completely user friendly. In fact you don’t even need a video camera. What??? It’s true. All you have to do is upload pictures from your computer, iPhone or Android, or the web. It really is fast, fun, friendly, and free.
Let’s talk about the free part for a moment. Animoto offers a free plan called lite (which is what I chose) where you can make 30 second videos, pick from 600 tracks (or upload your own), HD upgrades, and have online customer support. Supposedly you can pick from various themed videos, but I never found where I could change my choice for free. Most choices from the lite category were $5 if you wanted to upgrade. I did see where they had one called the ABC for free right now, but it was what Animoto called a “bribe” in order to vote for them. I took the bribe and made a video for Distillery Web Design. You can watch it here.
Try our slideshow creator at Animoto.
If you want more options then there is a plan that’s right for you. The plus plan is $5 per month and has unlimited feature length videos, more themed video styles, over 600 music tracks (or upload your own), HD upgrades, ability to download the video to your computer (available on the lite plan too), and online customer support. If you’re planning on make lots of videos then there is a pro plan for $39 per month. You get everything in the plus plan, but more of it. Themed video styles only for pro plan members, over 1100 music tracks, special HD upgrades, customizable videos for your own brand, and priority customer support. The more I look at the different plans, the more I am leaning toward upgrading to the pro version for business reasons.
When creating my video with Animoto, I found the most difficult part of using Animoto was trying to decide what images to use, the order of the images, and what music I wanted to play over the video. To make it easier on myself, I chose from the Most Popular category. So I am sure there are a thousand other videos with the same music, but for my first run that did not really concern me. I like how the video takes only a few minutes to go through the editing process. Once it is finished then you can go back, make changes, and send through the editing process again. This is the time consuming part, at least for me. I also enjoy reading the slogan “Making awesome easier” as my video is being processed.
Animoto is really a lot of fun and even someone who is not “tech savvy” can make a video. You can literally make a video about anything. Graduation, birthday party, selling a home, selling a car, just saying I miss you, there is a theme and music to go along with any of those and more. Plus even with the free version, you are able to preview the different video styles. I know that I will be using this in my personal life as well (watch out friends and family!).
Distillery Web Design and Marketing is a feature website builder, online marketer, and advertising specialty consulting group working with businesses in the Lebanon, Camdenton, Osage Beach, Springfield, and St. Robert areas of Missouri. Facebook, websites, online promotions, print media, radio promotions, online newsletters, graphic design and direct mail campaigns are our specialty. We know how to get the Internet, social networking and new media to work for you!