People don’t share ads. But they do share stories — especially on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The best stories are visual, and nothing captures a story quite like video. While shooting and producing video can be cost-prohibitive for small businesses, there’s an easy way to make social media videos to engage and delight your followers. It’s called Animoto.

How Animoto works

Animoto is an online video editor that easily creates shareable videos. No video editing experience is required; the software offers pre-built storyboard templates that you can customize with your brand colors, fonts, and logo. Or you can start from scratch and build your own storyboard.

Each scene (Animoto calls them blocks) can include video, still images, text, and/or voiceover. The software includes pre-built video transitions between blocks, as well as a library of stock photos from Getty and licensed music that you can use in your project at no added cost. The drag-and-drop editor easily resizes your text, changes the timing of each scene, and adjusts colors to match your brand.

Once you’ve finished editing your video, you can share it on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other channels directly from your Animoto dashboard. You can also embed your video on your website, or download a full HD version to show anywhere, such as a TV display in your office.

Make social media videos with social-friendly storyboards

Animoto’s templates were designed to match the style of big brands and publishers you’ve undoubtedly seen on social media. Templates are available in both widescreen and square layouts. Recently, Animoto released three new storyboards specifically created for the real estate, travel, and wellness industries. There are also storyboards for product intros, recipes, event RSVPs, motivational quotes, step-based tutorials, and more.

I used a template called “Product Story” to create a series of explainer videos around marketing terms. Here’s the first one I made:

The software was crazy easy to use. I would even say it’s fun. The part that takes the longest to make social media videos like this one is finding the right photo and video assets. I used a combination of Animoto’s available stock photos, photos I sourced from Burst and other free stock photo sites, and free stock video from Pexels.

How much does Animoto cost?

Animoto offers a fully functional 30-day trial, so for me, it cost nothing. Once the trial is over, Animoto moves to a monthly subscription model. You can save substantially if you sign up for a year.

The lowest tier Animoto plan is called Personal, which is $16/month or $96/year. However, this plan includes Animoto branding at the end of each video, limited colors and fonts, and you can only download 720p video.

For most businesses, the Professional plan is a better option. It’s billed at $42/month or $264/year. The Professional plan enables you to download 1080p video without Animoto branding, and grants you access to more music tracks, storyboards, and unlimited colors. You also have the option to add your logo as a watermark to each video. If you need a multi-user account, the Business tier is $64/month or $408/year.

For comparison, similar software Lumen5 charges $99/month or $948/year to download 1080p video without its branding.

Duplicate videos in a snap

Once my first video was complete, I simply duplicated it to create the second and third explainer videos. I changed up the colors, assets, and text and was on my way in minutes. I also duplicated each video so I had widescreen and square versions of each. Square versions work best in feeds like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, while widescreen versions are best for YouTube, Vimeo, and your own website.

Make social media videos from scratch

After I created these first three videos from a template, I wanted to test how easy Animoto is when starting from scratch. Not surprisingly, it was super simple to make social media videos this way, too. In a little over an hour, I created the following video:

It wouldn’t have taken so long except I had some trouble getting my photo collage of the various channel logos to look the way I wanted it. Not to mention I’m infinitely picky, so I kept changing things.

There are limitations to the platform. When you make social media videos with Animoto, you don’t have a lot of control over the text; for instance, you can’t bold or italicize words. If you add a color filter, you have to add it to the entire video, not just one block (I would have liked to do this for certain blocks to increase the readability of the text). In addition, your uploaded assets are appended to a single project rather than to a centralized account library. That means that if you use your logo in every video or re-use photos or video clips, you’ll need to upload the files every time.

Still, I can’t argue with the quality of the end product. Especially at this price point. I wouldn’t make social media videos any other way.

The verdict

]I believe in the power of video. I wrote about why video is a crucial component of online marketing success. But video can be prohibitively expensive for many small business owners. With DIY software like Animoto, video becomes a much more attainable part of a marketing mix.

Templated solutions do have their limitations. But Animoto is a powerful tool that I recommend without hesitation.

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Videos are a must for websites and social media, but most businesses don’t have the resources for a full video shoot. The following are tools that I’ve personally relied on when working with shoestring budgets to produce professional-quality videos.

[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_raw_html]JTNDaDMlM0UlM0NhJTIwaHJlZiUzRCUyMiUyRiUyRnRlbGVzdHJlYW0ucHhmLmlvJTJGYyUyRjEyNjg3MDElMkYzNTI3NDIlMkY0OTAwJTIyJTNFU2NyZWVuRmxvdyUzQyUyRmElM0UlM0MlMkZoMyUzRSUwQSUzQ2ltZyUyMGhlaWdodCUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjB3aWR0aCUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjIlMkYlMkZ0ZWxlc3RyZWFtLnB4Zi5pbyUyRmklMkYxMjY4NzAxJTJGMzUyNzQyJTJGNDkwMCUyMiUyMHN0eWxlJTNEJTIycG9zaXRpb24lM0FhYnNvbHV0ZSUzQnZpc2liaWxpdHklM0FoaWRkZW4lM0IlMjIlMjBib3JkZXIlM0QlMjIwJTIyJTIwJTJGJTNF[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]ScreenFlow has been a favorite of mine for years. If you’re creating screencasts of your website or mobile app, ScreenFlow is a fantastic way to capture video or create animated GIFs. You can magnify the cursor in order to call attention to what you’re doing. It’s also an intuitive video editor, especially for those of us who remember the early days of iMovie (I can’t use it anymore because as it’s trying to pull all my computer’s media, it’s really, REALLY slow. I also don’t find it as simple to use as it used to be).

ScreenFlow is a useful tool to record webinars. This way, students who couldn’t attend the live session can access an archive, or students who attended the live session can refer back to what they heard.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]

Voices.com

As much as I love the sound of my own voice, professional voiceover helps give videos an extra polish. As a copywriter, I’m extremely picky about the intonation and delivery of any words in a video.

Voices.com is a solid solution to find VO talent. There is a self-service platform and for higher-budget jobs, you can also work with an account manager on the Voices.com team. I’ve used both. The benefit of having an account manager is he or she helps you cull through talent, which saves time in finding the perfect voice. The self-service platform is just as easy; you’ll just need to dedicate more time to listening to auditions. In either case, writing detailed specs that articulate the age range, gender, and feeling you want to cultivate will go a long way in finding the right talent.

Voice talents set their own bids, but the minimum threshold for any job is $100.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]

Storyblocks

Storyblocks encompasses different sites for stock video, stock music, and stock imagery. However, the service recently rebranded as the one-stop-shop Storyblocks.

Videoblocks is a subscription service that gives you access to royalty-free video and After Effects templates. The royalty-free library enables you to download unlimited content for the duration of your membership. You also have access to a marketplace of videos that are offered directly by the artists and creators for purchase. Membership is $149/year.

Audioblocks works much the same way for stock music, sound effects, and audio loops. I couldn’t find updated information about membership rates, but I was grandfathered in at a cost of $99/year.

Storyblocks offers stock photos, vector art, and illustrations, but I haven’t personally used this service yet. The stock photo market is likely the most competitive of the three offerings, so I can’t say definitively whether this service is better or worse than others.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]

Results

In 2016, I worked on this project for my client American College of Education. We had the budget for a professional video shoot, so the footage we worked with is brilliantly shot and lit, with fantastic sound quality. This (of course) does wonders for the final product because no matter what your budget, if you start with poor footage, nothing much will save it.

I used ScreenFlow for the edit, Voices.com for the voiceover, and Audioblocks for the music. The logo treatment was downloaded from a template on Envato, and I created some of the animated slides in Keynote.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGSGgwT0hBTlNlMzAlM0ZyZWwlM0QwJTI2YW1wJTNCc2hvd2luZm8lM0QwJTIyJTIwZnJhbWVib3JkZXIlM0QlMjIwJTIyJTIwYWxsb3clM0QlMjJhdXRvcGxheSUzQiUyMGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYSUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]… and a fourth tool for good measure, on the animated side of things…[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]

Vyond (formerly GoAnimate)

Vyond is an online tool to create animated videos. It takes a little getting used to, but once you’ve got the hang of it, it’s easy and fun to make animations. With Vyond, you can create custom characters by choosing their body shape, facial features, and clothing. Vyond also includes several templates you can use as a starting point.

Vyond offers a 14-day free trial, and then is a subscription service that starts at $39/month.

I used Vyond to create this video explaining the Charles Ave AdWords Account Audit. The music came from Audioblocks.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGeWxtYmtjOVU4X2slM0ZyZWwlM0QwJTI2YW1wJTNCc2hvd2luZm8lM0QwJTIyJTIwZnJhbWVib3JkZXIlM0QlMjIwJTIyJTIwYWxsb3clM0QlMjJhdXRvcGxheSUzQiUyMGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYSUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”4827″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]

Author: KIM KOHATSU

Kim Kohatsu is the founder of Charles Ave Marketing, where she brings the power and reach of Madison Ave to small businesses and startups.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-facebook” size=”xs” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcharlesavemktg||target:%20_blank|”][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-twitter” size=”xs” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitter.com%2Fkimkohatsu||target:%20_blank|”][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-linkedin” size=”xs” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fkimkohatsu%2F||target:%20_blank|”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This article may contain affiliate links. This means that I may make a small commission (at no extra cost to you). All opinions are always 100% mine and I don’t work with any product or company that I don’t use and love. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]