Maria Prince, BBD, LLP
Animoto is an online platform used to create video slideshows from your photos, video clips, voiceovers and music. This extremely accessible marketing and sales tool is a great option to quickly produce in-house videos – even for those with no video software experience. It also is ideal for emotionally-driven content. Use Animoto’s seemingly endless library of pre-licensed songs, pre-built storyboards, and various integrations to efficiently share your videos and up your content marketing game.
The Basics of Animoto
Animoto’s key features include:
- Multiple high-definition options
- More than 2,000 commercially licensed songs for use in videos
- Pre-built storyboards and templates, with the ability to start a video from scratch
- Considerable font library
- Brand customization, including use of your logo, fonts, and colors
- Multiple video size and shape settings
- Extensive options for sharing on social media, embedding, downloading, etc.
As expected, each level of Animoto’s subscription options has varying forms of the features listed above, but even the lowest cost option of $8 per month will work for many users. What’s more, their highest cost plan is still only $34 per month. All plans also include unlimited videos.
Best Practices for Creating Videos
Now that we have defined what Animoto is used for and detailed some of its features, let’s go through a few best practices for using the tool efficiently:
- Integrate video clips and photos
One of the best features in Animoto is the ability to seamlessly combine your photos and video clips into one slideshow. You can simply drag and drop photos next to video clips and they will play within the Animoto video as if they were always meant to be viewed together.
- Choose songs based on mood
Animoto is an exceptional platform if your aim is to set a certain mood or evoke a certain feeling among viewers. Animoto accomplishes this in many ways, including by categorizing their pre-built storyboards by goal or intent, and also by allowing you to change the style of your video based on one of a few adjective-driven templates, such as bold, standout, glamour, etc.
Perhaps the most effective way to evoke emotions with your video is through music, and Animoto has categorized their songs by mood for easy selection. Is your video dramatic, funny, or hypnotic? How about wistful, tender, or quirky? With their extensive and well-organized song library, you can certainly find the right tune for maximum impact. And, even if you cannot find one in their library, you can upload your own music.
- Take advantage of integrations
Animoto integrates with many commonly used and well-known tools, including:
- YouTube
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Twitter
- Wistia
- Vzaar
- SharpSpring
- HubSpot
- Rumblefish
This list is not exhaustive. Be sure to take advantage of the integrations for even easier video sharing.
- Look beyond obvious uses
Animoto enthusiasts use the tool to do a lot more than create video collages. Be creative! You could be creating advertisements, invitations, tutorials, testimonials, and much more. Animoto is a powerful marketing and sales tool that is definitely worth exploring.