2020 was a huge year for video content. First came the rise of TikTok, then the release of Instagram Reels — both designed to draw in audiences with snappy, engaging videos. With most people stuck at home for much of the year, these platforms found massive engagement by providing the social atmosphere, togetherness, and lightheartedness people craved.
The Overlap of Video & E-Commerce is Growing
This engagement got the attention of the world’s largest companies, who moved quickly to orient video content toward e-commerce. Shopify partnered up with TikTok, Instagram made Reels shoppable, Google announced plans to turn YouTube into a shopping platform — even Walmart found a way to jump on the shoppable video content wagon. Between these moves and the pandemic causing more people to shop from home, it’s becoming increasingly common for consumers to discover, research and purchase products based on video content.
What Does This Mean for Brands?
Video content is going to keep getting more and more popular in 2021. If brands want to keep up with what’s dominating the e-commerce space, creating compelling video needs to be part of the marketing game plan. In fact, Google AI plans to release a tool soon to make this easier than ever.
But, in the meantime, a number of tools already exist to help brands get a headstart on creating professional-looking video content that tells their story. Here are a few top-rated options to get you started:
1. Animoto
Pulling a 4.3-star rating on Capterra, Animoto is a primarily free service that may prove handy for brands looking for a drag-and-drop video editing solution. The ease of use is high here — no video editing experience needed. Thanks to Animoto’s wealth of simple, themed templates, all you need is a library of your own photos and clips to create branded video content in minutes.
2. Adobe Spark
For those who are used to Adobe Creative Suite, web-based Adobe Spark offers a familiar interface for crafting your marketing videos. This one nabs 4.5 stars and offers an affordable price tag of only $9.79 per month. Whether you prefer to edit on desktop or mobile, you can create stunning videos personalized to fit your brand. Above and beyond a library of images, icons, fonts, and designs, Adobe Spark offers professional-quality soundtracks, cinematic animations, and an easy-to-use voiceover feature (a feature Animoto doesn’t yet offer).
3. Renderforest
Renderforest comes in at an impressive 4.8 stars. The company’s stated mission is “to make successful branding affordable and available to everyone.” It’s a tool built specifically for marketers, and includes software to create not only sharp videos, but also logos, graphics, mockups, and more. The free version gets you access to a massive library of stock footage, but requires watermarks on your videos and caps them at three minutes. Better features and watermark-free options start at only $6.99 per month. One drawback to keep in mind: This is a web-based tool, meaning on-the-go content creation from your smartphone isn’t really an option.
Key Takeaways:
Professional-quality video content is rapidly becoming a baseline expectation for brands. Staying ahead in the 2021 retail and e-commerce space is going to require well-executed video. If you haven’t yet, now is the time to invest in tools to help you tell your brand story through this growing medium.