Video Tools for Social Media Marketers

Do you want to add video tools to your social media marketing?

Are you looking for tools to simplify your video production?

Today’s tools make it easy to record and edit videos for social media marketing and ad campaigns.

In this article I’ll share 14 tools marketers can use to create screencasts, montages and slideshows.

Why Video for Ads?

Facebook gives priority to native videos (as opposed to video links to external sources) to encourage this type of content. Videos that are directly uploaded to Facebook perform better and provide a better experience. They receive 30% more video views than videos posted from other websites, and have images up to 11 times larger in the news feed.

Discover 14 video tools for social media.

According to Facebook’s Q3 2015 earnings report, there are now 8 billion daily video views on Facebook, double the video views in April 2015. Plus, with the launch of 30-second Instagram video ads, it’s easier than ever to create video ads to use for both platforms.

There is a perceived high barrier to creating video, however. People who appear on camera want to look and sound their best, and they want to use the best technology to record audio and video. Plus, many women in business (myself included) want to spend time on hair and makeup before hitting the record button.

Fortunately, there are easy ways to create video, some of which don’t even require showing your face on-screen. You can use screen captures, images and video clips to create video ads for your business.

Here are some excellent desktop and mobile tools you can use to create Facebook and Instagram videos.

Record Screencasts

A screencast is a digital recording of the action taking place on your computer screen. It’s the perfect solution for creating technical how-to explainer videos, narrate slides about a specific topic, give a guided tour of your website or create a tutorial or demo for your product.

You can record and edit screencasts using the following tools.

Camtasia Studio

Camtasia Studio, available for both PC and Mac, is an advanced video recorder and editor. It allows you to smoothly record whatever part of the screen you need to show, down to the pixel. One very useful feature is SmartFocus, which allows you to zoom in and out, as well as pan.

Camtasia Studio allows you to apply zoom and pan to your videos.

Zooming in is especially important for videos, since more than 80% of people consume their Facebook news feeds on their mobile devices. Remember, ensure your text is large and clear enough for people who are watching on the go.

ScreenFlow

ScreenFlow is easy-to-use screen recording and editing software for Mac and my personal favorite. ScreenFlow allows you to record your entire screen while also capturing your video camera, iOS device, microphone and computer audio.

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Add text to overlay and a watermark to brand your videos. Use pan and zoom, add transitions and import other media to make your videos look as professional as possible.

Snagit

While Snagit has video recording and screen-capture ability, it doesn’t have the extensive editing features of other software. If you’re looking for an easy, lower-cost solution, this is an excellent option.

Snagit has customizable arrows, blur, colorful speech bubbles and other mark-up options, as well as video trimming, special effects and more.

To capture from your screen, drag Snagit’s crosshairs and then choose a still image or video.

If your screencast software doesn’t already have mirroring for your mobile device or you simply want an easy way to send images and video between devices, you can add that functionality with one of the following two applications.

Fuse

TechSmith Fuse works with Camtasia Studio and Snagit. Capture the images and videos on your mobile device and send them to your desktop to use in your videos.

Reflector

Reflector by Squirrels allows you to do wireless mirroring, so you can display your smartphone screen (Android or iOS) on your desktop. Connect your mobile device wirelessly to your desktop, hit Record on your screencast software and create your video.

This video was created using ScreenFlow and Reflector.

This tool is perfect for anyone who does online training, such as app developers, technical trainers and industry experts.

Create Slideshows

Combine still images into a slideshow as a catchy video promotion for your news feed.

Another way to do a demo is to walk people through a step-by-step of how your business, products or services work. A slide-deck video can also feature products on a theme, behind-the-scenes images from your company, coverage of events and more.

Add transitions and narration to put everything together into a nice, professional video. Spice things up with some video clips, too.

iMovie and Movie Maker

For basic editing of images into video, you can use iMovie for Mac or Windows Movie Maker. Both applications allow you to import images and clips and edit them into videos.

Apple’s iMovie has come a long way and works with all of your iOS devices.

Then put them in order, insert transitions, record narration and produce your video.

Facebook Slideshow

The Facebook Slideshow tool recently rolled out to Ads Manager and Power Editor. If you have limited time and resources, it’s an easy way to create eye-catching ads from still images.

Facebook Slideshow is available for all of the objectives highlighted in the screenshot below.

Create a simple slideshow using any of these Facebook ad objectives.

In the Ad Creation section, click on Select Video and then the Create Slideshow button.

Facebook’s Slideshow tool is simple and easy to use.

Select three to seven images (use Facebook stock photos or upload your own). Then choose the length of the ad (up to 15 seconds), transition preference and thumbnail. For best results, use high-quality images and avoid grainy ones. For dimensions, keep them all the same, ideally 1280 x 720 pixels or an image ratio of 16:9 or 4:3. If you use images of different sizes, your slideshow will be cropped to a square.

Slideshow video ads are for advertisers who want an easy way to create a high-quality video without the hassle or expense of video production. You can get more help with Facebook slideshow video ads here.

Build Video Montages on Desktop and Mobile Apps

Similar to the Facebook Slideshow video ad tool, another way to create videos for ads is to use a service that automatically edits your video into a montage. Intersperse video clips with your images, overlay text and add music. These tools help you build appealing videos for your audience.

Animoto

Animoto allows you to create videos in three easy steps. First, pick a style for your video. Then select photos and video clips, add text and choose a song. Finally, produce (finalize) the video and share it on your website or social channels.