How to use video to boost your small business marketing?

If you have customers, you need to connect with them. Customers are the lifeblood of every small business, and you think about yours every day. But so do your competitors. To stay ahead, to retain your existing customers and attract new ones, marketing through social media requires a constant effort to grab customers’ attention and to engage with them. As a small businessowner, you need to constantly find ways to improve customer engagement through the use of more sophisticated social media strategies.

In 2018, Social Media Examiner surveyed over 5,000 marketers who work with small businesses. They asked their respondents which social media content types are they planning to use in the next year. Far and away the content type most marketers plan to use is video, which fully 77% said they plan to use. This was more than visual images, live video, blogging, or podcasting. You can be sure that your competitors are thinking hard about incorporating this type of content into their customer engagement efforts.

But wait—you are a busy small business owner. How can you get started?

In the past, it would have been necessary to pay a marketing agency to produce content, and this was prohibitively expensive for most small businesses. Not anymore. We have reviewed three social media tools designed for small business owners that make video content accessible and affordable.

ANIMOTO

https://animoto.com

Animoto Video Maker is a software that makes creating marketing videos easy. You can use it either on your computer or smartphone. They pull video you create on your smartphone but also offer a huge library of music and effects that can enhance raw video you create.

It is common to find videos made with Animoto on social media platforms like Facebook. Businesses can use this to showcase new products, promote customer engagement events, or provide instructional videos for customers who buy your products.

Ease of Use - 4/5

Basic compilation of clips and video is very simple. However, the product could use more tools to edit the visual features of individual clips.

Cost - 4/5

Animoto has two pricing levels for small business: $33 per month, which includes one user account and 2,000 music tracks, and $49 per month, which includes up to three user accounts and 3,000 music tracks.

WIDEO

https://wideo.co

Wideo is an animation video software that allows the creation of customized professional videos within a matter of minutes using a template. The animated videos created are engaging and affordable.

Common uses for this software include internal company communication, product demonstrations, and promotional videos.

Ease of Use - 3/5

The interface is simple and straightforward, but it requires the use of Flash and the length of videos is limited to one minute on the less expensive pricing tiers.

Cost - 2/5

Wideo has three pricing structures, each with more available templates and capable of producing longer videos. Monthly costs are $59, $99, and $199, but annual subscriptions carry large discounts, and the monthly costs (billed annually) are $19, $39, and $79.

POWTOON

www.powtoon.com

Powtoon is a visual communications platform that allows the creation of animated presentations and videos using its intuitive, drag and drop interface.

Examples of where this could be effective are internal communication videos or presentations, training videos, and marketing and sales communications.

Ease of Use - 2/5

Though certainly it doesn’t require an engineering degree, the software may be better suited for more savvy marketing types. It is relatively easy to create basic videos and the software has a large selection of templates, media and animation effects. However, users have reported issues with the collaboration features and it uses a lot of memory.

Cost - 3/5

Pricing for Powtoon is similar to, but a bit lower than, Wideo. Monthly costs are $39, $89, and $197, but annual subscriptions carry large discounts, and the monthly costs (billed annually) are $16, $19, and $59.