35 Online Video Tools for Simple Video Creation, Editing, and YouTube Management

Eyeballs are getting harder and harder to grab, especially on Facebook, where the auto-play feature has completely changed the landscape of the platform, both on desktop and mobile.

Right now, video is the most engaging Facebook format. Uploading 60-90 second, funny, evergreen videos with captions and short text introductions is one of the most successful tactics to slow down scrolling on the app, at least according to Buzzsumo. A good video usually stops consumers for about 23 seconds – enough to grab their attention, at least. Video is also preferred on mobile Twitter.

Ignoring the social media benefits of online video assets, YouTube is the second largest search engine, and it’s owned by Google! It’s important to rank well in it organically.

And that’s not to mention that according to Hubspot, most users would rather see videos than emails, images, blog posts, or other types of content.

So it’s clear that most potential customers want to watch online videos. How do we create them?

While trends are telling us that companies obviously need more video marketing, professional online video generation is expensive, cumbersome, and often difficult to pull together for most brands that aren’t already big-time video content generators.

It’s difficult but not impossible.

Here are some online video-maker tools we’ve gathered from across the Web that can help get the job done!

Video Brainstorming Tools

1. Keywordtool.io (Freemium): A nice tool to run any time you are brainstorming video topics and pick up some related keywords to optimize your Youtube page later when you publish the video. You can pick “Youtube” in the drop down for it to look into video-specific keywords. You can set a target word to see the keyword group around it or specify negative terms to filter those out.

More:

• 3 Awesome Free Keyword Research Tools (Based on Search Suggestions)
• The Ultimate Guide to Proper Youtube Video Tagging
  

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Video-Creating Mobile Apps

These video-making apps don’t even require a desktop computer: You can take videos with your phone and edit them with these apps.

2. Boomerang (Free): Create looping video for Facebook advertisements.

3. Legend (Free): This is the ultimate typography app for putting text in motion, and it looks really nice for square social video.

4. KineMaster (Free with a watermark that requires a subscription to remove; $4.99/month or $39.99/year to remove watermark and in order to download videos): This totally mobile video editing software will allow you to add in audio and effects! You can use cutting, trimming, volume control, chroma-key, and 3D transitions.

5. Videoshop ($1.99): Format videos into square, social-worthy clips for Facebook.

6. Hyperlapse (Free): Create time-lapse videos for Instagram.

7. VidLab (Free): Add effects and sounds to the video you take on your phone.

8. Giphy (Free): Take a video and make a looping GIF. It’s easy to use to create content for tweets, Tumblr, and Facebook!

9. Clipomatic ($6.99): Turn what you say into live captions! It’s important for all videos made for Facebook to have text captions.

10. iMovie (Free): If you have a Mac product or iPhone product, you likely already have this app, which has many editing capillaries and can be used both for mobile and desktop.

DIY Explainer Video and Animation Tools

What if you don’t have any video assets to start with or you want cool animations for your videos? Luckily, there are several apps with video libraries of animations you can choose from.

11. VideoScribe ($29/month, $144/year, or $665 one-time payment; free seven-day trial): This is whiteboard video software with pre-made drawings and images. You can add text and voice-overs, use your own drawing hand, and add color.

12. Biteable (Free for five video projects per month with a watermark; $8.25/month for unlimited creation upload and download function, more templates, and no watermark): This is a popular template-based video service that includes animations and explainer video templates with music.

13. Rawshorts (Free for five video projects; $39/month for 25 exports per month and no watermark): Create animations with a drag-and-drop interface.

14. Lumen5 (Free for everything and unlimited videos, watermarked; $49/month for no watermark, font options, customization, and square videos; $99/month for 1080p videos, brand presets, and custom fonts and music): Try this tool that’s explicitly made for turning articles into videos.

15. Wideo (Basic $19/month, 10 downloads per month, 1-minute videos from 20 templates; $39/month for 10-minute videos from 80 templates; $70/month for unlimited templates and unlimited video length): A robust animation creator with a lot of options, this is a marketing favorite.

16. Easy Sketch Pro (Starter level for $37 one-time fee; Business level for $67; Business Pro level for $97): This tool can create a more chaotic and fun doodle video with interactive functions.

17. PowToon (Free for limited storage, templates, music, max video length of 5 minutes and max five exports; $19/mo for Pro with 2 GB of storage and up to 15-minute videos and 25 exports; $59/month for no watermark and 10 GB of storage, no other restrictions): PowToon is an extremely popular animation creator with built-in templates and text.

18. Content Samurai ($97/month): This is an article-to-video smart editor that uses templates and your script plus photo and audio options.

19. WeVideo ($7.99/month for unlimited square and horizontal videos; $19.99/month business plan includes a team license, premium motion titles, collaboration tools, and social marketing options): This fast online video editor offers limited capabilities and is simple to use.

20. Slidely ($49/month basic for one video a month; $99/month for four videos per month; $199/month for 10 videos a month; $359/month for 15 videos per month): Access their library of high-quality stock videos and professional music to create square or ordinary videos.

21. Animatron:

• Wave.video ($39/month for 5-minute videos; $79/month for 20 brands and 15-minute videos; $149/month for 50 brands and 15-minute videos plus cheaper asset prices): This is a video editor tool with a huge array of stock images and designs.
•  Studio (Free for no commercial rights and royalty-free animations; $15/month for no watermarks and a greater library of clips; $30/month for more storage, third-party transfer rights, and more import capabilities): Studio is an animation and explainer video tool for small businesses.

Tools for Audio and Sound Effects

Take a look at these sites to download royalty-free sound:

22. SoundArchive Online (Free)

23. Soundcloud (Free)

24. Freesound.org (Free)

Tools for Creating Thumbnails and Pictures

Let’s say you have shot an excellent scene and are ready to put it up on YouTube. You need an eye-grabbing thumbnail, and you may also need to create, crop, or design images to be used in your video. These are free tools that let you do that:

25. Snapseed (Free): Google’s photo editing app is great for editing thumbnails and creates cool graphics and transitions.

26. Canva (Free): The ultimate tool for creating graphics, this free utility has been a favorite of marketers for years.

27. Pixlr (Free): It’s a robust free photo online editor.

28. PicMonkey (Free): This online photo editor is known for better selfies.

29. GIMP (Free): Download this program and you’re basically getting free Photoshop!

30. Sumopaint (Free): This free online editor is better for drawing your own graphics.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget that you can also create large pictures and make them pan and move later with most video editing software, a tactic called the Ken Burns effect.

Screen-Capture and Video-Grabbing Tools

There are other ways to generate video besides shooting the film yourself or creating an animation:

31. HYFY (Free): Use this screen-capture app to create video of your desktop; it’s great for tutorials of your software or products!

32. KeepVid (Free): Download videos directly from YouTube with this tool. (Remember to keep in mind copyright constraints, however.)

Tools for YouTube Analytics

33. Tube Buddy (Free for the browser extension; $9/month for more tools; $19/month for bulk processing tools; $39/month for advanced tools): This app comes highly recommended by Jim! It can allow you to schedule publication of videos and filter comments, and it suggests tags. It has dozens of data and promotion tools It will also allow you to create end screen cards, add emojis, create thumbnails, create captions, and more!

34. Tubular (contact for pricing): This data-collection app also has a wide network of content creators.

• DealMaker: Find contacts for sponsored videos!
• Intelligence: Use this for research, coming up with ideas, and seeing what sorts of videos people want to see.
  

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34. Youtube!

And lastly, one of the most useful apps is made by YouTube itself: the YouTube Creator Studio app! Here’s a quick rundown:

• Dashboard: Check for notifications and alerts from YouTube, including the latest updates and stats for your review.
• Video Manager: Organize and update your videos from one place or dig into a particular video to adjust settings individually. Use tools to optimize a video, tweak its settings, or bulk-update changes across videos with a single click.
• Community: Communicate and collaborate with your fans and fellow creators. Review and respond to comments, read private messages, see videos where you’ve been credited, or review a list of subscribers (if your channel has at least 1,000 subscribers).
• Channel: Adjust settings that affect your channel overall, such as signing up for monetization, controlling your upload defaults, or enabling live streaming.
• Analytics: Review your channel’s performance and get info on how your channel is growing. Find reports and data to help you evaluate your channel and video performance, including views, subscribers, watch time, revenue for partners, and more.
• Audio: Access the Audio Library to add sound effects or unique music.
  

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And there are many more online video creation tools out there – this is just a sampling! But at least now it looks like creating videos for companies for marketing purposes isn’t impossible after all.

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Do Content Writers Really Need to Think about SEO?

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5 Simple But Effective Visual Marketing Tools

There are so many visual marketing tools out there that it is turning what used to be a rather arduous task into a simple process anyone can do in half the time. No one has a single excuse for why they aren’t implementing visuals of all kinds into they social media and website content. It is just so easy these days, and it takes hardly any effort at all.

But not all tools are made the same, and some processes such as making videos are still very labor intensive. What I wanted to focus on here are those applications that don’t require much work, yet provide fun results.

Here are five simple but effective visual marketing tools for image specific formats.

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1. Quotes Cover

Quotes Cover is an interesting tool. You are making simple visual representations of famous or personal quotes. You can add photos to the background, change the color, select a font and customize the size. It is available for different styles like Timeline covers, status image uploads, and even print like posters.

All you have to do is either select one of the quotes they have in their large database or put in your own custom one. Then follow the steps to make everything look just the way you want it. Finally, download the image for free and use it for whatever you like. People love text quotes, especially on sites like Pinterest, so this is a great one for sharable visuals.

Marketing idea: Viral marketing with quotes

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2. Loupe

Loupe lets you create a card or collage using any photos you select. They will be shaped into a picture of your choice, such as a tulip or heart made up of all the images you have chosen to include. They have some pretty creative options, like a woman jumping in the air, or a cupid and heart.

The more photos you use, the more complex the shape can be. You can also make a card using your mouth to write the message. Feeling a little playful? Try their Where’s Waldo style photo hunt game. It is more addictive than you might expect.

More: Creating Photo Collages

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3. Social Media Image Re-sizer

Social Media Image Re-sizer allows you to customize your own creative Timeline cover for Facebook. This is great for making personalized headers for your official brand page.

You will be able to really stand out, no matter what you end up choosing to go with. Just drag and drop, that is all there is to it.

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4. PicMonkey

PicMonkey lets you make a simple collage using your own images, sample images or pictures you find online. Arrange them using their pre-made templates, add colors, edit and add text, put in tags and more. Then save, download and share them with others through social networks.

This one is so easy to use, and the end results actually look pretty good. You could make up a series of these in minutes and have them on hand to share when you need a bit of eye candy to boost your content.

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5. Piktochart

Infographics are really being used a lot these days, and that isn’t a shock given how much they offer by way of both visuals and information. You can create your own, as well as presentations, interactive charts and videos using Piktochart.

Check out the ones already published to the site by the community for inspiration, and make something really dynamic and attractive, even if you have no graphic design skills to speak of.

Marketing idea: How to promote infographics

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Conclusion

Further reading:

• How to Simplify & Scale Your Visual Marketing Strategy over at inbound.org
• The 3 Key Elements of Effective Content – And How to Master Them over at digitaleagles.com.au blog
• 20 Sites to Diversify Your Visual Marketing over at internetmarketingninjas.com blog

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Visual marketing isn’t just the way of the future, it is what is being used today. Users online expect to be dazzled, or at least to have more than straight text.

You can give them what they want while engaging on a more meaningful level using the simple tools above. It takes less time than doing it all manually, and it is all free.

Have some tools to add to the list? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to include a link!

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Real Name Policies on Facebook, LinkedIn, Quora and Google Plus: Clarified [Updated]

Since the start the web anonymity has been quite a hot controversy in social media world.

On one hand, everyone has the right to remain anonymous online to avoid personal attacks.

On the other hand, social media networks have been trying to promote “real” connections which resulted in many of them forcing “real name” policy on their users.

Let’s see what the “real name” policy is these days:

1. Facebook: “Authentic” Names

Facebook terms of service go into much detail explaining their “real name” policy noting that “the name you use should be the name your friends call you in real life“.

On October 1 2014, Chris Cox, Chief Product Officer of Facebook, also clarified:

Our policy has never been to require everyone on Facebook to use their legal name. The spirit of our policy is that everyone on Facebook uses the authentic name they use in real life…

We believe this is the right policy for Facebook for two reasons. First, it’s part of what made Facebook special in the first place, by differentiating the service from the rest of the Internet where pseudonymity, anonymity, or often random names were the social norm…

Their identification tools don’t seem to allow much freedom though because in order to confirm your identity, you are required to provide a photo IDs and you may not have one for the name your friends are using in real life…

2. LinkedIn: “True” Names

Due to its professional nature, LinkedIn requires “true” names without clarifying what that means but noting that “pseudonyms, business names, associations, groups, email addresses, or other characters” are not allowed.

If you are one of multiple people using your professional pseudonym when registering a professional account at Linkedin, you may be in trouble. Here’s a very well-written, very well-grounded case by someone who is forced to be using their real name on Linkedin.

The real issue is the personal safety of various categories of users, for making your name known can have serious – and even lethal – consequences in certain cases.

Think of political antagonists using the Internet to democratically criticize an oppressive regime; think of secular minorities living in countries with a mandatory State religion; think of social activists fighting an unjust establishment; think of people of ethnic origins operating in racist societies. Think, since we are on this website, of people discriminated against for their sexuality.

3. Quora: Use Your Legal Name

Founded by former Facebook employees, Quora is making the same mistake Facebook started with, the only difference being Quora has never tried correcting it standing firmly by their questionable decision.

Quora requires a “real full name” and explains that one should stand by their answers and the best way to do that is to use their real names. In case you are reported for not using your real name, you have to provide your ID which means you have to use your legal name.

They do have “reply anonymously” option to help those who don’t want their names to be associated with certain answers, but it’s not helpful to those who want to use their well-known monikers they use elsewhere.

While they say that they make exceptions sometimes, Quora real name policy is the major reason of its strongest users’ unhappiness (warning: NSFW language in that one)

It is still hilarious to find such an adamant policy enforcers on the Internet, and it makes me wonder how Quora managed to put a bunch of lunatics to frame a policy on the Internet that forces users to reveal their identities.

While it sounds like LinkedIn, there is a marginal difference between the two networks. The former network requires such a deep level of credibility to enhance one’s network and still they never want to screw your name and they clearly don’t enforce it on you. The latter is just a Q/A network with a great user base. Somehow, they manage to mess everyone (except JJ Abrams and Soleio) with a naming policy.

4. Google Plus: No Restrictions Any More

In an obvious effort to profile the web, Google started Google Plus with a very strict real name policy which ended up in lots of controversies.

The policy didn’t work for Google Plus well, especially when they started aggressively integrating it into Youtube (where few people use real names).

On July 15, 2014 it was announced that there were absolutely no restrictions as to what name you should use when registering an account at Google Plus.

What are your thoughts about social media real name policies? Share your thoughts!

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