The Easiest Way to Make a Video Online (A Complete Guide)
Today, businesses do more than just create marketing videos. Especially in remote and hybrid organizations, businesses use video to communicate.
In a 2022 Animoto survey, we learned about all the ways businesses use video to connect, engage, and inform their audiences. They made it clear that video is the essential tool for essential communications.
In this article, we’re sharing all of the tips and shortcuts to make videos online. With Animoto’s drag-and-drop interface, built-in video editing tools, stock content, and professional video templates, you can create business videos in minutes. Let’s get started!
Jump ahead:
- Tips for making an effective video for your business
- How to make a video for your business with Animoto
- How to make marketing videos
- How to make instructional videos for your team
Tips for making an effective video for your business
Every video you make should be centered around your audience, the problem they’re facing, and how you can help them overcome it. Not only is this applicable to marketing videos, but it can help ensure that you create helpful and valuable internal videos as well! With your audience’s interests and needs at heart, you can create videos that inspire action.
Identify your target audience
First things first, consider who your audience is. A video you make for new followers will be very different from a video for your internal team or established customers. For instance, you may want to include a brief introduction to your brand at the beginning of your video for new customers. But if you’re making a video for your team, you can skip all the fluff and get to the heart of your message.
Establish your audience before you start creating your video so you can choose the right message and assets from the get-go.
Identify where your video will be shared
After you’ve established your audience, consider where your video will be shared. Social media platforms often have certain size and length restrictions that you’ll need to consider. Whereas if you’re sharing your video via your intranet, you have more liberty with the size, shape, and length. Possible destinations for your business videos include:
- Social media (Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.)
- Your website
- Your company intranet
- YouTube
- Presentations
- & More!
Choose a clear and concise topic
The simpler your message, the more likely your audience is to remember it. Make sure that your topic is clear right from the start. Whenever possible, select one topic per video to keep your audience on track and ready to take action.
Figure out your unique value proposition
Next, ask yourself what unique value you have to offer that no one else can. Whether creating a promo, explainer, or training video, you want to add value to your audience. Otherwise, they’ll tune it out. This should be the undercurrent that informs what you say, the media you choose, and how you share your video.
Create a video script and storyboard
Though it’s a bit more work up front, scripts and storyboards will help ensure that you cover all your bases with your video. The script outlines everything you need to say in your webcam recording, voice-over, or on-screen text. Then, you can use a storyboard to align it with your media and visuals. When you know exactly what you want to say and show, video creation is easy.
Here are two helpful resources for:
Choose the right video editor
Last but certainly not least, choose a video editor that you feel comfortable and confident using. Making a video online can be overly-complicated with complex video editors. But simple user-friendly editors like Animoto were designed so anyone can create a professional video, regardless of experience.
Not only do you want to choose a video editor that’s easy to use, but it should have integrated video features so everything is at your fingertips. If your ideal video includes a variety of media including photos, video clips, screen recordings, and text, your video editor should include features that allow you to achieve this all in one tab.
Explore the features available in Animoto and find the free or paid plan that suits your needs on our pricing page.
How to make a video for your business with Animoto
Ready to improve your communications throughout your organization? Get started on your first video. With Animoto, video-making is easy and sustainable. Just follow these five simple steps to create wow-worthy videos in a matter of minutes.
1. Choose a video template or start from scratch
Not sure how to start making a video for your business? Start off inspired with a video template! Animoto has templates for everything from internal trainings to customer and client onboardings, presentations, updates, and everything in between.
Each template is expertly made with professional colors, animations, text, and media already in place. You can always apply your own brand elements to make them your own!
2. Upload your video clips, images, logos, and more
Now's time to add your professional media to our professional templates. Headshots, group photos, video clips, graphs, charts, logos, and more are all fair game. If your personal media library is running low, tap into our library of high-quality stock images and videos! Or create your own screen and webcam recordings right in Animoto.
3. Edit your video with Animoto's built-in tools
Next for the fun part – editing! You can trim and edit your video clips, customize your animations, adjust your volume, and more – all in Animoto. Now’s the time to apply your brand elements like your font and colors.
4. Collect video feedback
Once your video is nearly done, send it to a coworker for review! Just use our Commenting feature to generate a private feedback link where they can review your video and leave time-stamped comments. This is a great opportunity to gather helpful feedback and improve your video before sending it out to your team or clients.
5. Download and share
Last but not least, download your video to share it to any digital destination. Company intranets, Slack, email, learning portals, and shared cloud drives are great places to store and share internal videos. For external-facing videos, just use our integrated social media sharing buttons and email embedding tools. All it takes is a few clicks to create your video and share it with any audience!
How to make marketing videos
Year over year, video has had the highest ROI of all marketing tools. In fact, 93% of businesses landed a new customer after sharing a video on social media, according to a 2021 study.
There are many different types of marketing videos that you can make for your brand! When you follow the steps above and start with a template, it’s a breeze. Here are some templates and best practices to help you market your product, service, or event.
How to make promotional videos
Promotional videos can be made for new product launches, sales, and even new ideas. No matter the content, the purpose of a promo video is to grab attention and convince viewers to learn more or complete a purchase. Promo videos should contain a brief overview of your sale/pitch and end with a strong call to action (CTA).
How to make brand awareness videos
As stated in our brand awareness guide, “Brand awareness is all about how well audiences remember your company's identity, message, and presence after seeing your marketing.”
Since the goal of this video is more broad, that opens you up to a whole world of video ideas! Think product demos, testimonials, “about us” videos, and more! Whichever you choose, make sure your video is on-brand with your colors, font, logo, and more.
How to make teaser videos
What better way to peak your audience’s attention than with a teaser video? Hint at upcoming software updates, organizational changes, collaborations, and product launches to build interest. You can even promote upcoming posts! Our tip is to pair these posts with a timer or countdown so your audience won’t miss out.
How to make product videos
Let your product do all the selling for you! Showcase your product in action with a demo or engaging product video. Use text to call out the features that make your product stand out, then direct users to your store to purchase it.
How to make instructional videos for your team
Did you know that training videos were the most commonly made video by businesses in 2022? Presentations and onboarding videos, two more types of internal videos, also made it to the top 5!
More than ever before, businesses are using videos to share important information and engage their internal teams. Why? The pandemic and shift to remote work showed us that video can do much more than just entertain. Today, we use video to connect, communicate, and celebrate! Here are some templates and examples you can use too.
How to make training videos for employees
Training videos are a great resource for teams throughout the organization. They simplify calendars, break down complicated subjects, and help you align your team on a tight deadline. Rather than hiring a speaker or flying your team out to train together, you can save costs and train wherever your team is located. Here are some tips for creating training videos that captivate your audience.
How to make instructional videos with screen recordings
Don’t need a full training session but still want to instruct your team? Use screen recordings in your videos to teach your coworkers or clients how to complete technical tasks. Just include screen recordings so your audience can follow along. Then, call out resources for further learning.
How to make video presentations
Video presentations are a great way to share information across remote teams. You can share these videos during a live meeting or send them to your team to watch whenever it’s best for them. By including multiple forms of media including charts, photos, screen and webcam recordings, and video clips, you can appeal to multiple learning styles. Here’s a complete guide to make a video presentations online.
How to make onboarding videos
Onboarding videos can help you consistently and effectively onboard new employees, both in-person and online. You can create multiple videos to introduce new hires to the team and vice versa, help them set up their email, learn your company values, and more. Just remember to keep your videos brief and limited to one topic per video for maximum viewership and retention.
Making a video online, made easy
Making videos can seem like a daunting task. But with easy-to-use video makers like Animoto, anyone can create a video online. And a professional one at that!
Now that so many businesses are harnessing video within their organizations, the only thing standing between you and your next video is an idea! We’ll take the rest from there.
How to make a video online FAQ
How to make a video with pictures?
You can easily make a video using the pictures on your device with Animoto! Just select your photos and upload them into Animoto directly from your device or cloud storage account. Then, drag and drop them into a video template and see them come to life with animations and dynamic layouts. From here, you can add text, video clips, music, and more to turn them into a complete and professional video.
How to make a video with music?
You can upload your own music and audio tracks or choose licensed tracks from Animoto’s music library to add to your video. The latter option is a safer bet that avoids the risk of your video being taken down for copyright infringement. Just select your track, trim it as necessary, and adjust the volume.