If you’re reading this blog post, chances are you already know you should incorporate more video content into your marketing.
But like most new strategies, you might need to prove its ROI before you get budget. And that can be tricky because to make a great video, you need a few things — like a camera and editing software.
You might already have a high-quality camera built into your smartphone, but editing your raw footage and preparing it for publication requires a third-party mobile app. You might even need to hop on the computer for the more extensive post-production projects.
Discover videos, templates, tips, and other resources dedicated to helping you launch an effective video marketing strategy.
There’s a good chance you already have video editing software installed on your computer. But depending on the purpose your video is serving — and the content channel to which you’re distributing it — you may find that these options aren’t packed with enough features.
However, the following 5 solutions will help you make your video look like a magic — whether it is meant for YouTube or Instagram, or a similar channel where your audience is hungry for content.
- Magisto (Free. iOS & Android)
Magisto allows you to make incredible videos without ever leaving your smartphone in three easy steps: First you’ll choose your video editing style (the type of story you’re telling), then you’ll choose the photos and video clips you’d like included, and lastly you’ll pick your music from Magisto’s built-in music library.
Using artificial intelligence (AI), this intuitive app helps organize your footage in a video that best delivers the message you have in mind. Why not stop at the free version? Upgrade to Premium or Professional for a small monthly fee and make longer movies with more of your own content.
- Wondershare FilmoraGo (Free. iOS & Android)
Wondershare Filmora (formerly Wondershare Video Editor) is the perfect option if you want to start out with basic video editing functionality with the opportunity to get more advanced as you go. The app is perfect for Instagram but can create audience-ready videos for numerous platforms.
Filmora is available for Windows and Mac computers, whereas the company’s FilmoraGo mobile app is free to download for both iOS and Android devices.
Filmora’s “Easy Mode” strips away the complexity so you can drag and drop video clips, add some music, and produce a finished video in a matter of minutes. The FilmoraGo app has many of these features, plus an Effect Store where you can incorporate preset intros, themes, and transitions into your video creation.
- InShot (Free. iOS & Android)
There are the times when you just want to edit a video — no fancy collage and no splicing. For that, there’s InShot, a handy app that lets you trim, speed up, or add music and filters to video. It’s pretty fundamental, but with that comes a high ease of use. You can also add a background if you like, though we think it’s pretty cool to have an overlap of images.
- Blender (Free. Windows, Mac & Linux)
The open source program Blender is more than just a video editor: It’s a full-blown 3D animation suite, which allows for modeling, rendering, motion tracking, and more.
On the video editing side, there are a ton of features, including transitions, speed control, filters, adjustment layers, and more. There are also 32 slots available for adding video clips, audio clips, images, and effects, which means you can produce some incredibly complex video.
For the amateur video editor, all the functionality that’s available can be a bit overwhelming. But if you’re looking to produce truly professional-quality video — without having to deal with watermarks — Blender is a solid option. The best part, you are free to use Blender for any purpose, including commercially or for education. Isn’t that great!
- HitFilm ($99. Windows & Mac)
HitFilm Express is a free video editing and visual effects software — which means you can use it to add more than 180 special effects to your videos, including 3D editing.
Probably the coolest HitFilm feature is its wealth of tutorial videos — users can practice applying special visual effects in movie tutorials based on Star Wars, Westworld, and more.
Of course, upgrading to HitFilm Pro grants access to more visual effects, better high resolution and 3D rendering, and better audio syncing between audio and video files. It costs $300, but if you’re not ready to fully invest, HitFilm Express users can purchase lower-cost expansions to use more tools in their software.
When you have such amazing tools and apps for video editing, what’s stopping you from making video content? Statistics show that people prefer video over any random blog or article. The more you feed the hungry audience with amazing content, the more loyal they’ll be to your page.