Video offers merchants a range of ways to engage customers and prospects. Many innovative video tools are available for little or no expense.
Here is a list of new and updated tools from video platforms and social media applications. There are tools for promoting products and producing shoppable videos and as well as for editing, live-streaming, and monetizing.
New, Updated Video Tools
Snap is launching a standalone video editing app. Snapchat introduced Story Studio at its 2021 Partner Summit. The video-editing iOS app will allow creators to trim video and add sounds, stickers, layers, augmented-reality lens filters, and other effects. Creators can share videos directly to Snapchat or other social media apps. Users can discover what’s trending to spark their creativity.
YouTube debuts Shorts beta app in U.S. YouTube has released its Shorts beta app to the U.S. A competitor to Tik Tok, Shorts is for anyone who wants to create short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones. Shorts features the ability to add text at specific points in the video, a multi-segment camera to string video clips together, the ability to record with music, control speed settings, and more. Creators can also sample audio from other Shorts to remix in their own efforts.
Facebook helps content creators monetize videos. Facebook has added more monetization options for creators, targeting short-form videos similar to TikTok. Creators can earn money from videos as short as 1 minute, with a minimally interruptive ad running at 30 seconds. Videos 3 minutes or longer can show an ad at 45 seconds in. Previously only 3-minute or longer videos could deploy ads, at no earlier than 1 minute. Also, Facebook is testing the ability for content creators to monetize their Facebook Stories with ads that look like stickers. Along with the changes, Facebook has updated its eligibility criteria so that more content creators can monetize their videos with in-stream ads.
Google launches new video editor in the Photos app. Google Photos has added editing abilities to videos. In addition to trimming, stabilizing, and rotating your videos, the new editor can crop, change perspective, add filters, apply granular edits (including brightness, contrast, saturation, warmth), and more. The new editor is available on Android and iOS.
Bambuser augments live video shopping platform with new features. Bambuser has announced several new features for retailers to increase the impact of live video shopping initiatives. Featured enhancements include Floating Action Button previews to alert visitors, Event Spotlight Modules to promote curated landing pages and video banners, audio captioning for audible descriptions of key visual elements, and Share from Pre-Screen, which allows viewers to share upcoming live video shopping events with their social connections.
Vimeo launches video library hub. Vimeo has launched an enterprise-grade feature to organize a company’s videos and live streams, so every team member can find the content they need. Record, upload, and share training videos, demos, updates, Zoom recordings, and more. Add time-coded video notes to collaborate with coworkers. Each video is automatically transcribed, allowing users to search by captions.
Pinterest introduces Idea Pins. Pinterest has released Idea Pins, a multi-page video format to help users engage with video and explore content directly. Idea Pins are an evolution of Story Pins, renamed to empower creators to share long-lasting ideas rather than short-lived stories. Creators now have a suite of publishing tools, including video recording and editing, voiceover recording, ghost mode transition tools, detail pages for instructions or ingredients, and interactive elements such as people tagging and stickers.
YouTube makes TV ads more shoppable with brand extensions. At its 10th annual Brandcast Delivered event, YouTube introduced an interactive feature for advertisers called brand extensions to make the platform more shoppable. Brand extensions invite viewers to learn more about a product with one click without interrupting their viewing experience. Brands can measure conversions generated by brand extensions directly in Google Ads.
Pinterest launches Premiere video ads. At its Pinterest Presents global advertiser summit, Pinterest released Premiere, a new video ad service enabling companies to engage audiences at scale. Pinterest also released Trends and Conversion Insights, which are planning and measurement tools to help advertisers optimize their performances and their opportunities to reach consumers.
Zoom releases video SDK for third-party apps. Zoom has released its video software development kit to help developers leverage Zoom’s high-definition video, audio, and interactive features to build applications and desktop experiences. Developers can integrate Zoom’s functionality into social media applications to create, for example, on-the-go live streaming with interactive chat. Organizations can create unique shopping experiences that are tailored to customers and drive revenue.
YouTube releases hashtag landing pages for all users. YouTube has updated how it groups content through hashtags. Now anyone searching for a specific hashtag on YouTube, either the desktop or mobile app, will see a new dedicated page that only contains videos with the hashtag, which are sorted to keep the best videos at the top. Users can also navigate to these pages by clicking on any automatically linked hashtag on YouTube.
Instagram’s shopping cart extends to IGTV and Reels. Instagram’s in-app shopping has expanded to IGTV and Reels. For brands with Instagram Checkout enabled, users can buy products without leaving the Instagram app. Shopping is now available across Instagram, including Shops, the main feed, Stories, and live streams. Instagram has also introduced new branded content tools for Reels, allowing creators to add a “Branded Content” label to show when they’re working with a business or brand.
Facebook debuts Live Shopping Fridays. Facebook is bringing brands together this summer to showcase products, tips, demos, and more through Live Shopping Fridays. Shoppers can discover the latest products and ask questions about size, fit, and tips in real-time. For brands, Live Shopping offers a chance to build relationships with consumers, provide new content, answer questions, and streamline the purchase process through the checkout with Shops. Tune in to the live shopping streams on each brand’s Facebook page or by visiting the Shop tab or mobile bookmark.
Shopify brings commerce to Tik Tok. TikTok has recently partnered with Shopify. The TikTok channel for Shopify allows merchants to create and connect their TikTok For Business account and deploy in-feed shoppable video ads directly within Shopify. Merchants select which product to feature, and video ads are automatically generated that drive users to the Shopify stores for checkout. Ready-made templates for commerce mean merchants of any size can take advantage of the TikTok channel using their existing imagery or video.
