Animoto Adds Square Video for Increased Social Media and Mobile Engagement

NEW YORK, March 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Animoto, the company that makes it easy for anyone to create online videos, today launched square format for its Marketing Video Builder, giving marketers a proven high-performance format for Facebook and Instagram. Beta customers including Billboard Magazine, Buffer, The Jane Goodall Institute and Simply Recipes report increases in views, likes and shares for square video over landscape, noting a significant improvement on the overall success and performance of their videos on social media.

"Businesses of all sizes must learn to communicate using video on social media — that's where customers and prospects live, and video is proven as the most effective form of communication," said Brad Jefferson, co-founder and CEO of Animoto. "Square videos perform better on social networks like Facebook and Instagram than traditional landscape videos, but until now, the average marketer and small business owner has not had an easy and inexpensive way to create a square video. We're changing that, leveling the playing field for small businesses and marketers so they can now compete with businesses with monster budgets by giving them the power to produce videos that are sure to stand out on social media."

Square videos take up 78 percent more screen space in the mobile social news feed than landscape videos, improving viewability and engagement. Additionally, a recent study showed that view rates for square are 28 percent higher, and consumers are 67 percent more likely to complete square videos over landscape.

Today's news is the latest update to the company's recently launched Marketing Video Builder, which helps small businesses and marketers create content for a video-first world with its pre-built storyboards, drag and drop interface and features including voice-over, text-enhancing filters and styles designed to stand out on social media. Marketers can now transform any content they have into a square video, even if the content was originally shot in landscape or portrait.

Brands Use Square for Better Performance
Along with small businesses, brands like Billboard Magazine and Buffer have already begun using Animoto's new square storyboards to help them create more content and boost performance.

Billboard Magazine
"In the entertainment industry it's important for us to always be producing content that's hyper relevant," said Everett Brothers, senior content strategist at Billboard Magazine. "When we're working with tight timelines, Animoto has helped us react to pop culture events and create videos quickly. And with features like square format, we don't sacrifice on performance."

Buffer
"It's widely accepted that social video consumption on mobile is increasing," said Brian Peters, digital strategist at Buffer. "Animoto makes it easy for users to optimize the way they connect and where they engage with their audience. This newest release is a testament to the company's ability to stay ahead of major social trends."

Jane Goodall Institute
"For us, every dollar counts towards the good work we're doing to protect wildlife, support young leaders, push research forward, improve the lives of people, and conserve natural environments around the world. The way we drive this support is to connect directly with individuals online," said Shawn Sweeney, director of community engagement at the Jane Goodall Institute. "Platforms like Animoto give us the ability to do this through powerful, high-performing videos, and with features like square videos, we know we can be optimized for engagement across all of our social platforms."

Simply Recipes
"We've been using Animoto to make eye-catching video slideshows of our recipe photographs for sharing on social media," said Elisa Bauer, founder of SimplyRecipes.com. "With the new square format for videos, we're seeing even higher engagement and 39 percent more people are clicking through."

More case studies are available at http://animoto.com/success-stories.

Square videos are available in Animoto's Marketing Video Builder, available with Professional and Business plans. Learn more at http://animoto.com/business.

About Animoto
Animoto's award-winning online video builder makes it easy for anyone to create powerful and professional videos. Millions of consumers, businesses, marketers, and photographers around the world use Animoto to turn content they already have into videos that stand out in a video-first world. Founded in 2006, Animoto has offices in New York City and San Francisco. For more information, visit http://animoto.com.

Animoto is a registered trademark of Animoto Inc. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Animoto

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