Animoto Adds Square Video to Improve Marketing on Mobile and Social

Animoto, a provider of online video creation tools, today launched square format for its Marketing Video Builder, giving marketers a 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, in a statement. "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 Adweek 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 Animoto's recently launched Marketing Video Builder, which helps marketers create content with pre-built storyboards, drag-and-drop interface, 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.

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