YouTube has launched a new tool aimed primarily at small businessesthat want to create short video ads, but likely don't have the experience or know-how to do so. With this new tool, they will be able to do it easily and for free. The tool is called YouTube Video Builder and has been in testing for several months. However, it was released a little sooner than planned due to the COVID-19. Most people are now working from home, so shooting videos for a business's needs is not feasible.
“We believe Video Builder can help businesses of all sizes that need videos quickly, especially now that we’ve heard from so many businesses that they need to inform their customers quickly and easily,” said Ali Miller, Director of Product Management at YouTube Ads.
To access the tool, a business only needs to have a Google Account that can be used to sign in to Google, such as Gmail and YouTube. If they don't have one, they can link their non-Google email address to a Google Account. To save and publish the video, the business will need its own YouTube channel.
Using the tool is pretty straightforward. The beta version of Video Builder can bring a business’s static assets, such as images, text, and photos, which can be set to music from free audio library . Users can also choose from a variety of frames based on their messaging and goals, YouTube says. They can then quickly adjust colors and fonts to create a 6- or 15-second video.
When finished, the video can be uploaded as “Unlisted” to the business’s YouTube channel, unless the business wants the promotional video to be visible to the public, in which case they will change the setting. The video can then be used anywhere else, on other sites or social media. And if the business chooses, they can run the videos as an ad through Google Ads.
The tool is now one of many DIY solutions for businesses looking to create their own video ads. For example, Vimeo launched an app in February that helps small businesses create professional social videos. Last fall, Lightricks launched a full suite of apps for small businesses to power their social media marketing campaigns. There are also dozens of video editing tools on the market from Adobe, Apple, Magisto, Canva, PicsArt , and many others.
In the case of YouTube's Video Builder, the advantage is that the tool produces videos that are suitable for YouTube viewers and are integrated into the Google Ads program.
Video Builder has been tested by some businesses. In some cases, businesses wanted to notify customers about changes to their hours or new services, such as pickup and delivery.
Now, with its wide release, businesses can use it on desktop, after gaining beta access. The YouTube tool itself is only available in English, but the videos it creates can be in any language.
Miller says Video Builder was originally developed to help businesses quickly and easily create video ads for YouTube now that they're stuck at home, but it will also be useful for those who want to start creating videos on YouTube to find new customers.
The new tool is one of several services for businesses that YouTube has built. Last May, it launched Bumper Machine, a quick way to adapt existing videos into short six-second clips (using machine learning).
