2017 was a great year for video. Video ad spend reached an all-time high, video became a ‘pivotal’ priority for brands, publishers, and platforms alike, and Wibbitz introduced dozens of new features and updates to our powerful video platform! As we begin to look forward to all the updates we have planned for 2018, we wanted to first take a look back at how much our platform has improved thus far. Here are some of our favorite features that were introduced to support our partners’ video strategies in 2017:
For speedier & easier video creation
1. New creation flow
We revamped our platform’s creation workflow to mimic the way video producers typically put together a story before they begin editing – we just made it a whole lot quicker. Whether you’re creating videos from text, URL, or media, the Studio’s creation stage allows you to put together all of the possible elements that make up your video up front, so all you’re left with are minor tweaks once you get to the editing stage.
2. Expanded Top Story library
If there’s a breaking, trending, or interest-specific story that your audiences want to know about, chances are that our in-house editorial team has already created a Top Story video about it. From sports, celebrities, and politics, to lifestyle, health, and culture, the Wibbitz editors are creating Top Story videos for more verticals than ever before. All you have to do is click Rebrand in the Wibbitz platform, and that video is yours to publish with your own logo and branding. Here’s a Top Story video that was created today, and covers a story that pretty much anyone would find intriguing:
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For creative editing & fine tuning
3. Text alignment, sizing & highlighting options
Thanks to their performance on typically muted social feeds, text videos were the most popular type created in the Wibbitz platform in 2017 – so we decided to give our users more stylistic control over their videos’ text styles. Now, you can change the vertical alignment (top, middle, and bottom) and the font size (small, medium and large) of your text, and choose from a variety of different colors to highlight key terms using the Highlight, Meme and Text Card styles.
4. Media trimming & scene duration
The Wibbitz Studio is stocked with amazing footage from top providers – so we wanted to make sure our users are able to make edits to that footage directly in the platform. With our new and improved trimming tool, the timing, length, and sections of video clips that are featured in each scene can be easily controlled. From here, you can also choose whether or not to include the soundbite from that particular cut.
For adding the perfect look, feel & style to any story
5. More diversified media footage & music library
By partnering with Pond5, we were able to add the world’s largest royalty-free video and stock footage collection to our library of quality media from other top providers like Reuters, Getty Images, Bloomberg, and AFP. We also recently added 6 more categories and 158 more tunes to our music library – which brings our total number of music to over 300! With all these choices in media & sound, storytellers of all verticals (no matter how niche) can benefit from our powerful video creation tool.
6. More post-production packages (aka Styles)
Throughout the year, we introduced five new video Styles – Fame, Impact, Dynamic 2.0, French Election, and Wimbledon – each with its own style of text styles, transitions, motion graphics and effects that illustrate different types of video content. We also recently introduced a Transitions on/off switch to add even more variety to our Styles selection, and provide more options to tone down or turn up the vibe of your videos.
For multiplatform social video creation
7. Media cropping & one-click copy
While video has become the preferred type of content on every major platform, the video format that works best on each platform tends to vary. With the Studio’s Copy tool, a carbon copy of every video can be made in a click – then, each video can be cropped in a square format (for Facebook, Twitter & Instagram), a vertical format (for Snapchat, Facebook & Instagram Stories), or left in a landscape format (for your website). In a few minutes, every story can be told on every platform, in the format that works best.
8. 10-second Snippet video type
2017 was the year of social video Stories – so we introduced a way to quickly create the kind of micro-videos that work best on these millennial-favorite platforms. Snippet videos are 10-second teasers designed for Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook Stories, but have proven to be just as great for driving website traffic from Facebook feeds. They give just enough information about a story that makes anyone want to click through (or swipe up) to learn more. Here’s a great Snippet video from our star partner Revolt TV:
For building a top-performing video strategy
9. Editorial Services
This year, our in-house editorial team’s video expertise became an even larger part of our partners’ video strategies. The Wibbitz Editors became Wibbitz users’ go-to resource for trainings, tips, and customized best practices reports. Some of our partners even commissioned our editors to create videos around their own stories. With our editors as a guide, our partners are able to get the most value out of the Wibbitz platform as possible.
10. New Homepage
Since we launched the Studio’s new Homepage, Wibbitz users are able to identify, identify, create, and publish videos around the stories audiences care most about, all in one place. As soon as you log in, you’ll be able to see which articles on your website are trending, which Top Story videos are most relevant to your content vertical, and which videos are being created, or have already been published, from members of your team. This way, the Wibbitz platform not only helps you quickly create videos, but also helps you make a real impact in that small window of time.