Online Video Marketing is one of the fastest growing trends in online advertising and fast becoming an essential component of any successful Internet marketing strategy. Videos are an excellent marketing and branding tool for businesses small and large. Videos allow businesses to deliver their message in a very short time.

Video marketing offers numerous benefits for businesses. If done correctly, it can prove to be a very valuable asset for any business.

Contrary to what some businesses may believe, creating videos is not always difficult or time-consuming.

I have highlighted seven free video creation tools that you can use for your business. You can take advantage of these web based screencasting and video creation services to create videos with very little effort.

How Can Your Business Benefit From Video Marketing?

The main benefits of video marketing include:

1) Mass Audience Appeal:

2) Cost effective

3) Very effective tool for business brand awareness and recognition

4) High conversion rates – Users who watch a product or service video are 80% more likely to buy

Type of Videos You Can Create With These Tools?

You can use the video creation tools on this list to create videos that are relevant to your niche. Here are some examples of the types of videos you can create:

• Create software demos
• Record Screen-capture videos that show how to use a website or a product
• Create a set of videos answering your most frequently asked questions
• Create video tutorials
• Create video-based information products
• Create videos to showcase products
• Record tips and techniques about a topic relevant to your niche
• Create product or service videos to boost landing page conversions

Your business can take advantage of these tools to get started with video marketing.

1. Vine

(New Addition to this list)

Vine is a mobile app by Twitter that enables its users to create and post short video clips that are set to auto-loop. It is different to regular videos and serves a different purpose. Videos created in Vine can be a maximum of six seconds in length. You are not able to import existing videos. Instead you record videos through Vine’s in app camera and you also have the option to add n audio file. The six second limit means that it is not suitable for creating movies or lengthy clips. However, it can be a very effective tool for Journalists. It is also great for capturing personal moments.

2. ScreeR

ScreenR is a web based screen recorder and one of the easiest ways to create and share videos online. It is an excellent tool if you do not have your own video content but would like to start using videos to promote your business online. This is by far one of the simplest ways to create videos on the web. It is ideal for recording tutorials or creating an overview of how to use a software, product or a website.

3. Jing By Techsmith

Simple and FREE, Jing is the perfect way to enhance your fast-paced online conversations. Create images and videos of what you see on your computer screen, and then share them instantly. Jing allows you to record up to 5 minutes of onscreen videos.

You can use Jing to take Screenshots, capture an image of what you see on your computer screen, record screencasts, and more.

4. One True Media

It lets you make amazing videos by mixing your photos and video with built-in effects, text and music. It’s a great way to leverage your existing media content and create videos in a way that your targeted audience will find useful and interesting. The site also makes it easy to post it online. You can also combine your own clips with One True Media’s video resource library. There is a wide selection of video transitions and themes that users can use.

5. Screencast-O-Matic

You can use the web based service for one-click screen capture recording on Windows or Mac computers with no install for FREE! Or you can download an application to launch from your Start menu.

Max recording time in the free version is 15 minutes.

6. Animoto

Animoto lets you Create stunning videos from your photos, video clips, and music and share with everyone. It is a straightforward application  that is Fast, free, and very easy to use.

You can create visually appealing slide shows using your photos in just minutes. It also includes an automated facility where you can choose your pictures and music and it will analyze and create the right effect and transitions for your photos to match the music. You can also import photos from other image sharing sites like Picasa and Flickr.

7. CamStudio

CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files and using its built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs)

Conclusion

Videos are a great way to promote and market your business. Are you taking advantage of videos to promote your business? If you know of other free video creation tools please offer your suggestions by leaving a comment below.