As demand grows for video-first services like YouTube and TikTok, more people run video ads or plan to. Some worry that the creative takes time and effort. It does take more than text or a still, but recent years have brought a flood of low-cost, fast editing tools and production-company plans, so the options have widened fast.
This guide is for anyone who wants to make video ad creative themselves. Editing matters most, since organizing the footage and audio and deciding what to use in what order is what sets the quality. Tools differ in features, though, which makes choosing hard. The four points and 14 tools below help, framed around which tool suits which placement. Details were current as of late 2022.
Four points for choosing
The right features for your goal. What you want to make changes what you need. A short social clip does not need advanced software, which can feel hard to use with too many features, so think about what the goal actually requires. Fit with your environment. Check the OS and spec a tool supports. A phone app is enough for some goals, but heavy effects work needs a PC with ample memory and storage. Cost. Free tools limit features and so run light, so weigh the quality you need and your skill against whether to pay; paid tiers add things like in-app recording, DVD output, audio waveforms, captions, and chapter management, and many offer a trial to compare before buying. How many people use it. For a beginner, a well-known tool with many users is safer, since reviews, know-how, and fixes are easy to find, and popular tools tend to update more.
Free tools from the ad platforms, for beginners
The platforms offer free editors that build a placement-ready ad from templates and stickers, safe even with no editing experience.
Video creation in Google Ads builds a YouTube video ad from stills, with templates by marketing goal and rich, smooth motion, uploading straight to YouTube. Facebook's video editing tool, in Meta Ads Manager, builds and submits a video ad from templates using a logo, background, and text overlay. LINE Creative Lab makes LINE ad images and video from over 400 image and 70 video templates by uploading an asset and setting text, with a simple feel. The TikTok Creative Toolkit, in the TikTok ad dashboard, makes vertical video free with an ad account, handling BGM, captions, and trimming for basic edits.
Standard editors for any platform, for beginners to intermediates
PowerDirector is Japan's best-selling editor, with monthly templates and titles for high-quality work even as a beginner, cheaper than many pro tools, on Windows and Mac, from about 706 yen a month on the annual plan, with a free trial. Premiere Pro, Adobe's editor, is the standard for video creators, intuitive for beginners yet deep enough for pros, from a free trial up to the Creative Cloud complete plan, at about 2,728 yen a month on the annual plan. iMovie, Apple's free editor for macOS and iOS, has a clear layout and guided editing and syncs between Mac and iPhone, though templates and text decoration are limited. InShot, a free iPhone and Android app, edits vertical and uploads straight to Instagram or YouTube, with trimming, transitions, speed, music, filters, and text. Canva makes both video and images from a deep template library, free with over 800 video templates and phone editing, used by over 60 million people worldwide, with a paid tier from about 12,000 yen. RICHKA, from a Japanese company, edits in the browser regardless of OS or spec, with over 1,400 marketing-focused formats you fill with assets and text, suited to a company building a production setup. LetroStudio edits from over 800 templates and 300 stamps with dedicated consultant support, suited to a company setting up production. Final Cut Pro, Apple's Mac-only editor, runs fast with deep features and intuitive titling and effects, with tutorials for beginners, a one-time buy at 48,800 yen rather than a subscription, and a 90-day trial.
Pro software for richer expression, for advanced users
After Effects, Adobe's pro tool, removes or adds objects in a video and animates logos and characters, strong at editing and compositing with a deep set of effects, suited to 3D, animation, and motion graphics, at about 2,728 yen a month on the annual plan. DaVinci Resolve, from Australia's Blackmagic Design, sits close to After Effects in features but excels at color grading, with a free version up to 4K and a paid version up to 32K, a one-time buy at 47,980 yen, needing a high-spec PC for the ultra-high-resolution processing.
Use them by purpose, and start free
Performance advertising rewards speed, so the skill to make video yourself pays off. As these tools show, each has its strength, from vertical-only apps to software for high-quality work, so rather than forcing one tool to do everything, use them by purpose. As a beginner, start with a platform's free tool or a paid tool's trial, and once you have the hang of it and want to widen your range, move to a fuller paid editor.
