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Wow! The response to last week’s guide on creating your own custom GPT was incredible. Your enthusiasm has us fired up! 🔥

What’s on today’s agenda? How to create engaging, high-quality marketing videos on a budget — no fancy equipment or editing skills required.

💡 Step-by-Step Guide

Create Engaging Marketing Videos On A Budget

Create dynamic video ads or social posts in mere minutes — even if you’ve never edited a video before. By instantly transforming your existing product pages or images into engaging videos, AI-powered video tools like Canva, Pictory, and HeyGen help you:

  • Save money by avoiding costly production crews

  • Produce more high-quality content, faster

Option 1: Canva

Best for beginners & creating videos from images

Pricing

  • Free plan (with limitations for video creation)

  • $15/month or $120/year for 1 user

  • $10/month or $100/year per user

  • Custom enterprise pricing

Steps

  1. Login to Canva & select ‘Create a design’ (top left)

  2. On the left-side panel, select ‘video’

  3. Choose your preferred video dimensions (e.g., landscape or square)

  4. Under ‘Design’ (left panel), select ‘Generate videos instantly’

  5. Upload or select a varied selection of 3-10 product images (e.g., close-ups & lifestyle shots)

  6. Enter a short prompt (e.g., ‘luxury bedding highlight’ or ‘modern duvet showcase’)

  7. Customize the generated video (e.g., tweak colors & fonts to match or brand identity, add slides to include more images & text, or apply animations by clicking on images or text)

  8. Export your video in your desired output format (e.g., MP4 or GIF)

Try Canva
❝

💡 Pro tip: If you’re creating a video for a website, use 1920×1080. Most social platforms recommend 1080×1920.

Option 2: Pictory

Best for intermediate users needing more robust features & converting web pages into videos

If you have a website or blog already loaded with product images and descriptions, Pictory can automatically convert this content into voice-narrated clips or captioned slides.

Pricing

  • Paid plans from $25-$119/month or $228-$1,188/year

  • Custom enterprise pricing starting at $975/month

Steps

  1. Create a free trial account or upgrade to a paid plan for advanced features

  2. Decide whether yo use photos or a URL to create your video.

    • If using images, upload a batch of varied product photos

    • If using a URL, paste your product page link

  3. Review & refine the script

  4. Review the generated video (e.g., ensure there’s no text overlays blocking important parts of your images)

  5. If needed, edit the generated video (e.g., add or remove scenes/transitions or insert background music)

  6. Download the video in your desired resolution

Try Pictory
❝

💡 Pro Tip: Always proofread an auto-generated script. It may need a few edits, or you may want to add in CTAs or make some brand-specific tweaks.

Option 3: HeyGen

Best for an all-in-one, automated approach complete with AI avatars

Pricing

  • Create 3 videos per month for free

  • $29-$49/month or $288-$468/year

  • Custom enterprise pricing

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💡 Pro Tip: Want to clone yourself for an ultra-personal avatar? Get a paid plan!

Steps

  1. Open HeyGen & select ‘Labs” (bottom of left-side panel)

  2. Select ‘URL to Video’ & paste a link to your product listing (this can be from your own website or an online store like Shopify or Etsy)

  3. Review or, if needed, edit the product name & description, change your logo, & add or remove product images then select ‘Next’

  4. Select either:

    • ‘AI Scripts’ to choose & edit (if needed) a script HeyGen writes for you

    • ‘Custom scripts’ to upload your own script

  5. Select a template, avatar, & music

  6. Toggle on captions, if desired

  7. Click ‘Submit’ (top right)

  8. Review the generated video to (e.g., catch oversights & ensure you like the pacing & transitions)

  9. Export your video in your preferred resolution

Try HeyGen
❝

💡 Pro Tip: Enable automated captioning for enhance accessibility and to improve engagement on mute-friendly platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram.

⏭️ What’s Next

Keep your suggestions coming! Reply to this email with any ideas you have for a future step-by-step guide. We’ll be sharing another one next Tuesday.

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Unlock Your Marketing Videos’ Full Potential

While the guide above gave you a solid start in transforming your marketing with AI video tools, there’s so much more to creating truly captivating, high-converting videos. Our full Skill Leap Complete Pictory AI Course can help!

In this 19-lesson course, you’ll learn how to:

  • Effectively storyboard

  • Target the right audiences

  • Optimize videos for social media & educational content

  • Connect AI video tools to your social media channels

  • And much more

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