As always, we want to thank our nerdy community for a great year and wish you a happy holiday season… so why not do it with a video? Or several?

Here are some great ways to make holiday videos in a snap for social media or marketing. I have paid versions of all of these tools because they’re worth it.

Magisto: Video Highlight Reel

Magisto is my favorite tool when you have a bunch of video clips. The algorithm analyzes the video to find the best highlights then applies the special effects. The drawback is that it’s a little bit pricey.

Animoto: Photo Montage

Many different apps combine your photos into a musical montage these days, but Animoto is still my favorite for all the wonderful templates. You can incorporate very short videos, but it’s magic is with photos.

JibJab: Funny Face Videos

JibJab lets you use people’s faces to make fun videos. There’s not much you can do without paying their modest yearly fee (less than $30), but I use them a couple of times a year, so it makes the investment somewhat worth it. One annoying thing is that you can’t download JibJab… you can simply send a link to their page. I need the flexibility to upload native video to social media sites because they prioritize uploads over external links. So I use a screencapture tool to grab the video.

Reevio: Facebook Header Videos, etc.

Reevio is a bit clumsy to work with, but it does have a few very cool stock videos that you can share quickly on social media.

Placeit: Product Placement Videos and More

I went ahead and upgraded my Placeit subscription because I found myself using its mock-ups for my book quite often, so it was worth the hundred bucks a year vs. $7-10 per download. The templates are very easy and quick to use.

Biteable: Fun Animated Videos

You’ve probably never heard of Biteable, but it has become one of my go-to resources for making promo videos for events. Like Reevio and Placeit, Biteable has tons of templates for quick social media greetings.