Media & Design

Promo Review

Create professional video content with little or no experience in video editing. Ideal for small businesses, enjoy access to 23 million premium HD videos and photos.

Author:
Simon Childs
Updated:
February 17, 2022
Try Promo for Free

OVERALL RATING: Best for Editorial Support

We’ve tested Promo’s features to see how they match up against other video editing platforms.  We have all the information you need to decide for yourself whether Promo is right for you and your business.


Who is Promo best suited for? Perfect if you need to create professional video content to be shared on paid social.


Pros

+ Support chatbot is very efficient and clear

+ Access to 23 million premium HD videos and photos from gettyimages and iStock

+ Possible to make a usable 45-second ad in less than ten minutes

Cons

- Some basic functionality - unable to change font size within a text block

Promo Review Summary

The name is a dead giveaway, to be honest. A video editing tool that allows you to create promotional video content! Promo is a cloud-based social media video editing tool for freelancers, businesses or agencies. 

Unlike more advanced video editors like Adobe Photoshop that require a separate software download, Promo works on any web browser. This is great if you want to edit or create videos on the move, but not so great if you need to work offline. 

The more complex video editors take time and training to learn how to use, whereas anyone can make an advert using Promo's platform in a short time frame. 

To make it as easy as possible for new users, Promo lets you choose from a range of pre-made templates that you can tinker with by adding photos, video clips and your own branding.

Create video content that can be published on all social media channels, social platforms or blogs, as well as turned into paid campaigns to increase engagement and brand awareness, reduce CPC and increase traffic.


Is Promo right for your startup or small business?  Read our impartial review to find out.

Use Promo to create professional video content for social media
Use Promo to create professional video content for social media


How Promo works

Promo has a free trial (but no free plan) to let you try out the platform before you make any financial commitment. You can comb through the templates, play around with the editor and make your first video without so much as registering a card. 

The site won't let you download any video you make if you're on the free plan, but they do allow you to share a link to it. 

Once you sign up for a free trial, one of the Promo team will reach out to you through email, with links to different resources to help you get started. Over time, the company will send you various guides to their editor and templates to improve the quality of your videos. 

Promo has loads of video templates - ideal for advertising your services, products and brand.
Promo has loads of templates to choose from

Once your account is set up, you can pick a template or start from scratch. While you could make a professional-looking video from scratch, most users will find it significantly easier to start with a template and edit to their heart's content. 

When you sign up for an account, Promo asks which industry you operate in to suggest relevant templates. There are countless great looking templates for you to choose from, but most commercial templates are for adverts on social media sites.

Once you've picked out the template you want, the site takes you through to the editor. 


The Promo Editor 

If this is your first time using Promo, the platform guides you through the editor's tools one by one, helping you find your way around. 

The editor's interface is fairly intuitive and easy to navigate, allowing anyone with little to no video editing experience to put together something workable in a short timeframe. 

As Promo offers a free plan, it's worth playing around with the editor to see how long it takes you to make a video you're happy with before you decide on a paid plan.   

In the editor, there is a taskbar with three options: editor, media, and music. 


  • The editor section is (you guessed it) for editing the video. This section has all the modification tools you need to make a great looking ad, such as different fonts and headings, transition effects and animations that bring your video to life. 


  • The media section offers a vast selection of videos and photos to include in your video; most of which are royalty-free, from Getty and iStock. You can also upload original videos and photos in the media tab. 


  • The music section is a library of free to use background music organised into popular genres and styles. There is a great selection of upbeat, calm and funky music, as well as many others, so no matter your creative idea, Promo has got you covered. 


On the right-hand section of the editor is the 'Brand' section, which lets you upload a set of logos, text or design elements to quickly apply to any template, without having to create them all one by one every time you want to make a video. This is a critical feature for design agencies or anyone managing multiple brands. 

Both the media and music sections also have search facilities, helping you find the right stock media to back up your ad. 

One of the most notable features Promo offers is its royalty-free video library. At the time of writing, Promo has 150k standard video clips and more than 100m premium clips for you to use in videos. 

Promo has helpfully included an autosave feature in the editor, preventing you from losing your progress, which is vital as Promo is a browser-based editor. 

In our experience, it’s possible to make a usable 45-second ad in less than ten minutes. 


Promo pricing

Promos pricing plans range from basic to pro
Choose from one of Promos 3 pricing plans


Promo offers three pricing plans, which you can either pay for monthly or commit to an annual plan, giving you two months for free. 

The three plans, Basic, Standard, and Pro, differ in terms of the number of premium clips you can use per month, whether you can add a watermark, and how many brands you can manage. 


  • The Basic plan lets you create and download as many videos as you want and use all the standard stock clips and three premium clips per month. You get full use of all the editing features, royalty-free music and as many stock photos as you want.

 The basic plan is best for any small business looking to create between 1-3 videos a month.


  • The Standard plan includes everything in the basic plan plus unlimited premium clips, and the facility to add an original watermark to any video you create. This plan is ideal for businesses and marketing agencies increasing their social media output with regular video media content.



  • The Pro plan has extras only necessary for bigger brands or marketing focused companies such as larger marketing agencies. This plan gives you reseller rights of video content, white-label sharing and priority customer service. 


Promo also has a free plan available for new users to try out the platform before making any financial commitment. The company doesn't let you download videos on the free plan, which prevents you from uploading them to social media channels or embedding them on a website. Additionally, any free video will include a prominent watermark in the top right-hand corner, but it is useful for trying out Promo.


Who is Promo best suited for?


Anyone who wants to create quality marketing videos and content. It can be used to create Instagram Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Facebook Ads, Promo Videos and Youtube Ads.



Why Promo is the best


We love that Promo requires no previous video creation experience and includes more than 2,500 templates, sorted both by purpose; promo video, and industry; retail or education. 


It allows you to make many different types of videos, including stand-out video ads, social media videos and product videos.  


You can also choose from over 23 million premium HD videos and photos from gettyimages and iStock, which is worth its weight in gold alone. 



Why Promo is not so good


The fact that there isn't a free plan is a bit disappointing, however, you can still trial Promo for 7 days at no cost to you or your business. Other than some clunky editorial features such as not being able to change the font size within a text block, we think promo is pretty great.

Promo verdict?

The Promo platform makes it easier than ever to create authentic, original content without having to fork out stacks of cash for specialist editing software or freelance video editors.  

Promo can help any small business or freelancer looking to grow their brand and reach new markets by creating engaging video content that will receive heaps of likes, comments and shares on paid social. 


Alternative media & design solutions

Canva

InVideo


Promo FAQ’s



Is Promo video editor free?


No, the Promo video editor is not free but is available as part of a monthly plan with 3 levels to choose from; Basic, Standard or Pro.  The Basic plan lets you create and download as many videos as you want and use all the standard stock clips and three premium clips per month. You get full use of all the editing features, royalty-free music and as many stock photos as you want.


How easy is it to edit a Promo video?


Really easy! Editing videos such as adding audio, cutting and compressing can all be done in minutes with their easy to use tools. 


Is promo the best free video maker?


Sadly, Promo isn't free. So it's definitely not the best free video maker. 


Try these:


Lightworks - The best free video editing software!

DaVinci Resolve - The best free video editing software for quality finishes

Hitfilm Express - The best free video editing software for versatility



Are promo’s video templates any good?


Yes!  You can customise video templates including footage, copy and music. It's also really easy to add brand overlays, photos and music while enjoying multiple aspect ratios.