Repurposing Full-Length Spots into Sharable Snippets

Repurposing video content is a great way to save both time and money and help you get more mileage out of the videos you’ve already perfected. Here’s how to effectively repurpose your video content for multiple channels.

Get to know your platform

Always remember, videos that work for YouTube may not necessarily fit the format for other social media networks. When creating video content for social media, you likely already have one platform in mind, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. It’s not only helpful to think in terms of “specs,” including length or aspect ratio, but also in terms of the type of content users like to see on specific channels. 

For instance, a DIY video snippet might not perform well on a platform like TikTok, but on Instagram, it might be a hit. Select the most engaging or amusing parts of your YouTube videos to attract the right audience and always keep in mind the benefits they’ll gain from watching your content. In other words: Show people what they want to see on the platform best suited to that viewership.

Use a handy app

Video editing apps are very handy for repurposing video content. Since it takes a time to shoot in different dimensions or make several edits to fit particular sizes, it’s smart to let a video editing app take care of these tedious, time-consuming tasks for you—that, or a creative agency that knows exactly how to format for cross-platform use. 

There are several apps, including InShot and Later, that allow you to upload a video, and they do all the trimming, cropping and other tasks for you. In some cases, they even let you schedule your videos to post at a later date, to help you stick to a regular posting schedule. 

If you’ve had a video professionally filmed, the best option is almost always to chat with the agency that created it to ensure you’re getting the same high-caliber video, no matter the length or format. 

Short and sweet sells

Social media ads need to be short and sweet. You really only have a few seconds to get your message across to people quickly browsing their feeds. You don’t need to do tons of design work to create social media ads that stand out—you can easily repurpose your very best video content as social media ads. 

Whether you want to post an Instagram Stories ad or a promoted Pin, aim to keep your ads under 15 seconds and incorporate branding elements into the ad, including logos, fonts and colors. 

Repurpose with purpose

As you break down video into shareable snippets, ask yourself what the purpose is. Are you trying to sell? Inform? Generate engagement? With such a short window of time, shareable parts of a larger video need to get the point across immediately. Select snippets with purpose and use them accordingly. 

Want more advice on how to turn full-length videos into effective snippets for social media? Say hello to Spin Creative! We know what it takes to help you make the most of your video marketing efforts, whether you’re starting fresh or repurposing your best content. 

About Us

Spin Creative is a video production company and creative agency helping marketers create winning video and creative strategies that engage, inspire and activate targeted audiences. Spin is headquartered in Seattle with offices in San Francisco and London, serving brands around the globe.