How to Convert Blog to Video in 4 Easy Steps

Here’s a bold prediction: in 5 years, the majority of content on the internet will be in video format. Since our attention is the new kind of currency, it’s no surprise that we’re already facing a rampant desire for video.

But chances are you’re not a video editor, don’t have the resources and have no idea where to start… No worries – we got you covered! 👇

In this guide you will learn how to turn blog posts into videos. Not just any videos, but engaging videos.

We won't teach you how to copy and paste your blog post into a video maker. We're pretty sure you're already familiar with the Ctrl/Cmd+C and Ctrl/Cmd+V functions.

Instead, here's what we'll do:

• give you reasons why and when you should and shouldn't transform blog posts into videos
• provide you with actionable steps to transform a long-form post into a video script
• show you how to combine that script with different types of visuals
• introduce you to a tool that makes the video editing process incredibly easy

Would you rather learn this in a video format? Let our in-house learning expert Kevin teach you how to turn your blog posts into videos 👇

Prefer to read? Keep scrolling.

5 reasons why you should transform blog posts into videos

If you already know why a blog video is a must in 2023, feel free to skip this section.

If, however, you still aren't sure if a blog video is right for you, keep reading to learn how creating videos can help drive traffic, and engage your viewers.

Reason 1: Video is more engaging

When was the last time you truly enjoyed reading a long blog post?

As much as our egos would love to hear that about this article, the reality is you would probably rather watch a blog video than read blog posts.

And that's okay. (🥲)

In fact, most internet users agree with you:

• viewers retain 95% of a video's message vs. 10% of text-based messaging
• per week, people watch an average of 19 hours of videos online
• in 2022, online video drives up to 82% of all consumer internet traffic

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and even business platforms like LinkedIn stream videos to accommodate the ever-growing demand.

Reason 2: Video has more reach

We don't want to sound like every other blogger promoting video marketing, but the truth is that video simply has a broader reach.

Great content in a video format can be shared and distributed across many platforms:

• your website
• YouTube channel
• social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and more

While written content like blog posts needs to be heavily altered to fit different platforms.

This is also supported by statistics: when it comes to sharing, people prefer video content twice as more as any other content type.

Even if we only analyze one of the social channels - YouTube - the numbers speak for themselves:

• As of 2022, there are around 2.6 billion users on YouTube
• Approximately 1 billion hours of YouTube videos are being watched daily

Don't get us wrong, a blog post is still a brilliant tool, but if you can easily create a blog video to use alongside it, why wouldn't you?

Reason 3: Watching a video saves you time

Would you rather spend 10 minutes reading a 3,000-word blog post or watch a 2-minute video summary?

Transforming blog posts into videos is not just about widening the reach of your content or boosting your SEO. It's also about allowing users to pick how they want to consume your content.

And for the busy bees out there, video is the perfect way to consume content. 🐝

Reason 4: Video can be an essential part of content marketing

Here's why you should consider investing in video, according to Wyzowl:

• 87% of marketers say video has helped them drive traffic
• 81% of marketers say video directly contributed to increased sales
• 87% of marketers reported good ROI with videos

By incorporating a blog video into your marketing strategy, you'll not only attract more traffic and potentially boost sales, but you'll also be able to see a good return on investment. With these benefits, it's clear that video is a valuable investment for any business.

Reason 5: A blog video is easy to make

If you're a small business owner or launched a fresh startup, it can be difficult to justify spending money on video marketing.

And we get it. Producing video content is expensive - the rates start at around $1,000/hour.

But there are many online tools allowing you to save time and money, and become a video creator without outsourcing the process.

One such tool is Synthesia STUDIO, which allows you to create professional videos with human-like AI avatars in your browser. You just need to type in text, and the avatar will narrate the video.

Using a video maker like Synthesia, you can transform blog posts into videos without spending thousands of dollars, and without having any video editing experience.

We'll show you how.

Before you start: Pick the blog post and identify the goal

The pre-step to creating videos is to pick the blog post you want to convert. Which might be a bit more nuanced than it seems.

Here's what we think about before we turn blog posts into videos:

Would a video fit the topic of the post?

In many cases, the answer would be 'yes.'

But sometimes, the answer is 'it depends.' It depends on the particular topic of the blog post.

Step-by-step how-to guides can be turned into a wonderful tutorial video quite easily.

An author's opinion piece or anything that involves storytelling can be difficult or costly to produce or simply doesn't need a video to accompany it.

Is it worth converting a blog post to video?

Next, think what you want to achieve by transforming a blog post into video content.

Do you have existing blog posts that haven't been bringing in traffic for months, and you want to bring them back to life? Try sprucing it up by updating the content and inserting fresh new images.

Or do you already have blog content bringing in good traffic but needs a boost? More traffic, more engagement, a wider audience?

In that case, transforming a blog post into a video is a brilliant next step.

Is a video easy to produce?

If you asked this question even 3 years ago, the answer would probably be 'no.'

Even today, the amount of time, money, and expertise you need to create videos using traditional methods is not always worth it.

However, modern online video tools have been emerging to solve those exact problems.

Take Synthesia, for example. The AI video generation tool allows you to create videos with human-like AI presenters by typing text into a browser-based application.

You don't need:

❌ cameras

❌ microphones

❌ actors

❌ studios

❌ video editing skills

All you need is text, or, in this case, your article.

So let us guide you through the 4-step process of transforming blog posts into videos using a tool like Synthesia STUDIO.

How to Turn Blog Posts into Engaging Videos in 4 Easy Steps

Step 1: Review your blog post content

You can't make good videos if you copy your 2,000-word long blog post and paste text into a video maker.

With video, we expect things to move quickly, so here's what you should do instead:

• Boil everything down to the main points: No need to beat around the bush. Say what matters most and leave out the fluff.
• Use short sentences with simple vocabulary: Shorter sentences are easy to follow, and simple vocabulary is easier to understand. After all, isn't that we want our video to be - easy to follow and understand?
• Use a conversational tone: This will make your video more relatable. Especially if you're using an AI presenter in your video (keep reading to see what we're talking about 😉).

Any type of software works for this step: Google Docs, Notepad. Whatever you already use for written content.

Step 2: Break up your script

Once you have all the essential parts of your blog posts in one place, time to edit the text and turn your blog posts into video scripts.

Use no more than 4-5 sentences per slide/video frame.

Why? Because you need to keep the pace moving. We're used to seeing things constantly change and evolve, and the same applies to video.

Besides, we don't want to overload our viewers with too much information all at once.

We have a short video tutorial teaching you how to break up text for a video.

Again, this step can also be completed in a simple Google Doc or Notepad.

Step 3: Select template and paste script

Video templates are powerful tools in any video maker's arsenal.

If you're not a visual designer, getting started with video creation using templates is a super easy way to save time and effort, and avoid headaches.

Most video tools allow you to edit the templates as you please, so you can easily adapt them to your needs, brand colors, and messaging.

If you're using Synthesia STUDIO, you can create a video from templates by clicking on 'Templates' on the left-hand side, choose a template and click on 'Create video'

Step 4: Visualize text

There are many ways to combine text with visuals.

So now is a good time to look at your chunks of text (remember, no longer than 4-5 sentences) and imagine what would look best with them.

Use these 3 options to easily visualize text:

Option 1: Text on screen

Yes, visualizing text with text is actually a good method, especially when combined with a voiceover.

Break down your text into bullet points on screen and time the animation with the script narration. Easy.

You can add text to your Synthesia video by clicking on 'Text'.

Edit the text by simply clicking on the text. The 'Format' tab will appear, allowing you to edit everything from font to color to spacing, and more.

Option 2: Talking head

Use a human or an (almost) human presenter in your video to narrate your script.

Hiring an actor for a simple blog post video can make a dent in your video marketing budget, so we suggest exploring the world of AI avatars and text-to-speech narration.

It looks and sounds more realistic than you think, and you can use the time and money you save on other content marketing efforts.

To add a digital human presenter to your video, click on 'Avatar' on top of the video canvas and choose one that fits your video.

Option 3: Stock (or own) footage

Probably the simplest way to bring some life into a video is to add images and video footage to accompany the text.

Have your own footage that fits the text? Brilliant, use it.

Don't have your own? Stock footage is here to the rescue.

Whatever you use, make sure it's relevant to the text and includes narration.

To add and upload images and videos in Synthesia, you can go to 'Media' and browse the selection or upload your own photo or video file.

Some key points to consider

Creating a video is only one part of the equation. How and where you choose to host and distribute it can play a significant role in its success.

Video hosting: YouTube vs. your website

Once you're done creating videos, give video hosting some thought.

For example, by hosting videos on your YouTube channel you can reach a much wider audience. As a bonus, YouTube videos are automatically indexed by Google.

In addition, you have access to video analytics to track online activity. You can see how much time users spent watching the video, which parts they skipped over, which parts they re-watched, and so on.

If you don't want to create a YouTube channel or don't want to embed a YouTube video on your new blog post page, you can host the video on your site.

The reach might not be as high, but your users will be directly taken to your landing page with carefully-crafted CTAs, offers, and other content to consume, thus increasing the chance of conversion.

Plus, no ads! 😌

Video distribution

It is probably safe to assume that after turning blog posts into videos, you will want to maximize distribution and reach more people.

Here are a few ideas for distributing videos:

• upload to a relevant article or landing page on your website
• upload to YouTube
• create a social video on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or any other social media channels
• include videos as a part of your newsletter 👇

Conclusion

Now you know you don't need to spend more than an hour to create a video from a blog post from start to finish.

We hope this inspires you to get started with video creation, even with no prior experience. If not, we hope it was at least informative. 👩‍🎓

Ready to turn a blog post into a video with minimal effort? Get started with Synthesia STUDIO and make a free demo video.

What’s a Rich Text element?

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

Static and dynamic content editing

A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!

How to customize formatting for each rich text

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.