Creating videos with AI: Insights

KI Erfahrung von Stephan Czaja (Co-Owner)

Last week, I published the big flagship article on AI in marketing. Today I’m focusing on AI videos and giving you an example project from our agency.

First of all: AI videos need planning, just like “normal” videos that you would shoot for Insta, TikTok, YouTube and co.K

The important thing is: AI videos also need planning. Just because the tools open up new possibilities doesn’t mean that strategy and structure are superfluous. On the contrary: the clearer you know your goal, the better the result will be. Just like with “normal” productions for Instagram, TikTok or YouTube: think first, then shoot – only digitally.

• Planning remains crucial
• AI is no substitute for strategy
• Clearly define goals

Important: You can see my own projects here, which I can talk and write about freely.

Video planning: What are you planning?

Was willst du kommunizieren und wie?

Before you start, you need to know what you actually want to produce. Are you looking for short, funny clips that will go viral or complex explanatory videos with added value? Do you want to work with an AI avatar, a voiceover or use yourself as the avatar? This decision determines the direction. AI is versatile, but the goal determines which tools you choose. It’s like cooking: You can have the best ingredients, but without a recipe, the result will be random.

An editorial plan and a keyword plan are also recommended. The keyword plan ensures that your videos are found for the right search queries – particularly important on YouTube. The editorial plan ensures that you publish regularly and link your videos together. This allows you to build up your reach over time, as viewers jump between clips instead of dropping out after a single viewing. Ideally, you should link the whole thing to your website or e-commerce for active link building.

• Keyword plan for visibility
• Editorial plan for consistency
• Crosslinks for reach

Create shorts & reels

For short formats such as reels or shorts, the combination of the right tools is crucial. ChatGPT for scripts, Midjourney for images, Freepik for design, HeyGen for avatars or Google Veo for videos – the landscape is constantly changing. Every month there are new models, updates, new players.

It is worth regularly testing which tools currently deliver the best results. Those who remain active here have a clear competitive advantage.

The best tools for reels and videos?

Instead of complicated productions, scenes are created with movement, light and realistic animations. For companies, this means faster content, lower costs and new creative possibilities… but what are the best tools for reels and videos?

Our current recommendations:

1. Google Veo 3
2. OpenAI Sora
3. Runway @ Freepik

Remember: Keyword and editorial plan

With good planning – i.e. keyword and editorial plans – scripts and visual processes can be perfectly prepared. Who speaks what? Which scenes will be shown? Which additional elements, such as titles or superimposed texts, increase attention? You can define all of this today before the actual production.

The end result is a video that is not simply “AI content”, but is tailored to your brand. Our own test videos have already generated tens of thousands of views on YouTube in the beta model – not because AI is magical, but because we put 80% of the work into planning before we fired up the tools.

• Combining the right tools
• Plan visual processes in advance
• Quality comes from preparation

Example: Short explainer video with 20k views

Example: Explain infographics

Example: Info-Tainment “Before and after effect”

Explainer videos and long formats

Many people think that AI is only suitable for short clips. The opposite is true. Long formats such as explanatory videos can also be produced entirely with AI. For example, we created a video that explains the function of a slimming syringe – complex, but implemented with AI in such a way that the information is understandable and visually attractive. Another example is a video that explains how to navigate a website. In the past, tutorials like this would have been a major project that took several days to produce. Today, you can implement them in a fraction of the time – and improve them at any time or create variants for other target groups.

• AI is also suitable for long videos
• Less production effort
• High content density possible

Example 1: Infographic (from above) also available as a long version for more information.

Example 2: Video for website, explanation of the main menu.

Video planning for 1 year

In the past, you would probably have needed a whole month of production for a year’s worth of videos. Studio, videographers, editors, protagonists – everything had to be coordinated. Today, with AI, you can implement a complete annual plan in much less time. Especially if you already have experience, it’s extremely fast. After more than ten years of brand development and content production at the agency, we know which processes are important – and that’s exactly what AI accelerates. Experience multiplies with technology. The end result is an output that would have previously consumed many times more resources.

• Month production vs. days with AI
• Experience + AI = speed
• Scalable annual plan possible

Content nach Keyword Plan (YouTube SEO)

Own video avatars: That’s me!

AI avatars are an exciting experiment. Yes, that’s me – in digital form. We have launched a test project to show how detailed you can create videos in the field of real estate investment or marketing with your own avatar. The result is amazingly close to reality. Voice, gestures, expression – everything looks authentic. You can see it here in Vibe Coding and further down, here in the post!

Of course, this saves time because I don’t have to invest an hour of production every time. An avatar can be created once and then used as often as you like.

Of course, this technology also has its limits. Video editing remains manual work, AI doesn’t do that yet. But if you have little time or want to create additional content, avatars are a great option.

And very important: recycle content

It gets particularly exciting when you recycle existing content: a blog post or SEO article can be cast in video form without you having to step in front of the camera yourself. This opens new doors for anyone who has previously worked more text-based and now wants to conquer video as a channel.

• Avatar saves production time
• Can be used multiple times
• Ideal for content recycling

Here is an example of mine:

AI videos as a game changer? Yes. Yes. And yes!

AI videos are more than just a short-term trend. They are changing how we think and implement content. Shorts and reels for quick attention, explainer videos for more in-depth content, avatars for efficiency and brand building – anything is possible. The key is not in the tool itself, but in the way you use it. Good planning, clear goals, well thought-out editorial and keyword strategies make all the difference. Then AI won’t become a toy, but a real game changer for your marketing.

• Short formats for reach
• Explanatory videos for depth
• Avatars for efficiency

Insight! Vibe coding with AI

Vibe coding with AI – There is now a term for what I do: vibe coding. It describes the way you work with AI tools without having to do any hardcore programming yourself. AI in coding opens up completely new possibilities – from web development to apps, games and marketing calculators. Today I’ll show you what vibe coding means, what problems it solves and how I’ve implemented over 100 of my own tools in the last few months – from real estate apps to fashion brand quizzes. Let’s go!

• Vibe coding with AI

Veo 3 Fast for fast social campaigns

KI Smalltalk mit Stephan Czaja (Co-Owner)

ChatGPT, or more precisely OpenAI, was ahead for a long time with Sora, but then came Google Veo 3.

In marketing, seconds often count. With Veo 3 Fast, clips can be created extremely quickly without any major loss of quality. Perfect for A/B tests for ads, quick reactions to trends or social media posts in the style of TikTok or Instagram Reels. This makes AI a real competitive advantage in everyday content creation.

• Clips only 8 seconds long
• Particularly fast generation
• Optimal for ads and social media
• Suitable for A/B tests

The most important links:

• Click here to go to Google Veo 3

Video length is 8 seconds each

If you want to make longer films (more on this in a moment), you will need patience, as each video export is only 8 seconds long.

Demos and example with Veo 3

Here you can see various demos and examples with Veo 3.

Clip + Clip + Clip = movie with Veo 3

A movie made with Google Veo 3:

Do you want to use state of the art AI? Our marketing agency will help you to use the latest AI trends and tools efficiently for your store. Write to us or give us a call: Contact.

Standard model for the highest quality

Those who value depth of detail should opt for the standard model. This produces scenes with finely tuned lighting, realistic movements and better composition. This version is the first choice for branding campaigns, image films or more elaborate explanatory videos. Quality takes precedence over speed here.

• Realistic scenes and lighting moods
• Finer picture quality
• Recommended for branding and storytelling

Picture-to-video for creative effects

Now Google is going one step further. Images can be automatically transformed into short clips. This allows marketers to bring existing assets such as product photos or logos into motion and generate creative animations. Ideal for campaigns that want to refresh existing material or adapt it for different platforms.

• Turn photos into animated clips
• New use of existing assets
• Public preview from August

Integration and workflows

The strength of Veo 3 also lies in its integration. The technology is ready for immediate use via Vertex AI and tools such as Canva. Over 70 million videos have already been created with it, including more than 6 million for companies. With SynthID watermarking, AI content is clearly marked – an important step towards transparency in marketing.

• Can be used directly in Vertex AI
• Seamless integration with Canva
• SynthID ensures traceability

Planning remains crucial

Even though Veo 3 brings enormous speed, it is no substitute for planning. As with classic productions for YouTube, Instagram or TikTok, a clear goal, an editorial plan and a keyword plan are the basis for successful campaigns. Only by combining strategy and technology can AI unfold its full potential.

• Strategy remains indispensable
• Keyword plan for reach
• Editorial plan for consistency

Good planning is half viral! Here are some practical tips:

Tip, read the tips here: AI prompts for VEO 3

AI videos as a marketing standard

Google Veo 3 shows where the journey is heading: fast clips for social media, high-quality productions for branding and creative animations from images. For agencies and brands, the model is a tool that reduces costs, speeds up processes and enables new formats. Those who integrate AI into their planning today will have a clear head start tomorrow.

• Quick clips for social media
• High-quality videos for branding
• New formats with picture-to-video

What comes next?

Veo 3 is not the end, but the beginning. Models will be longer, more detailed and more flexible. Voices and avatars will become more realistic and workflows even more automated. For marketers, this means: get started now, gain experience and optimize processes. Because AI video production (as well as AI product photos for e-commerce) will become as commonplace in the coming years as social media is today.

• Longer and more realistic clips
• Seamless integration into marketing workflows
• Starting early gives you a head start

Who is better? Veo 3 vs Sora

Finally, a direct comparison: Sora from OpenAI vs Google Veo 3.

Short clips with a strong effect

KI Update mit Stephan Czaja (Co-Owner)

Sora creates videos up to 20 seconds long in 1080p. That sounds short, but it’s enough for ads, product presentations or social media posts. These formats are particularly effective on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram or YouTube Shorts. This allows campaigns to be launched more quickly, trends to be picked up on and target groups to be reached precisely.

• Clips up to 20 seconds
• Optimal for TikTok, Reels & Shorts
• Perfect for product ads

Branding and storytelling with Sora

Anyone who values brand building will benefit from Sora’s ability to create scenes with realistic composition, lighting moods and movement. This makes it possible to produce image films, short story formats or branding campaigns that create closeness to the brand and look professional – even without a large camera team.

• Realistic scenes for image films
• Visually strengthen brand messages
• Storytelling without filming costs

Picture-to-video for creative effects

A powerful feature of Sora is the conversion of images into videos. Logos, product photos or key visuals can be animated and set in motion. This is an efficient method of repurposing existing material, especially for campaigns with many assets.

• Turn images into animated clips
• Get more from existing assets
• Creative animations for campaigns

Demos here:

Use in performance marketing

Performance marketing is all about speed and testing. Sora can be used to generate different ad variants that can be used for A/B testing. This allows marketers to react more quickly to data and translate creative ideas directly into measurable campaigns.

• Produce ads faster
• A/B tests with variants
• Faster optimization of campaigns

Integration into marketing workflows

OpenAI offers Sora as an API. In conjunction with ChatGPT or DALL-E, workflows are created that seamlessly combine text, image and video. This makes the entire content production process – from the script to the storyboard to the finished clip – digitalized and scalable.

• API-first for automation
• Can be combined with ChatGPT & DALL-E
• Scalable processes for agencies

Strategy remains indispensable

As powerful as the technology is, nothing works without planning, even with Sora. A clear editorial plan, target group analysis and keyword strategy remain the basis of every successful campaign. Only when technology and strategy work together does AI unfold its full effect.

• Strategy + AI = success
• Keyword plan for reach
• Editorial plan for consistency

AI videos as a marketing standard

Sora shows how content production is changing: short, realistic clips for social media, creative animations from images and branding campaigns in cinema quality. Those who integrate these possibilities today will benefit from lower costs, greater reach and a clear competitive advantage tomorrow.

• Cost savings for productions
• New formats for social media
• A head start for early adopters

Sora can already do that:

Outlook: What’s coming with Sora 2?

The next stage of development is on the horizon: longer videos, better audio quality and more realistic avatars. For marketers, this means gaining experience early, optimizing workflows and being ready for the next generation of AI videos.

• Longer clips in the future
• Better voices and sound
• Starting early gives you a head start

Sora vs Google Veo 3

Finally, a direct comparison: Sora from OpenAI vs Google Veo 3.

Discord: The communication center

First, let’s take a look at both systems if you are not yet familiar with Discord or YouTube in detail or do not use them for your marketing.

Discord is a free communication platform that was originally developed for gamers. It enables text, voice and video chats and offers server-based structures on which users can interact with each other. These servers can contain different channels for different topics, allowing for organized and specialized communication. Discord has now established itself beyond the gaming community and is used by a wide range of interest groups, including educational groups, study groups and social clubs.

5 advantages of Discord for marketers

1. Communication platform for text, voice and video chats
2. Popular with gamers and communities
3. Offers server and topic-specific channels
4. Supports bots and integrations
5. Free of charge, with premium options (Discord Nitro)

YouTube: The number one video platform

YouTube is the world’s largest video content platform, allowing users to upload, watch and share videos. It is particularly popular with content creators and brands and offers a wide range of content, from tutorials to vlogs and music videos. YouTube offers numerous features such as live streams, premiere videos and monetization options to support content creators.

5 advantages of YouTube for marketers

1. Largest platform for video content
2. High engagement through subscriptions, likes and comments
3. Popular with all age groups
4. Easy access to influencers and content creators
5. Wide range of advertising options, including video ads

Now to the question: What to do?

Discord vs YouTube: Which one suits you better?

Both platforms offer unique opportunities for marketing, but which one is right for you? Here are some considerations:

Target group – Fact 1

If your target audience is mainly gamers, educational groups or special interest groups, Discord is the better choice. However, if you want to reach a broader audience interested in video content, YouTube is ideal.

Content type – Fact 2

Discord is ideal for building communities, regular interactions and in-depth discussions. YouTube, on the other hand, is perfect for longer, visual content, tutorials and creative videos. For companies, the question arises as to whether the lengthy setup is worth it compared to direct YouTube video marketing or YouTube ads.

Commitment – Fact 3

Discord provides a platform for continuous engagement through chats and regular events. YouTube enables high engagement through subscriptions, comments and livestreams.

Advertising opportunities – Fact 4

Discord offers partnerships, sponsorship and creative advertising opportunities through bots. YouTube offers a variety of advertising formats, including video ads, sponsored content and partnerships with content creators.

Conclusion: using both platforms effectively

Why not use both platforms to get the best of both worlds? Use Discord to build an engaged community and interact regularly with your users. Use YouTube to create longer, creative videos and reach a wider audience. With these tips, you can use Discord and YouTube effectively for your marketing and build a strong presence on both platforms.

However, I tend to lean towards YouTube Marketing if you don’t have an explicit reason for using Discord.

What to do? Let us analyze your company and find your strategy. Write and or call: Contact

4 Advantages of AI avatars and automated video creation

4 advantages at a glance, then to the AI avatar guide with HeyGen(AI tool).

Efficiency: Produce in a fraction of the time

Creating videos can often be tedious and costly. AI avatars allow you to produce high-quality content in a fraction of the time. Enter text, adjust settings and the system creates a finished video.

Personalization: Digital twin

AI avatars can be customized to match your ideal online persona. You can customize the look, voice and even the language of your avatar to build a stronger connection with your audience.

Accessibility: Even if you’re not a natural in front of the camera

Not everyone is a natural in front of the camera. AI avatars offer an excellent alternative for those who want to share their ideas without being in the spotlight themselves.

Cost savings: Without camera, equipment, …

Purchasing equipment and booking studios can quickly become expensive. With AI avatars, these costs are eliminated, making it a budget-friendly solution. Compared to a set up YouTube studio, significantly 1) cheaper and 2) faster.

HeyGen guide: A look at the practice

HeyGen is a specialized service that uses these technologies to allow users to quickly and easily create videos with AI avatars. Although there are some limitations in terms of natural representation of human emotions, HeyGen still provides an impressive platform to create digital content effectively and efficiently.

Example video: This is what an AI avatar with HeyGen looks like

Harness the power of AI avatars and boost your presence online – it couldn’t be easier!

Explanatory videos made easy

Explainer videos are a powerful tool for presenting complicated concepts in a simple and understandable way. AI-powered tools can automate this process and help you quickly create professional videos that inform and engage your target audience.

Use on social media for more reach and leads!

By using AI avatars in your videos, you can reach a larger and more diverse audience on social media channels such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Videos with AI avatars are often unique and innovative, which increases the likelihood of them being shared and going viral – a fantastic way to expand your reach and generate more leads.

More tips:

• Explanatory videos

YouTube Roadmap: From Workshop to Strategy

So the YouTube roadmap and our strategy brings a clear line to their social or YouTube marketing.

In order for such a roadmap to emerge, we go into a workshop together with our customers. Here we get to know you, your brand, your target group(s) and your products. In return, you get to know our agency, its services and values:

• What is the format of our own produced videos?
• What is the content and structure of the videos?
• With what regularity are videos published on YouTube?
• How to optimize the positioning of the videos and the YouTube channel?
• How can you get more reach?
• How do you build an active community for a company?

The strategy is thus determined and is constantly optimized in the daily work by means of reporting and monitoring. A well-harmonized YouTube agency is therefore worth a lot. Because this is how the most creative ideas and the best concepts for your company emerge.

Target groups: Awareness, buyers, employees & co.

It is also about target groups, but also very close stakeholders (definition of stakeholder: Person for whom it is of concern how a certain company behaves due to their interests) from the press to employees. Who is close to the company and why? Who has no previous contact with the company, or the brand? The more understanding there is about your brand and your services, the better the following step can be organized on the way to fulfilling social media goals.

Your gain: visibility and brand awareness

In the operational business, you will achieve the following benefits for your company through YouTube marketing:

1. brand recognition (brand awareness)

YouTube is great as a branding channel, especially since the dwell time is so long (most brand videos are between 8 and 10 minutes long; in general, the average is 12 minutes)

2. increasing reach through strategy

Regular, pre-planned content ensures a significant increase in views and fans on your own YouTube channel

3. targeted advertising (interests, age, etc.)

Targeted advertising in the run-up to other, topic-relevant videos in order to direct specific interested parties to your own offer

4. higher visibility in the long run

YouTube belongs to Google, accordingly you achieve a double effect through strategic YouTube marketing. A higher visibility on YouTube and additionally also in Google, as the largest search engine in the world.

A good video will be clicked and watched for years!

Behind the brand awareness for one’s own brand is also the conversion, the sale.

YouTube as a search engine

Did you know… YouTube is (after Google itself) the largest search engine in the world. Whether tutorials, videos for beginners or experts but also Talks and Follow Me Around videos. Mankind informs itself on YouTube. Accordingly, you need to plan your content.

Below, we will further inform you about the process of a YouTube strategy.

You want to start YouTube marketing now? We advise you: Contact

Competitive analysis and definition of objectives

Competitive analysis plays a central role not only in YouTube marketing, the analyses and consideration of the competition are a central component in a marketing strategy.

In particular, the lessons that can be learned from the mistakes, but also from the successes of others, are of great value for one’s own channel. Some people are lucky; there are only a few competing offers. In other industries, for example in beauty, or even fashion, the competition is very big, just by thousands of bloggers who publish content for free. By getting to know the channels of competitors, as well as bloggers and brands, gaps can be found that can be filled with your own content. The more precise the niche is, of course, in simultaneous flow with sufficient reach, the easier it will be to achieve a good placement on YouTube. Regularity also plays a big role. That is precisely why it is especially important with competitors to look at the amount and frequency of releases. A very simple strategy for YouTube would be, for example:

• Make content 10% longer
• Publish 10% more often

Such simple objectives and much more complex ones are set based on the analysis of one’s own company, but also of the competition. Goals are divided into different priorities, community building and regular publications are at the top. The goals are then packaged into concrete work plans, e.g. in the editorial plan but also in the production plan.

Theme tree and strategy

YouTube strategy includes not only the own channel, as well as the publications, but of course also the content production (more on that in a moment). For video productions, the better the planning, the less the effort. For video productions, not only must the content be planned very precisely, but often different parts are produced on the same day. This planning of film and production requires a lot of experience. Experience is needed in pre-production, but also in post-production of the videos. So the organization goes from the video content, to the video equipment, to the post-editing of the videos. Post-production does not only include editing, but also animations (from animated GIFs to special effects), banners with names, logos as watermarks, objects, graphics and videos in the video.

Competitive analysis and goals summarized:

• By looking at the competition, you can see many mistakes and successes that you can use for your own channel
• If you keep an eye on the competition, you can discover gaps in the industry
• If you look at the regularity of your competitors’ postings, you can quickly develop a strategy aimed at more content

Thanks to the defined goals and strategy, the videos are now published regularly based on the editorial schedule, e.g. every Sunday at 5 pm. Then on Monday, all comments are immediately answered by social media managers. The perfect system for their videos and YouTube marketing!

After the goals, strategy and content production, it then comes down to video optimization.

Optimize your own YouTube channel

Why should you optimize YouTube videos? YouTube belongs to Google and at Google you surely already apply the term search engine. At Google in particular even to the biggest search engine in the world. YouTube belongs to Google and also YouTube uses an on-page search to find videos. This search algorithm is very important for companies and also utilities, because it decides which videos appear on top and which do not. As you can see from this heatmap, when it comes to search engines, everything is focused on the top rankings. It’s the same with Google. Here, too, the videos at number one, over 90% are clicked.

YouTube advertising: run ads

Reach doesn’t happen on its own (especially for businesses) on YouTube. Now let’s get to the core of increasing reach on YouTube: YouTube Ads.

YouTube Ads on youtube.com

YouTube Ads in the app

Example: Targeted advertising = No money wasted

Paid reach defines the targeted distribution of videos to specific people in a target group for our predetermined budget. Especially for channels that have just started, it is worth thinking about paid reach and advertising. Because, videos are relatively expensive to produce. If you don’t have any followers at the beginning, that is, people who follow you, your video will reach only a few people. Of course, you don’t want that, so it’s worth thinking about advertising!

How much does advertising on YouTube cost? More on this in a moment, with calculation and example.

As a rule, you can roughly orient yourself on the fact that the impression and click prices do not differ significantly from the values of Google AdWords, for example. This means that you not only create landing pages for search engines like Google, but also individual landing pages for your YouTube visitors & clicks.

The collected traffic, then send to a special landing page (to the offer)

Why do landing pages differ?

Usability is one of the big keywords, especially in online marketing and landing pages. The better our online offer is optimized for our target group, the more success it will have. A very simple example would be the following, our offer adresses a special niche audience.

Let’s take solar systems as a best practice example. From our target group analysis, we know that, as a rule, only house builders (target group 1) will deal with this topic who will soon be investing in their own new building, target group number 2 are existing houses that are to be converted, and target group number 3 are craftsmen and tradesmen who want to find out about technical innovations or other products.

Clear offer after the user clicks:

Key figures: KPI (Key Performance Indicator)

Many of our clients have been asking us more and more frequently over the last two or three years, how does influencer marketing actually work?

CPC (click price) & Co. – What does a sale cost?

Influencer marketing is becoming more and more relevant because there are channels that reach target groups extremely precisely, e.g. for a specific topic like “real estate” or “perfume”. If these channels reach 500,000 people or even a million people who are interested in a certain topic because they have followed the channel on their own, this is an excellent placement opportunity. Let’s calculate the click prices, e.g. through search engine optimization, and put them into perspective.

Tip! With our CPC calculator you can also quickly calculate your campaigns.

CPC calculation

Through search engine advertising:

• Click price “perfume” at 63 cents, 10,000 online store visitors cost accordingly 6,300 €.
• CPC (click price): 63.0 cents

On YouTube:

• YouTube video for 10.000 €, 14.000 online store visitors
• CPC: 71.4 cents

Formula for the CPC

CPC = Cost / Visitor

Accordingly, we need 12% more budget for our influencer campaign. Theoretically, of course, we would now stay with our SEO campaign. Because in addition to the pure advertising costs, there are the additional organizational costs. With a good SEO campaign, there is hardly any effort.

Influencer = Reach + Image (not only CPC)

Of course, sales are even more relevant in the end. If you compare these two values, you can quickly see which campaign was more effective for you in the end – just as with the CPC price. Based on this, you can now make a decision. However, when it comes to influencer marketing, we still have to emphasize that it’s not just the pure click price, but also the positive brand image.

The image transfer from the influencer with all its positive facets, which he or she has for his or her community, also benefits their brand. That’s why some customers no longer book models for photo shoots, but instead book influencers directly. Double added value! Therefore, remember that with influencer marketing, you also get the positive image of the blogger on top.

Contacting influencers, planning as well as analyses but also calculations, for all these tasks you need the right partner, the right YouTube agency. If you want to take the first step, we are looking forward to your inquiry via email or phone.