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How to automate your video post-production tasks

By Nick Moore · June 8, 2020
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Though it takes time and resources to produce a good video, that effort helps you stand out. An engaging video on Twitter could be widely shared, and a YouTube series could generate traffic for years to come. The key is making sure you get returns for the investment you make and save time where possible.

Don't waste time on the tedious tasks associated with archiving, promoting, or transcribing your video pieces. Set up some automated workflows—we call them Zaps—that make your tools work together. With your actions automated, you can focus on making the best video content to help your brand stand out.

We've included some pre-made Zaps—what we call Zap templates—throughout this piece to get you started. Just click on the button, and we'll guide you through customizing it. It only takes a few minutes. You can read more about setting up Zaps here.

Automatically upload to and from your archive

We all know archiving is necessary—who wants to lose hours of footage and the hard work of numerous people? But actually doing the uploading is tedious, repetitive, and, more often than not, entirely manual.

But archiving doesn't have to be a pain point. Automation can turn your archival tool of choice into an efficient, effective part of your video content toolbox.

Use these automated workflows to upload or link your content to a cloud storage service as soon as you finish it.

Add YouTube videos matching searches to Dropbox text files

Add YouTube videos matching searches to Dropbox text files
  • YouTube logo
  • Dropbox logo
YouTube + Dropbox

Upload files to MediaSilo Legacy and create copies in Dropbox

Upload files to MediaSilo Legacy and create copies in Dropbox
  • MediaSilo Legacy logo
  • Dropbox logo
MediaSilo Legacy + Dropbox

You can even reverse this process and start with the archiving step. If security is your top priority, use these automated workflows instead. Upload to your archival service first, and have your automated workflow handle the publishing process.

Upload new Dropbox files to YouTube as videos

Upload new Dropbox files to YouTube as videos
  • Dropbox logo
  • YouTube logo
Dropbox + YouTube

Upload new Google Drive videos to YouTube

Upload new Google Drive videos to YouTube
  • Google Drive logo
  • YouTube logo
Google Drive + YouTube

Upload Wistia videos from new Dropbox files

Upload Wistia videos from new Dropbox files
  • Dropbox logo
  • Wistia logo
Dropbox + Wistia

Automatically upload videos to Wistia from Google Drive

Automatically upload videos to Wistia from Google Drive
  • Google Drive logo
  • Wistia logo
Google Drive + Wistia

Share and cross-promote your content automatically

After putting hours into your video or playlist, the last thing you want to do is spend precious time posting it on every social media channel. Your time is better spent on content. Let automation handle all the uploading.

Use these workflows to send video content to your social media pages instantly, so your followers can find your work as soon as it's ready.

Send new YouTube videos in a channel to a Facebook Page

Send new YouTube videos in a channel to a Facebook Page
  • YouTube logo
  • Facebook Pages logo
YouTube + Facebook Pages

Post your new Vimeo videos on your Facebook Page

Post your new Vimeo videos on your Facebook Page
  • Vimeo logo
  • Facebook Pages logo
Vimeo + Facebook Pages

You can also automatically post videos to your website, saving you the work of creating a new post every time.

Create WordPress posts from new YouTube videos

Create WordPress posts from new YouTube videos
  • YouTube logo
  • WordPress logo
YouTube + WordPress

Post your new Vimeo videos on WordPress

Post your new Vimeo videos on WordPress
  • Vimeo logo
  • WordPress logo
Vimeo + WordPress

Post your new Cincopa videos on WordPress

Post your new Cincopa videos on WordPress
  • Cincopa logo
  • WordPress logo
Cincopa + WordPress

Pressing upload on a video, however, doesn't have to mean you share it at the same time. For instance, a gym might want to encourage its audience with #MondayMotivation videos. Those videos are a whole lot less effective if they go out on Tuesday or Wednesday. Instead of waiting to manually upload videos on Monday, let automation schedule them for you.

These automated workflows send your videos to social media management tools like Buffer. That way, you can create a slew of #MondayMotivation videos at once, upload them, and schedule them weeks ahead. One upfront time investment pays off with weeks of perfectly timed content.

Add new YouTube videos to Buffer

Add new YouTube videos to Buffer
  • YouTube logo
  • Buffer logo
YouTube + Buffer

Add new YouTube videos to your Edgar content library

Add new YouTube videos to your Edgar content library
  • YouTube logo
  • MeetEdgar logo
YouTube + MeetEdgar

Post new Youtube videos to your social networks with Hootsuite

Post new Youtube videos to your social networks with Hootsuite
  • YouTube logo
  • Hootsuite logo
YouTube + Hootsuite

To give your content the first initial promotion spike it needs, get your team involved. When you publish a new video, your teammates should be the first people sharing and commenting. The right encouragement, paired with tools that make it easy, can turn your teammates into social media ambassadors. They can interact with commenters, share the videos on their personal accounts, and give your content a human touch.

Integrate your video publishing tools with your communication tools, so your team knows to promote every piece of content as it's published.

Send new YouTube videos in a channel to Slack

Send new YouTube videos in a channel to Slack
  • YouTube logo
  • Slack logo
YouTube + Slack

Send notifications via Gmail for new YouTube channel videos

Send notifications via Gmail for new YouTube channel videos
  • YouTube logo
  • Gmail logo
YouTube + Gmail

Send new Slack messages for new videos on your Vimeo account

Send new Slack messages for new videos on your Vimeo account
  • Vimeo logo
  • Slack logo
Vimeo + Slack

Send emails through Gmail for new Vimeo videos you publish

Send emails through Gmail for new Vimeo videos you publish
  • Vimeo logo
  • Gmail logo
Vimeo + Gmail

Share new Wistia visitors via Gmail messages

Share new Wistia visitors via Gmail messages
  • Wistia logo
  • Gmail logo
Wistia + Gmail

Transcribe your videos automatically

Transcribing your videos is not only necessary to make sure your content is accessible, but it can also boost its performance by making it more SEO-friendly. Since video content doesn't have text that Google can crawl, it can be more difficult to rank on keywords related to your video topic. A video transcript can make it easier for Google—and your readers—to understand what the video is about.

If you regularly transcribe your videos, you likely work with a transcription app or service. Setting up automated workflows between your transcription app and the other tools you use can help you streamline your entire transcription production process.

Start off by automatically submitting new videos to your transcription app with one of these workflows:

Create Rev transcription orders from new Dropbox files

Create Rev transcription orders from new Dropbox files
  • Dropbox logo
  • Rev logo
Dropbox + Rev

Create Trint transcriptions from new Twilio recordings

Create Trint transcriptions from new Twilio recordings
  • Twilio logo
  • Trint logo
Twilio + Trint

Upload new Google Drive files to Trint

Upload new Google Drive files to Trint
  • Google Drive logo
  • Trint logo
Google Drive + Trint

Create Descript transcript from new OneDrive files

Create Descript transcript from new OneDrive files
  • OneDrive logo
  • Descript logo
OneDrive + Descript

With a paid Zapier plan you can also set up a multi-step Zap. This more advanced workflow allows you to automatically add your video to YouTube and send it to your transcription service when you add a new video to Google Drive.

Once you receive your transcripts, you can also automatically save them wherever you store your content.

Save new Rev transcripts in Dropbox

Save new Rev transcripts in Dropbox
  • Rev logo
  • Dropbox logo
Rev + Dropbox

Save new Descript transcripts to Google Docs

Save new Descript transcripts to Google Docs
  • Descript logo
  • Google Docs logo
Descript + Google Docs

Create Evernote notes for new Trint transcripts

Create Evernote notes for new Trint transcripts
  • Trint logo
  • Evernote logo
Trint + Evernote

Upload finished Temi transcripts to Dropbox

Upload finished Temi transcripts to Dropbox
  • Temi logo
  • Dropbox logo
Temi + Dropbox

Once you've sent in your video for transcription and gotten it back, you also need to do something with it. Get alerted in your team's chat app or by email, so you know the transcript is completed and ready to add to a blog post or the video's description.

Send a Slack channel message when a Trint transcript is ready

Send a Slack channel message when a Trint transcript is ready
  • Trint logo
  • Slack logo
Trint + Slack

Send outbound emails when Descript transcripts are ready

Send outbound emails when Descript transcripts are ready
  • Descript logo
  • Email by Zapier logo
Descript + Email by Zapier

Get a Slack message when Temi finishes transcribing your files

Get a Slack message when Temi finishes transcribing your files
  • Temi logo
  • Slack logo
Temi + Slack

Get Slack notifications for new Sonix transcripts

Get Slack notifications for new Sonix transcripts
  • Sonix logo
  • Slack logo
Sonix + Slack

Video integrations make your tools work harder

Your video content will only reach its potential if people can see and interact with it. Zapier ensures that your audience and your team can easily stay up to date—all without your manual effort. With these automated workflows, you can get much greater returns with far less work.

Related reading

  • Popular ways to automate your Descript video tasks

  • The best free video editing software

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A Zap with the trigger 'When I get a new lead from Facebook,' and the action 'Notify my team in Slack'