One launch, three videos: the explainer, the Shorts and the ad
Stop making one-off videos. Write one story about your product and cut it into every format your launch needs.
Most teams make videos one at a time: a demo for the landing page, then months later a “quick TikTok”, then an ad that looks like it came from a different company. Each one starts from a blank page, so each one is expensive.
There’s a better way: write one story, then cut it into formats.
Start with the long version
The long version is where you work out the story: the problem, the turning point, the solution, the result. It can be a 3-10 minute explainer or a 2-minute demo. Either way, it’s the source material for everything else.
When we produced an animated explainer of the book Inspired, the long video had 18 parts. Each part had one idea and one clear lesson at the end. That structure is what made the next step easy.
Then cut Shorts from it
Each self-contained part of the long video can become a Short. You need three changes:
- A hook instead of a title. “Part 3: Two uncomfortable truths” becomes “Half your ideas won’t work.” The first second has to make someone stop scrolling.
- A vertical layout. The scene goes in the middle, big captions underneath, and nothing important near the edges where the app’s buttons sit.
- An end card that points onward. “Follow for part 4” or “Full video on the channel” turns one view into the next.
The 18 parts of that explainer became 18 Shorts of 21-31 seconds each - a month of daily posts from one piece of work, with no extra voice recording.
Then cut ads from the Shorts
Paid social wants even shorter cuts:
- 6 seconds: one hook + logo. Good for awareness.
- 15 seconds: hook, one moment of the product, call to action.
- 30 seconds: a compressed demo.
Because they come from the same story, every ad looks and sounds like the same company - which is exactly what makes people remember you.
Why this works
- Consistency. Same voice, same colours, same characters everywhere.
- Cost. The expensive part - figuring out what to say - happens once.
- Testing. Different hooks on the same content tell you what your audience actually cares about. Keep the winners, retire the rest.
A simple plan for your next launch
| Week | Publish |
|---|---|
| Launch week | Demo on the landing page + Product Hunt, explainer on YouTube |
| Weeks 1-4 | One Short per weekday, in order, each linking to the long video |
| From week 2 | The two best-performing hooks as 15-second ads |
One story. Every channel. That’s the whole trick.