How to Make Video Highlight Reels From Your Recordings

Did you just record a webinar, interview, or any other long-form video for your business? Kudos on that! But now you must be wondering how to get folks to watch it. For many businesses, asking your audience to watch long-form videos can be challenging.

Good news, though: People love watching short videos. And you can use that to your advantage. All you’ve gotta do is compile your long-form video’s best parts into a snappy video highlight reel.

And guess what? Making one is easier than you think. Let us show you how!

What is a highlight reel?

A highlight reel is an edited compilation of the most compelling and impactful moments of a longer video. It’s like a teaser trailer that grabs your attention and makes you want to dive into the full video. The ideal length of a highlight reel can vary depending on the specific content and purpose. As a general guideline, most highlight reels range from one to three minutes.

Just like athletes, actors, and filmmakers have been using highlight reels for years to showcase their skills, you too can leverage the power of highlight videos to attract attention to your brand, increase reach and engagement, and drive conversions. Be sure to keep the length relatively short to allow viewers to quickly absorb the essence of the content without feeling overwhelmed or losing interest.

Why you should make a highlight video

A compilation of random clips from a long video doesn’t make a good highlight reel. You need to be strategic in choosing the right moments that strike a chord with viewers. Here are some reasons you might want to make a video highlight reel:

1. Promote a long-form video

When you have a good idea of how you want to promote a long-form video (like a webinar recording), you’ll have a better idea of which clips to choose — and you’ll attract the right audience that will help you reach your goals.

You want your highlight video to entice folks to watch the entire long-form video, but what is the big draw? Do you want the long-form video to establish your brand as a thought leader? Get folks to sign up for your next live event? Turn viewers into customers? Use your marketing goals to shape how you use highlights in your promotion and distribution strategy.

2. Repurpose your long-form video

Highlight reels are a great way to repurpose a video. To attract the right audience with your video highlights, you want to find clips that’ll resonate with them and get them to watch the entire video. A few ideas:

To establish your brand as a thought leader, consider using hot takes on a topic.
To drive registrations for your next live event, focus on the most insightful moments with some funny or entertaining moments sprinkled in.
To turn viewers into customers, choose clips that highlight the key features and benefits of your product.
To establish your brand as an authority in your industry, compile valuable nuggets of information that showcase your expertise.

How to find highlights in a video

Before, you’d have to watch the entire video multiple times, pausing to jot down the time code for each moment you wanted to include in your highlight video. If you fast-forwarded through the video, you’d likely miss out on the best moments and end up underpromoting your video. Talk about a no-win situation.

Now, you can generate time-coded transcripts and identify the best moments by reading the transcript or searching it for keywords. Sure beats pausing, rewinding, and fast-forwarding through the video many times, doesn’t it?

Pro-Tip

When you host your videos on Wistia, you get access to time-coded transcripts. That means when you identify a good moment in the transcript and you want to watch it in the video, just click on the time code to jump to the point in the video.

And that’s not even the most effortless way to compile the best clips for your highlight video. You can automate the process with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). Keep reading to learn more about this exciting new workflow!

How to make a highlight video with AI

Did you know that Wistia has a built-in online video editor with an AI-powered video highlights feature? It takes all the heavy lifting out of creating highlight reels. With a click of a button, it generates a list of the most engaging clips in your video and puts them right on the editing timeline for you.

Want to try it out? Just follow these steps:

Sign up or log in to your Wistia account.
Upload a video or choose an existing media.
Open your video in the video editor.
Select “Find Highlights.”
Let AI work its magic.

Alert

If you don’t see the AI-powered highlights feature in Wistia, you’re most likely on a Legacy plan. All you gotta do is switch to a new plan.

Once Wistia’s done sifting through the most important moments in your video, the editor will display a list of highlights for you to choose from.

Select the clips you want to compile for your highlight reel and select “Open in New Draft.” If you just want to preview the clips in the longer video, choose “Show on Timeline.”

With your clips in the timeline, you can edit the video into the highlight reel masterpiece that every social media manager has only dreamt about.

Where to share your highlight video

When it’s time to share your finished video, export the changes from the editor. Think about where your audience might stumble across your highlight video. It could be on your social media pages, in your email newsletter, or even on your blog or web page.

Remember to keep your goals in mind too. To boost brand exposure, focus on platforms with a large user base. For driving website traffic and generating leads, consider hosting the reel on your own site. And if you’re all about encouraging engagement, go for social platforms with commenting and sharing features.

You can repurpose your highlight reel for social media. Check out this example where we shared a clip from a Talking Too Loud episode on Twitter:

Start making highlight videos with Wistia

With Wistia, finding, compiling, and sharing highlight reels has become a walk in the park. All you gotta do is log in to Wistia, open your video in the editor, and let AI do all the work for you. Don’t have a Wistia account yet? Go ahead and sign up for a free account today!