Managing different versions of a marketing video can be a lot of work. You have to edit, export, and organize them for multiple platforms while keeping track of where each iteration is stored to avoid versioning mix-ups. The more videos you have, the more time-consuming and exhausting the process becomes.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to use a digital asset management (DAM) system to create all the video variations you need to test across platforms. Instead of manually editing and sorting each video, you’ll use built-in tools to automatically create platform-specific variations and store them in the proper folders in one step. This will save time, reduce errors, and keep everything organized effortlessly.
A workflow automation tool like MediaFlows byCloudinary can streamline your creative processes. Quickly generate platform-specific video variations, optimize them for different formats, and store them in specific folders in one seamless workflow. This removes the need for manual editing, saving time and effort while keeping everything well-organized.
First, you’ll need to sign up for a free Cloudinary account. Then, access the MediaFlows page by logging into your account and clicking the icon on the left sidebar.
In the next section, we’ll walk through how to create flexible workflows to automate video editing, optimization, and organization across multiple platforms.
MediaFlows allows users to build and automate visual media workflows with a low-code or no-code approach. It has a drag-and-drop interface, integrations with platforms like Shopify, and prebuilt templates for managing visual media at scale.
MediaFlows has two development options:
- EasyFlows is a no-code, natural language interface that lets non-developers automate asset management by setting triggers and actions, reducing manual work while maintaining control over branding, asset expiration, and auto-tagging through a step-by-step workflow builder.
- PowerFlows lets you create step-by-step actions using a set of connective, functional blocks. Each block performs a specific function, and by combining different blocks, you can build a customized workflow that effectively manages your media assets. Compared to EasyFlows, PowerFlows has more trigger options and actions.
To demonstrate how EasyFlows works, you’ll build a workflow triggered every time an asset is uploaded to your Cloudinary account. The workflow will move the uploaded image to a specific folder.
To create a new EasyFlow from the MediaFlows page, click the New EasyFlow option.
Select the When an asset is uploaded option from the list of trigger options. This trigger option specifies that this workflow will automatically run when an asset is uploaded.
Clicking that option will let you select the actions to be taken on the asset when uploaded. You can choose an action by clicking the + Add an action button.
Choose the option to Move the asset to a folder.
Select the folder from your list to which you want to move the asset and save the workflow.
To test this workflow, upload an asset to your Cloudinary Library, and you’ll see that the image is automatically moved to the folder you specified in this workflow.
You can take this workflow further by only triggering it when the asset type is video. To do this, click the + Only if…button under the trigger option card. This will open a set of conditional options. You can select that it should only trigger when the asset type is video and then save the workflow.
This will make sure that only uploaded videos are moved to the “instagram-ads” folder.
You can do this with PowerFlows, except it gives more options to customize a more advanced and complex workflow. In the next section, you’ll see how to use PowerFlows.
Similarly, to demonstrate how PowerFlows works, you’ll build a workflow triggered every time a media asset, such as an image or a video, is uploaded to your Cloudinary account. The workflow will move the uploaded image to a specific folder.
To create a new PowerFlow from the MediaFlows page, click the New PowerFlow tab.
Clicking the button takes you to the PowerFlows page, where you can start building your workflow. Unlike EasyFlows, PowerFlows offers more advanced features and integrations, giving you greater flexibility and control over your media management. It uses a combination of triggers, actions, and custom logic, allowing you to create complex, highly customized workflows tailored to your needs.
Click on the + icon in the left sidebar to see the list of Blocks you can use to build your workflow.
Under each category is a set of blocks you can choose from to build the workflow to the level of complexity that you require.
To build the same workflow as in the last section, follow these steps:
- Under the Cloudinary APIs category, drag the Move To Folder block and link it to the Add To Logs block.
- Open the Move To Folder block and set the following details:
- Set the Use the asset from option to Cloudinary Upload, which ensures the uploaded asset from the Cloudinary Upload block is used in this step.
- Enter the folder name to which you want to move the asset in the Target Folder option.
- Save your changes to the block.
- Click the Save Changes button at the top-right of the page to save your workflow.
- To test your workflow, click the Test button at the top right of the page. This runs your workflow using a test asset, allowing you to see the results in real time. If any adjustments are needed, you can modify the workflow and retest until it works as expected.
To change the settings and configuration of the test asset, click the wheel icon at the far right of the Test button.
Testing the workflow opens a Live Logs panel that shows the workflow results. Any errors encountered while testing the workflow will be logged, and you will know which block has the mistake. You can then fix the error and test again. In the case above, all the blocks passed the test, and the result shows that the test image was moved to the specified folder.
You can improve this workflow by adding a condition that triggers only when the uploaded asset is a video. Then, automatically resize the video to match the required aspect ratios for different platforms and move each version to its designated folder. This is an example of how the workflow will look after this improvement is added.
As shown in the image above, multiple blocks, including the Condition and Duplicate Media blocks, were used to achieve this. PowerFlows offers many more features that allow you to build even more advanced and customized workflows to fit your specific media management needs.
Once you’ve created multiple video variations tailored to different platforms using MediaFlows, the next step is testing their effectiveness. Testing video variations ensures you get the best possible engagement from your marketing efforts.
One platform on which you can effectively test video performance is Instagram. Instagram offers in-depth insights that allow you to analyze various metrics, such as Views and Watch Time, Engagement Rates, Audience Demographics, and Click-Through Rates (CTR).
The video above shows insights into an Instagram video, highlighting key engagement metrics such as watch time, interactions, and audience reach. Analyzing these insights allows you to identify trends and optimize your video content to maximize performance.
Various social media marketing tools, such as Hootsuite, Vidooly, Google Analytics, etc., can help you further analyze asset performance across several platforms using A/B testing.
In this post, we used MediaFlows to simplify video variation testing by automating creative workflows. With EasyFlows, non-technical users can quickly set up visual media automation, while PowerFlows offers advanced customization for more complex workflows.
These tools, alongside marketing platforms like Hootsuite, Vidooly, and Google Analytics, allow marketers to efficiently manage, test, and optimize video content across multiple platforms, leading to faster execution and better performance insights.
Sign up for a free Cloudinary account and try MediaFlows today.
