How to repurpose long-form video content with AI?

The Short Version

Repurposing long-form video with AI means using automation to extract value from your existing content library without hiring editors or spending weeks on manual work. Instead of one YouTube video sitting unused, you can generate dozens of social clips, transcripts, blog posts, and email snippets from a single source. The process typically takes 10-20 minutes of human direction and produces 8-15 distribution-ready assets.

Why This Matters for CMOs

Most marketing teams produce long-form content (webinars, workshops, product demos, thought leadership interviews) that gets uploaded to YouTube and then forgotten. Meanwhile, your audience lives on TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, and email. AI video repurposing tools bridge this gap by automating the extraction and reformatting work that traditionally required a dedicated video editor.

The math: A professional video editor costs $50-150/hour and needs 8-16 hours to repurpose one 60-minute video into multiple formats. AI tools do this in 15 minutes for $0-50 per video.

The AI Video Repurposing Workflow

Step 1: Upload and Transcribe

Start with your long-form video file (MP4, MOV, or direct YouTube link). Use AI transcription tools to generate a complete, timestamped transcript:

• Descript: Transcribes video automatically, lets you edit transcript to fix speaker names and technical terms. $24/month for basic plan.
• Rev: Professional-grade transcription with 99% accuracy. $1.25/minute for AI transcription.
• Opus Clip: Automatically identifies the most engaging 15-30 second segments and creates short-form clips. Free tier available.

The transcript becomes your master content asset—everything else flows from this.

Step 2: AI-Powered Clip Extraction

Instead of manually watching 60 minutes and deciding where to cut, let AI identify the best moments:

• Opus Clip: Analyzes your video and automatically suggests 5-10 viral-worthy clips based on engagement patterns. You approve/reject in 2 minutes.
• Runway: Uses AI to detect scene changes, speaker transitions, and high-energy moments. Exports as vertical video (9:16) for TikTok/Reels.
• Synthesia: Can create AI-generated host introductions for each clip ("Here's the key insight from our 60-minute workshop...").

Pro tip: Vertical video (9:16) gets 3-5x more engagement on social than horizontal. Most AI tools auto-convert.

Step 3: Generate Written Content from Video

Use Claude, ChatGPT, or specialized tools to convert your transcript into multiple formats:

• Blog post: "Here are the 5 key takeaways from our 60-minute workshop"
• LinkedIn article: 3-5 key insights with timestamps linking back to full video
• Email newsletter: "Watch this 2-minute clip, then read the full breakdown"
• Social media captions: Platform-specific copy for each clip (LinkedIn tone vs. TikTok tone)
• Slide deck: Key quotes and data points as presentation slides

Tool options:

• Claude (via API or web): Paste transcript, ask "Create 5 LinkedIn posts from this transcript, each highlighting a different insight." $0.003 per 1K input tokens.
• ChatGPT: Same approach, slightly less nuanced output. $20/month for ChatGPT Plus.
• Descript: Built-in AI writing that generates blog post drafts directly from transcript.

Step 4: Create Captions and Accessibility Assets

AI caption generation is now 99% accurate and includes speaker identification:

• Descript: Auto-generates captions, lets you edit and style them. Exports as SRT file for YouTube/social.
• CapCut: Free AI captions with 15+ language support.
• Rev: Professional captions with speaker labels and 99% accuracy.

Why this matters: Videos with captions get 80% more views on social media (people watch muted). Captions also improve SEO and accessibility.

Step 5: Distribute Across Channels

Once you have your assets, distribution is straightforward:

• YouTube: Full video + captions + description with links to blog post
• TikTok/Instagram Reels: 15-30 second clips (auto-generated by Opus Clip)
• LinkedIn: 60-90 second clips + carousel posts with key quotes
• Email: "Watch this 2-minute highlight" + full blog post
• Website: Embed video + full transcript for SEO
• Podcast: Extract audio, add intro/outro, distribute to Spotify/Apple Podcasts

Real-World Example: Workshop Repurposing

Imagine you run a 60-minute marketing workshop. Here's what AI generates in 20 minutes:

1. 8-10 TikTok/Reels clips (15-30 sec each) — Opus Clip auto-generates
2. 3-5 LinkedIn posts — Claude extracts key insights
3. 1 blog post (1,500-2,000 words) — Descript + Claude
4. 1 email sequence (3 emails) — ChatGPT from transcript
5. Captions file — Descript auto-generates
6. Podcast episode — Extract audio, add intro/outro via Synthesia
7. Slide deck — Key quotes + data points
8. Quote graphics — Use Canva + AI to create 5-10 shareable graphics

Total production time: 20 minutes of human direction. Total cost: $0-50 (depending on tools). Traditional cost: $800-2,400 (8-16 hours × $100/hour editor rate).

Tools Comparison

| Tool | Best For | Cost | Learning Curve |

|------|----------|------|----------------|

| Opus Clip | Auto-generating short clips | Free/$99/mo | 5 minutes |

| Descript | Transcript + editing + writing | $24/mo | 15 minutes |

| Claude | Writing blog posts + captions | $20/mo | 10 minutes |

| CapCut | Free captions + editing | Free | 10 minutes |

| Synthesia | AI host intros + video creation | $25/mo | 20 minutes |

| Runway | Advanced video editing + effects | $12/mo | 30 minutes |

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Mistake 1: Uploading raw video without editing transcript first. AI works better with clean, speaker-labeled transcripts.
• Mistake 2: Using the same clip across all platforms. TikTok clips need different pacing/hooks than LinkedIn clips.
• Mistake 3: Forgetting captions. Muted video viewing is 80% of social consumption.
• Mistake 4: Not linking back to original content. Each clip should drive traffic to full video or blog post.
• Mistake 5: Ignoring SEO. Add timestamps, keywords, and full transcript to YouTube description.

Bottom Line

AI video repurposing transforms long-form content from a one-time asset into a multi-channel content machine. Use Opus Clip for auto-generated clips, Descript for transcription and writing, and Claude for blog posts and social copy. The entire process takes 15-20 minutes and generates 8-15 distribution-ready assets from a single source video. For CMOs managing limited production budgets, this is one of the highest ROI AI applications available today.