Different goals require different strategies - one video can’t do everything

I originally worked as a journalist before moving into a more strategic and product-focused position about four and a half years ago.

Today I'm responsible for video, audio and social media strategy across several regional news brands within our publishing group. My role combines editorial, technical and commercial responsibilities. On the audio side, I oversee the technical infrastructure, advise editorial teams on podcast strategy and support new podcast development.

With social media, each newsroom has its own editorial teams, while I focus more on strategy, technology, analytics and business development. I also lead a small video production team responsible for videos for our own platforms, livestreams and commercial partnerships. That means my work ranges from editorial planning to technical implementation, budgeting and negotiating content partnerships.

One of the biggest changes at the Rheinische Post has been organisational. Previously we had separate teams: one producing social video and another producing landscape videos for our own websites. Today those teams work much more closely together. They share research, scripts and ideas because the same story can often be adapted for multiple formats and platforms.

We've also invested much more heavily in video within our own products. We added a dedicated vertical video feed on our website and app because we realised these videos shouldn't exist only on social media - it should also be part of our owned experience.

Perhaps the biggest strategic shift, though, is that we no longer want to start by asking "What video format should we produce?" Instead, we want to ask "What's the best way to tell this story for this audience and this platform?"

Ideally we'd tailor every story differently for TikTok, Instagram and our own website. In reality, resources often make that impossible, but strategically that's where we'd like to go.

Overall, video has become much more central to everything we do than it was when I joined the company.

Definitely more short-form. Most of our videos - whether vertical or horizontal - are around 90 seconds long, sometimes 120 seconds. That's become our standard for everyday production.

We still invest in longer formats, particularly livestreams and special productions, but they serve a different purpose.

For us, short-form is primarily about reach, engagement and advertising revenue. Long-form is much more closely connected to subscriptions. Those are two different business objectives, so they require different kinds of video.

We don't see video as simply repeating what's already in a written article. Especially on our own platforms, we try to add another layer of understanding.

For example, during the beginning of the war in Ukraine people constantly heard terms like SWIFT or NATO, but we couldn't explain those concepts in every article. Instead, we produced standalone explainer videos answering questions people were likely to search for.

Those evergreen explainers have a much longer lifespan than breaking news videos, which also makes them a more efficient investment for a small team.

When we first started, we tried producing videos directly from daily news articles, but by the time the video was finished, many readers had already consumed the story. Creating reusable explanatory content proved much more valuable.