Social Media Content Pipeline

Automate social media video creation end-to-end. Use the HeyGen API to convert posts, articles, and product feeds into avatar videos sized for every platform.

Examples

These were generated with Video Agent from a text prompt — no camera, no editing, no mic.

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The Problem

Creating consistent social media video content requires a camera, microphone, editing skills, and hours of time per video. Most teams can’t keep up with the pace platforms demand — daily or weekly posts across TikTok, Reels, and Shorts.

How It Works

Choose topics → Write prompts → Batch generate videos → Post

You define the topics and tone. Video Agent handles avatar selection, scripting, visuals, and rendering. Generate a week’s worth of content in one run.

Build It

1. Choose your topics

   You can source topics manually, from trending data, or from audience research. Here’s an example batch of 5 topics for a SaaS marketing account:

   topics = [
       "Why your onboarding flow is losing users in the first 60 seconds",
       "The 3 metrics every SaaS founder checks before coffee",
       "Stop building features nobody asked for — do this instead",
       "Your pricing page is broken and here's the proof",
       "The hiring mistake that kills startups faster than bad code",
   ]
   

   Use an LLM for topic research. Ask Claude or ChatGPT: “Give me 10 trending topics in [your niche] that would perform well as 30-second TikToks.” You can also use web search APIs to find what’s trending right now.

2. Write prompts optimized for short-form

   Short-form video has a specific structure: hook → content → CTA, all in under 60 seconds. Your prompts should reflect this.

   def build_prompt(topic):
       return f"""Create a 30-second vertical video (portrait orientation) for TikTok/Reels.
   
   Topic: {topic}
   
   Structure:
   - Hook (0-5s): Open with a bold, scroll-stopping statement or question.
   - Content (5-25s): Deliver 2-3 punchy insights. Fast pacing, one idea
     every 5-7 seconds. Use text overlays for key points.
   - CTA (25-30s): End with a clear call-to-action.
   
   Tone: Casual and energetic, like talking to a friend who's also in the industry.
   Orientation: portrait.
   """
   
   prompts = [build_prompt(t) for t in topics]
   

   See Prompt Engineering for more techniques — especially the scene-by-scene structure for longer videos.

3. Batch generate with rate limit handling

   Submit all videos to Video Agent. Space them out to respect rate limits.

   import requests
   import time
   
   HEYGEN_API_KEY = "your-api-key"
   video_ids = []
   
   for i, prompt in enumerate(prompts):
       resp = requests.post(
           "https://api.heygen.com/v3/video-agents",
           headers={
               "X-Api-Key": HEYGEN_API_KEY,
               "Content-Type": "application/json",
           },
           json={
               "prompt": prompt,
               "orientation": "portrait",
           },
       )
       data = resp.json()["data"]
       video_ids.append(data["video_id"])
       print(f"[{i+1}/{len(prompts)}] Submitted: {data['video_id']}")
   
       # Wait between submissions to avoid rate limits
       if i < len(prompts) - 1:
           time.sleep(5)
   
   print(f"\nAll {len(video_ids)} videos submitted.")
   
4. Poll for completion

   Wait for all videos to finish rendering.

   import time
   
   def poll_videos(video_ids):
       results = {}
       pending = set(video_ids)
   
       while pending:
           for vid in list(pending):
               resp = requests.get(
                   f"https://api.heygen.com/v3/videos/{vid}",
                   headers={"X-Api-Key": HEYGEN_API_KEY},
               )
               data = resp.json()["data"]
   
               if data["status"] == "completed":
                   results[vid] = data["video_url"]
                   pending.discard(vid)
                   print(f"Completed: {vid}")
               elif data["status"] == "failed":
                   results[vid] = None
                   pending.discard(vid)
                   print(f"Failed: {vid} — {data.get('failure_message')}")
   
           if pending:
               print(f"Waiting... {len(pending)} still rendering")
               time.sleep(15)
   
       return results
   
   results = poll_videos(video_ids)
   

   For production pipelines, use webhooks instead of polling. Pass a callback_url in each creation request and handle notifications as they arrive.

5. Download and distribute

   Download all completed videos, then post to your platforms.

   import os
   
   os.makedirs("output", exist_ok=True)
   
   for i, (vid, url) in enumerate(results.items()):
       if url:
           video_data = requests.get(url).content
           filename = f"output/video_{i+1}.mp4"
           with open(filename, "wb") as f:
               f.write(video_data)
           print(f"Saved: {filename}")
   

Platform Optimization

Different platforms have different sweet spots:

Platform	Ideal Duration	Orientation	Tips
TikTok	15–60s	Portrait (9:16)	Strong hook in first 2s, fast pacing
Instagram Reels	15–60s	Portrait (9:16)	Clean visuals, text overlays
YouTube Shorts	15–60s	Portrait (9:16)	Slightly more polished, educational angle
LinkedIn	30–90s	Landscape (16:9)	Professional tone, industry insights

Pass "orientation": "portrait" or "orientation": "landscape" in your API call. See Video Agent docs for all parameters.

Variations

• Themed series: Generate 5 videos on the same topic from different angles (beginner, advanced, myth-busting, case study, hot take)
• Multi-language: Generate in English, then use Video Translation to create versions in other languages
• A/B testing: Generate 2 versions of the same topic with different hooks, measure which performs better

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Next Steps

Prompt Engineering

Write prompts that produce scroll-stopping content.

Content Repurposing

Already have blog content? Turn it into video.