What is process automation?
Process automation uses software and technology to take over complex processes and routine tasks. It’s all about making your business run more smoothly and efficiently, whether you’re creating content, hiring new employees, or delivering great customer service.
In simpler terms, process automation:
- Takes care of repetitive tasks so you can focus on what matters
- Centralises your important information
- Reduces the need for manual work
- Eliminates bottlenecks, cuts down on errors, and protects your data
- Enhances transparency, boosts communication across departments, and speeds up your workflows
Peder Bonnier, CEO and co-founder of Storykit, notes:
“Process automation isn't just about efficiency; it's about transforming the way we work. By automating the repetitive and mundane, we allow teams to focus on what truly matters—creative problem solving and innovation.”
What does process automation mean in terms of video creation?
“All the video your organisation needs to make, made in the most efficient way possible—that’s what process automation in video creation is all about,” says Peder Bonnier.
In other words, video created from pre-existing material without requiring almost any work from a human.
Here’s what that entails:
- One-click video from any platform
- Fully controlled, fully customised output
- No or minimal finishing touches required
- Turn any written content into video
- Your tonality, narratives and core messages built in
- Automatically uses your assets and guidelines for on-brand results every time
- Localising to multiple languages automatically
While the process can be largely automated, Peder emphasizes that there’s always room for human involvement.
Whether it’s guiding the machine to produce the desired outcome or making final tweaks to perfect the output, human creativity and oversight remain essential.
Why do businesses need automated video creation?
1. Social media demands more posting—especially more videos
Social media is where brands connect, learn, and grow. However, success on these platforms depends on posting frequently.
The more you post, the more likely you are to engage your audience and stand out.
The Digital Media Team conducted research to determine the optimal posting frequency on social media for maximising results. While there's no exact formula, their findings clearly show that posting multiple times a day is essential for increasing engagement.
Here’s what they discovered for each platform:
- Instagram stories: 2 - 4 stories a day
- Instagram posts: 3 - 5 posts a week
- Facebook posts: 1 - 2 times a day
- X posts: 3 - 4 tweets a day
- TikTok posts: 1 - 3 times a day
- LinkedIn: 1 - 2 posts a day
Okay, so you need to post a lot. But why post with mainly video?
Peder explains, “Video is simply unbeatable. It grabs attention, drives engagement, and communicates your message more effectively than any other format out there. And if you check any statistic, you’ll see just how much better it performs in the feeds.”
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But here’s the challenge: As a business owner himself, Peder understands that resources are often limited, especially in the creative department.
“We’re all strapped for resources,” he acknowledges. “Most businesses can't just throw more money or people at the problem to create more video content. Scaling video production the traditional way can be painfully expensive and time-consuming.”
So, what’s the solution?
According to Peder Bonnier, the solution is simple: Automate it.
“Automation allows you to crank out way more content with the resources you already have.”
By automating your video creation process, you can keep up a high posting frequency without breaking the bank, making sure you stay visible and competitive in the crowded social media landscape.
2. People want more video, and it’s the best way to communicate clearly
Our social world has changed how people not only consume content but want to consume content.
"We’re so used to binge watching videos and learning through videos, that long articles and PDFs just don't have the same appeal they used to. If you take the same findings from a long report and share them through videos instead, I guarantee the videos will have a much bigger impact. And this goes for anything,” says Peder.
Here are a few studies to back this up: People process visual content 60,000 times faster than text, and viewers retain 95% of a video's message, compared to just 10% when reading the text version.
This makes video the ideal format for everything from marketing to internal communications and more.
If video is so effective, why isn’t everyone using it for all their communication needs?
The biggest hurdles have always been the cost and time involved in video production. After all, when a single video from an agency can cost around 50,000 SEK (4,800 USD), it’s just not realistic for most businesses.
“But when it comes to automation,” Peder explains, “you can dramatically cut both time and cost, making it possible to create videos for everything—from SEO-boosting YouTube content to recruitment ads and help desk videos.”
Peder Bonnier's favourite use cases for video process automation
Peder’s favourite use cases for video automation are all tied to the everyday tasks that keep businesses running.
“It's in those routine activities where consistency and communication are key that automation truly shines,” says Peder.
1. Recruitment ads: Many of the customers at Storykit, are constantly recruiting on a large scale. Being able to turn every job posting from their ATS into a video not only makes their recruitment efforts more engaging but also helps them reach a wider audience.
As Peder describes, this means "attracting top talent with minimal effort."
2. Content marketing: Peder emphasizes that content marketing is one of Storykit's strongest in-house use cases. For the marketing team, a blog post or case study isn’t considered fully utilized until they’ve created and distributed at least 10 videos from it.
“It’s about taking that content and really amplifying its reach,” Peder explains, “ensuring your message gets the attention it deserves.”
3. Newsletter promotion: Peder highlights newsletters as a perfect example of a routine task where video automation can bring unexpected value. "Picture this," he says. "From every newsletter, a promotional video is created to raise awareness and attract new subscribers. In addition, the content within the newsletter is repurposed into multiple videos for your social media feed."
This approach not only maximises the impact of each newsletter but also ensures a steady flow of fresh content across all channels.
According to Peder Bonnier, these examples are just scratching the surface. Storykit is also exploring new areas with significant potential, such as program promotion at universities and news sharing at media houses.
“We’re just beginning to develop custom workflows for universities,” Peder explains, “allowing them to automatically create personalised videos for prospective students directly from their program pages.”
Additionally, Storykit has just completed integrating automated video creation directly into the publishing system of NTM, one of Sweden’s local media groups. This means that 320 reporters now have the power to create videos with just 2-3 clicks.
“Doing this manually would be a massive undertaking, but with automation, it becomes totally achievable. The possibilities are endless.”
By not automating these processes here is where you are losing value
According to Peder, by not automating these processes, you're losing value in three key areas:
- Time: You're spending countless hours on content creation that often goes unnoticed, while automation could free up your staff for higher-value tasks.
- Money: Manual content creation or reliance on external vendors is costly, but automation allows you to produce high-quality videos at a fraction of the cost.
- Efficiency: Without automation, your processes slow down, leading to missed opportunities and delayed projects. Automation ensures you get more content out the door faster, driving better results across the board.
Embracing automation with a human touch
It’s natural to view the work we do as uniquely human and irreplaceable. However, as Peder Bonnier points out, “the truth is, many aspects of creative services can be automated—and that’s not something to shy away from or fear.”
By putting routine tasks on autopilot, like video creation, you can enhance output, streamline processes, and focus on the work that truly requires your expertise.
And the key thing to remember is that even though a machine is doing the heavy lifting, the human element remains crucial. “We’re not talking about 100% automation,” Peder explains. “Instead, we aim to automate up to 90% of the process, ensuring that the human touch is applied where it’s most needed.”
Ultimately, the goal is to leverage automation to maximise efficiency while preserving the creativity and insight that only humans can provide.
