How to Use an Example Video to Close the Direction Gap
Daniel Litwin explains how referencing an example video in your edit request gives editors the shared visual language they need to match your vision.
Transcript
Hey. What's going on, folks? It's Daniel Litwin, voice of b two b. I've got some quick tips for you on how you can leverage existing content, not even your own existing content, random stuff you find from competitors, good stuff that's catching your attention on YouTube, a punchy piece of thought leadership on LinkedIn, how you can use this content to make your edit requests in MarketScale Studio more efficient and more effective at communicating your vision. Essentially, I'm here to tell you, you should be using example videos to close that direction gap on your edits. Look, we understand not everyone that is sending in an edit request at MarketScale Studio is a video producer. Okay? So you may not have the language or the muscle yet refined to be able to communicate your vision for an edit super clearly. This is very much its own muscle. It's a skill that you're gonna develop over time, and you're gonna develop by working with us. We've got your back here, so never be afraid to ask your market scale rep for some guidance on filling out your edit request. However, there is a field in the edit request that doesn't get used as often as it should and would save you a lot of time and energy mapping out your edit request, especially on those first edits, right? When you're experimenting with new content. And that would be the examples field. So let me go ahead and share my screen here real quick and walk y'all through exactly what I'm talking about. So my tip here is that y'all should be using an example video to, again, close the direction gap on your edit requests, better communicate your vision for a video, and help editors get what they need to understand what you're describing and to give them a little visual inspo to work off of so that they can move more effectively. So let me show you what I'm even talking about before I give you the guidance. Right? Here is a video project in MarketScale Studio. I'm gonna go to the media studio here and prepare to send an edit, right? So now I'm gonna click on request edit now and I'm gonna start filling out this edit request, right? I want landscape, I want this to be a product video for web. I'm filling this out, filling this out, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Then we get to this examples folder or examples field. Excuse me. The examples field is where you should be dropping in links to example content that captures the tone, feel, style, or overall complete edit that you want editors to emulate. This is a perfect place to start and to reinforce your direction on new edits. So imagine you're dropping links here to, again, a competitor's video that you saw on their website that you think really shows off a great product demo. Or let's say you go find a really cool episode of how it's made posted on YouTube. Right? The OG series, how it's made. And they've got a really cool sequence of industrial machinery that you want our editors to emulate with the clips you're providing. Maybe you find a great thought leader on LinkedIn who is riffing on their topic really well and the edits, way that the text pops up on screen, and the way that the music complements their thought leadership, you really like and you wanna emulate. Right? Maybe it's that you saw a random TikTok, you know, reposted on Instagram, and it's got really high energy, and you just love the energy and the tone, and you wanna emulate that. All of that content is fair game. Drop a link in here. Explain down here in additional notes and files what you like about it. Right? So let's type out link, and then here, you know, for the examples link, I really like the pace of the edit, the music genre and style, and the way the text callouts pop up on screen with the speaker. Right? This is an effective way to give editors inspiration and direction to level up your edit. Just doing this one step is going to guarantee that you get a version one of your edit that's much closer to your ideal because you're both operating off of shared language. You are saying to the editor, here's an example of what I'm looking for. Emulate x, y, and z. Now you both know what you're talking about, and there's less confusion, and you're closing that direction gap. I'm excited to see how you put this to work. So to close out my advice here, right? Find a video that looks like what you want. It can really be any video that, you know, doesn't even have to be from your industry or even relevant to your product or service or topic, you know, for this specific video, as long as there's something in there that our editors can reference and use for inspiration. You're gonna paste it into that examples field, and then in the additional notes and files section, you're gonna explain in at least one sentence what it is you actually like about that edit. Make sure you do this step so that you're both talking about the same thing, and you're saying, oh, I love this example. Okay. But what about that example? Right? Is it the pacing, the cuts, the energy, the tone, the music, the way x, y, and z aspect, you know, interacts with a, and c aspect? You get the picture. Now for music, my advice here is if the music is what you wanna draw attention to for inspiration, name the genre with a little bit more specificity. Not just I like this upbeat music. There's lots of upbeat music. Daft punk is upbeat and so is, you know, insert country artist here. And you can probably tell I don't listen to a lot of country music. Okay? Be specific here. I like the warm acoustic guitar style music. I like the driving punchy lo fi music they used here. Right? Try to get a bit more specific here so that our editors can properly search for content that matches what you like. I also think it's useful regardless of what kind of video you're providing. If the video that you're providing here is tonal inspiration, right, you wanna try to describe how you want the viewer to feel by the end of the video. And you can use that example video as inspiration. Right? When I finished watching this video, I felt informed and confident. I want my video to feel that way too. When I watched this video, it made me hype to attend that trade show. I want my video to do the same thing. This will help communicate the impact that you want your video to have and will help the editor watch with that lens for how the little elements of the edit, whether it's graphics or pacing or whatever, how those elements are driving home that specific impact that you're looking for. This will help make the creative decision making of the editor more informed and aligned to the outcome that you're hoping the video has for your audience. And again, your editors are here to take inspiration from your examples. They can't necessarily copy this one for one, and I wouldn't necessarily advise saying copy this exact thing, but they can draw inspiration and approximate. They can get pretty darn close to what you provide. But, again, just note, little asterisk here. It's not necessarily that they can literally copy exactly what they see on screen. They are going to take inspo and they are going to interpret that direction. Right? The example just helps make that direction a little clearer. So there you go, folks. This is my call to action. Use an example video in your edit requests to help close that direction gap, especially when it's a new style of edit, when you're experimenting with a style of video you've never requested an edit on before, or honestly, if you're just feeling stuck, a little bit of editors or writer's block, and you need that extra support to communicate your vision. All right, folks, I'm looking forward to seeing how this improves your edit requests. Get out there and find some good examples.
Overview
In this 8-minute training, Daniel Litwin walks through how to use the Examples field in the MarketScale edit request form to reduce ambiguity and align expectations between clients and editors. He explains why the field is consistently underused, how to find and reference real videos from LinkedIn, YouTube, or Instagram that capture the tone and style you want, and how to describe what specifically appeals to you about those references. The video closes with guidance on articulating the emotional outcome you want the viewer to feel.
What Is This?
The direction gap is the distance between what a client imagines a finished video will look and feel like and what an editor produces without sufficient visual reference — closing it requires giving editors concrete, shared examples to interpret from.
What You'll Learn
- Understand why the Examples field in the edit request form is underused and how it directly affects output quality
- Find relevant reference videos on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram that reflect your desired tone, style, and energy
- Describe what specifically you like about an example — including pacing, cut rhythm, and overall feel — in the Additional Notes field
- Name music genres with enough specificity to guide sound selection, such as 'warm acoustic guitar' or 'driving punchy lo-fi'
- Articulate the emotional impact you want viewers to experience by the end of the video
- Set accurate expectations around how editors interpret direction rather than replicate examples one-for-one
Key Insights
- A single well-chosen example video communicates more than a paragraph of written description — it gives editors immediate visual and tonal context to work from
- Vague music direction like 'upbeat' leaves too much open to interpretation; naming a specific genre or mood narrows the range in a way that serves both the editor and the final product
- Describing what you like about an example — the pacing, the energy, the cuts — is as important as providing the link itself
- Editors use examples as inspiration and directional anchors, not as templates to copy, so the goal is to convey feel and intent rather than prescribe a shot-for-shot outcome
Deep Dive
When a client submits an edit request without a reference point, editors work from written descriptions alone — and written language rarely captures the nuance of visual style, pacing, or emotional tone with enough precision to eliminate guesswork. The Examples field exists specifically to solve this problem, yet it remains one of the most underused parts of the request form.
Dropping a link to a competitor video on LinkedIn, a concise product explainer on YouTube, or a thought leadership clip on Instagram gives editors a shared visual language to anchor their decisions. The format or platform of the example does not need to match the video being produced — what matters is that the reference captures something true about the direction: the energy, the rhythm of the cuts, the colour palette, or the overall mood.
Once you have identified a reference, the Additional Notes field is the place to be specific about why it resonates. Noting that you like the way a video moves quickly through talking-head footage, or that you appreciate the restrained use of text overlays, translates subjective preference into actionable guidance. The same principle applies to music: rather than writing 'upbeat,' describing the sound as 'warm acoustic guitar with a steady mid-tempo feel' or 'driving punchy lo-fi' tells editors something concrete about the emotional register you are aiming for.
Finally, articulating the emotional outcome — how you want a viewer to feel when the video ends — gives editors a target to work backwards from. Whether the goal is confidence, curiosity, or a sense of momentum, naming that feeling helps every creative decision serve a unified purpose.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kinds of videos can I use as examples in my edit request?
Any publicly accessible video that captures the tone, style, or energy you want can serve as a useful reference — LinkedIn posts, YouTube explainers, Instagram reels, or brand videos from competitors or admired companies all work well. The content of the example does not need to match your industry or subject matter as long as the visual style and feel are relevant. What matters most is that the example communicates something true about the direction you want your editor to take.
Will my editor copy the example video I provide?
No — editors treat examples as directional inspiration rather than templates to replicate one-for-one. The purpose of a reference is to establish shared visual language around tone, pacing, and style, not to produce a derivative version of someone else's work. You can expect editors to get close to the feel of the example while producing something original to your brand and content.
How specific should I be when describing music in my edit request?
As specific as possible — vague descriptors like 'upbeat' or 'professional' cover too wide a range of sounds to be reliably useful. Instead, name a genre and a mood together, such as 'warm acoustic guitar with a relaxed feel' or 'driving punchy lo-fi for an energetic product demo.' The more precisely you describe the sonic atmosphere you want, the more likely the final track will match your expectations without requiring revision.
Related Topics
Viewers who found this training useful may also benefit from exploring how to write effective briefs for edit requests, including how to structure Additional Notes for complex multi-asset projects. Understanding the full edit request form — covering asset uploads, turnaround expectations, and revision protocols — will also help ensure smoother collaboration with the editing team from the start of every project.
#VideoEditing #EditRequest #ContentProduction #VideoDirection #MarketScale #PlatformWorkflow #ContentStrategy #VideoMarketing #CreativeBriefing #B2BContent
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