HeyGen for marketers: your complete AI video jumpstart guide

Welcome to your AI video marketing jumpstart guide

Want to create more video content but feel held back by limited time, budget, or production resources? You’re not alone. Here’s the good news: with HeyGen, you can produce videos that look even better than traditional productions at a fraction of the cost and time.

This guide is built for marketers ready to elevate their strategy with AI video. You’ll learn how to go from concept to campaign, creating high-quality, scalable content without needing cameras, studios, or on-screen talent.

Don’t miss the hands-on video creation exercise in the Making Your First Video section. It’s designed to help you learn by doing and get up to speed quickly!

Top use cases: how marketers are using HeyGen

HeyGen is more than a video tool. It’s a creative engine built for marketers who need to move fast, scale content, and drive results without sacrificing quality. From influencer ads to onboarding flows, here’s how marketers across every function are using HeyGen to create high-impact videos at scale.

Why video is critical in marketing today

The challenge

• Traditional production is expensive, slow, and limited by headcount and budgets.
• Marketers must do more with less—tighter budgets, less time, and pressure to outperform competitors.

Creating your first AI video

Introduction

New to video or trying out HeyGen for the first time? You’ve got this. This section will walk you through each step to help you make a great video, fast.

Like learning in action?

Choose a video type above to open a ready-made template in HeyGen and follow along as you go.

Overachiever?

We love it! Jump ahead to Step 4: Choose the right AI Avatar spokesperson and create your own AI avatar—your digital twin and future video star.

Not ready to dive in yet?

No problem. Skim the steps now and come back to the full how-to when you’re ready.

→ HeyGen Academy: 101

broad overview of all HeyGen features

→ HeyGen Academy: AI Studio

take a deeper dive into video editing

Step 1: Set up your HeyGen workspace for scale

Smart marketers don’t start from zero every time—they build systems that scale.

With HeyGen, it’s easy to keep your videos on-brand by setting up a Brand Kit to use your fonts, colours, logos and assets automatically.

Just paste in your company’s URL to get started, or upload your brand elements manually.

In a hurry? No problem. You can always come back and finish this step later.

Pro tip

Once your Brand Kit is armed with your brand's colours, you can easily update most HeyGen Templates to match. Just swap in your colours so every video stays on-brand, or hit the Shuffle Colours button to have HeyGen swap them automatically.

Step 2: Set your strategy

Before you dive into video creation, get crystal clear on your campaign strategy by defining your goal, target audience, distribution channels, and hook.

Campaign goal

What do you want this video to achieve?

Examples: brand awareness, product launch, lead generation, sales conversion

Target audience

Who are you creating this video for? What kind of customer are they? What stage of the funnel are they at?

Examples: Gen Z cold prospects who’ve never heard of your brand, mid-funnel small business leads considering their options

Primary distribution channel

Where will your video live?

Examples: LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, paid ads, website, email campaign

Hook

What problem are you solving, and how will you capture attention in the first few seconds?

Pro tip

Need a second opinion on your strategy? Head to ChatGPT, Claude, or another tool of your choice and prompt with the following:

"I'm planning a marketing video campaign for [product/service]. My goal is [goal], my target audience is [audience], I'll distribute it on [channel], and the core message or hook is: [hook]. Can you give me feedback on how clear and effective this is and suggest any improvements?"

Step 3: Write your script

Your script is the backbone of a great video. Here’s how to make it count:

• Start with a strong hook (the first 3–5 seconds matter most)
• End with a clear CTA (call to action)
• Keep it simple, direct, and jargon-free
  

Pro tip

Want to move faster? Check the following best practices page for guidance on using tools like ChatGPT to write your script.

Still not sure where to start? Here are a few sample outlines for inspiration.

If you’re following along in HeyGen, these scripts are already built into your template.

Access templates, including these scripts, here:

Video ad

Social influencer video

How-to video

Explore script templates and more tips for popular marketing video types

→ Video ads
→ Social influencer videos
→ How-to videos
→ Product explainers

Best practices: write scripts better and faster with AI

Want to work smarter, not harder? Here are some tips for leveraging tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or others to speed up script writing.

Step 1: Start with a clear prompt

Give the AI a clear, detailed prompt that describes the video you’re making. Add important context, such as:

• What kind of video you’re creating (social ad, product tutorial, brand video)
• Who it’s for (target audience)
• The goal of the video (drive clicks, explain a concept, educate)
• Tone or voice you’d like it to use (friendly, professional, conversational)

Sample prompt:

"Write a 60-second video script for a B2B HeyGen product explainer aimed at small business owners. The tone should be confident and clear. End with a strong call to action."

Step 2: Add key talking points

You can get more accurate results by including a short bullet list of the points you want the video to cover.

Example:

• Product/service name
• Core value proposition
• Call to action

Sample prompt:

"Include the following points: HeyGen helps small businesses save time and money and is easy to use. CTA: Sign up for a free trial."

Step 3: Ask for the right format

Let the AI know you need the script in a format that works well for a video.

Example:

• A spoken script delivered by our CEO’s avatar
• A casual, human tone

Sample prompt:

"Write this as a spoken script to be read by HeyGen CEO’s avatar. Use natural, conversational language."

Step 4: Review and tweak

Next, copy and paste the script into HeyGen and hit the preview button to have your avatar read it aloud. Does it sound natural? Does it flow the way you want? If not, ask your AI tool to revise it with prompts such as:

• Make this more casual or more formal
• Add a stronger hook at the beginning
• Include a line about [feature or benefit]
• Turn this into a 30-second version
• Give me three versions of the CTA

Explore scripting in more depth

→ How to write effective video scripts with AI: A modern marketer's guide (eBook)

Step 4: Choose the right AI Avatar

Your spokesperson sets the tone. Choose a ready-made Public Avatar, create a Custom Avatar that fits your brand, or for the ultimate personal touch, create your digital twin in minutes with HeyGen’s Hyper Realistic Avatar feature!

HeyGen offers several options for creating Custom Avatars. Click the links below to explore the details further.

Best practices: creating the perfect custom Avatar

Ready to create a professional, lifelike avatar with endless customization options? Explore the resources below for tips, best practices, and a quick overview of what you’ll need to get started.

When creating a Custom Avatar, remember: quality in = quality out. The better your photos, videos, and written prompts, the more realistic and polished your avatar will be.

Whatever’s in your Hyper Realistic Avatar training video, from gestures to facial expressions to vocal inflection, will be reflected in the final result.

Pro tip

Use HeyGen’s Generating Looks feature to switch your avatar’s pose, surroundings, or attire with nothing but a text prompt.

Want to explore this in more depth?

→ Step-by-step guide to creating a hyper-realistic Avatar

Best practices: creating high-quality custom AI voices

HeyGen has a massive library of stock AI-generated voices in over 175 languages, dialects, and emotional tones, but sometimes the perfect video calls for something custom. Below are three ways to create Custom Voices.

For the best voice quality, start with strong source audio. Here’s how to get a great recording:

• Use a high-quality mic or smartphone, held 6–8" from your mouth

• Record in a quiet, noise-free space

• Speak clearly, with natural pauses and subtle emotional expression

• Upload multiple samples with different emotional tones for more versatility (for HeyGen Custom Voice Clones only)

Want to explore this in more depth?

→ Ultimate guide to hyper-realistic custom voice cloning

→ Add emotions to your custom voice clone

Best practices: prompting like a pro

Prompting is the practice of carefully crafting and iterating text instructions (called prompts) used to guide AI tools to create content from scratch, such as images, motion, or audio.

Prompting is a powerful skill for any AI marketer. When paired with HeyGen, prompting unlocks countless ways to create high-impact videos where your imagination is your only limitation. Get ready to experiment, iterate, and use prompts in HeyGen for:

Prompting best practices

Be specific

The more clearly you describe what you want (tone, look, gesture, emotion), the better the AI can match your vision.

Start with structure

Use a consistent structure: what, who, where, how. This applies to visuals, voice tone, and motion direction.

Include context and intent

Let the AI know the purpose: Is it for a product demo, a social ad, or a tutorial? Context helps tailor the result.

Use descriptive language

Use adjectives that convey emotion, style, or clarity (e.g., “confident,” “minimalist,” “high energy,” “calm pace”).

Iterate & refine

Don’t settle for your first try. Small prompt tweaks can lead to dramatically better results across all media types!

Prompting best practices can vary slightly depending on what you’re creating

Explore the resources below to dive deeper into each type and get the most out of your prompts!

• Prompting best practices, common issues, and solutions
• Prompting best practices for generating looks
• Prompting best practices for adding motion

Step 5: Create and polish your scenes in AI Studio

Now that your script and avatar are ready, it’s time to bring your message to life in HeyGen’s AI Studio editor, where it’s easy to customize, enhance, and polish every part of your video — no editing experience required!

• Design your scenes in minutes using the Brand Kit or Templates you set up in Step 1.
• Reinforce your message with on-screen text or visuals and trigger them to appear or disappear with Animations.
• Browse HeyGen’s stock media library for high-quality b-roll video, royalty-free.
• Use Premium Scene Transitions to give your video a smooth, professional finish.
• Add and customize Captions to make your videos more engaging and accessible.

Pro tip

Create and A/B test multiple versions of your videos to improve performance, drive results, and boost conversions.

Ready to edit like a pro?

→ HeyGen Academy: AI Studio, an in-depth video course covering HeyGen's editing features

Best practices: adjust pronunciation, emotions, and intonations

Need your avatar to sound just right? HeyGen gives you powerful tools to fine-tune voiceovers for natural, accurate delivery that feels true to life.

Want to see it in action?

→ HeyGen Academy: AI Studio - Pronunciation module

Strategies to scale your impact

Whether you’re reaching new markets, testing what works, or tailoring content to different audiences, these advanced best practices and tools will help you scale your impact with precision.

Optimize and iterate like a performance marketing pro

With HeyGen, creating multiple versions of your videos for A/B testing has never been easier, faster, or more affordable. Learn how to run A/B tests like a performance marketing pro and start boosting conversions, maximizing performance, and building campaigns with data-driven confidence!

Go global with translation

Learn how to translate and localize your videos into 175+ languages and dialects, no dubbing or voice actors required.

Use HeyGen’s Brand Voice feature to maintain consistency in translated videos by customizing how certain words are handled (i.e., brand name pronunciations, forcing or blocking translation for certain terms).

Enterprise and Team plan users can also make edits directly to translated scripts by using our Proofread feature.

Looking for ideas? Check out how Trivago used HeyGen to localize TV ads for 30 markets at the same time.

Personalize at scale

Add a personal touch to your email campaigns, sales outreach, or customer support with Personalized Videos. By using dynamic elements, like the viewer’s name or details tailored to their interests, you can create a unique, more engaging experience for each person.

Interactive avatar

Whether for sales, customer support, or education, Interactive Avatars turn one-way videos into dynamic, two-way conversations. It’s a powerful way to boost engagement, personalize experiences, and drive action.

Need some inspiration? Check out how getitAI increases ecommerce sales with live, personalized shopping experiences.

Use case #1: video ads

Customer stories and examples

Perfect for

Growth marketers, demand generation marketers, performance marketers, and more!

Best practices

• Keep videos short. Aim for under 30 seconds to maintain viewer attention and improve completion rates.
• Lead with the value. Make sure your core message or value proposition comes through within the first few seconds.
• Match the format to the funnel. Tailor the ad length, style, and CTA based on where it will appear and what action you want.
• Design for mobile-first viewing.Optimize framing and pacing for small-screen viewing.
• Make your edits pop. Use b-roll, animated text, and motion to keep visual energy high and engagement steady.
• Test like a performance marketing pro. A/B test different hooks, visuals, avatars, and CTAs to see what converts.

Top features

• Product Placement: add physical products to your videos with a click.
• Generate Looks: Make your avatar more dynamic by switching their pose, surroundings, or attire with nothing but a text prompt.

Pro tip

Here's a tried-and-true script structure from social media producer George “GG” Gossland of Favoured:

• Hook – Something visually unusual or unexpected.
• Problem – What challenges is your viewer facing?
• Solution – How does the product or service alleviate those challenges?
• USPs – also known as “unique selling point.” Highlight the features that stand out!
• CTA – Always give viewers something to do next.

Ready to level up?

→ Watch a step-by-step tutorial on creating video ads

→ Dive into HeyGen’s 5 ways to improve your video ads and performance ebook

Use case #2: Social influencer video

Customer stories & examples

Perfect for

Content marketers, performance marketers, demand generation marketers, growth marketers, and more who are ready to turn their brief into a UGC ad

Best practices

• Hook viewers fast. Aim to grab attention in the first 1–2 seconds with motion, bold text, or a compelling visual.
• Design for silent autoplay. Use captions, text overlays, and visual storytelling since many users watch without sound.
• Keep it short. Less is more. Aim for under 15–30 seconds on TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts. Adjust your script speed using advanced voice settings.
• Frame it for the feed. Use vertical (9:16) or square formats depending on the platform. Avoid landscape orientation unless you’re posting to YouTube.
• Lead with the “aha.” Highlight the transformation, benefit, or emotional payoff early, not just the product features.
• Make it look native. Use platform trends, faster-paced creator-style edits, or UGC avatars to blend into the feed.

Top features

• UGC avatars: browse hundreds of AI-generated stock avatars with an authentic content creator vibe.
• Captions: make sure your message gets through, even when the sound is turned off.

Pro tip

Here’s a high-performing content structure used by top creators across TikTok, Reels, and Shorts:

1. Scroll-stopping visuals: open with bold text, motion, or a surprising visual to stop the scroll
2. Relatable moment: reflect a real pain point or “I’ve been there” situation to build an instant connection
3. Transformation or payoff: show the value of your product in action
4. Creator POV: use voiceover or on-screen text to narrate in a personal, authentic tone
5. Simple CTA: make the next step obvious! (“Try this,” “watch more,” or “visit the website.”)

Ready to go a little deeper?

→ Watch a step-by-step tutorial on creating social influencer videos

→ Dive into HeyGen’s ebook 5 ways to improve your video ads and performance

Use case #3: How-to video

Customer stories and examples

Perfect for

Product marketers, performance marketers, demand generation marketers, growth marketers

Top features

• Animations: add animated text or visuals to highlight key steps, reinforce learning, and keep viewers engaged.
• Templates: streamline creation and keep things consistent. Don’t forget you can customize HeyGen’s stock templates with your brand’s colours!

Best practices

• Keep it concise. Aim for 60–120 seconds for quick guides, and up to 5 minutes for detailed tutorials.Structure for clarity. Begin with a clear introduction, followed by step-by-step instructions, and conclude with a strong summary and call to action.
• Enhance with visuals. Use graphics, captions, and screen recordings to illustrate key points and improve comprehension.Maintain consistency. Use consistent branding, tone, and style across all videos to reinforce brand identity.
• Optimize for accessibility. Include subtitles and ensure content is mobile-friendly to reach a broader audience.

Pro tip

If your how-to video needs extra visuals like screen recordings, make sure they align with your script. Start by writing your script, then use the preview button to play the audio while recording your screen in sync with the narration for the best timing.

Ready to go a little deeper?

→ Watch a step-by-step tutorial on creating how-to videos