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A Content guide turns one reference video into a plan for your own video. Syncly analyzes what makes the reference work, then lays out how to make something similar for your brand: the production direction, a scene-by-scene plan, and how to handle visuals and audio. Content guides work with TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts posts.

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Before you start

  • You need Editor or Admin permission to create a Content guide. Viewers can view existing guides.
  • Pick a reference video that’s close to what you want to make. A guide is based on one video at a time.

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Create a guide

You can start a guide from:
  • Top posts: Select Create content guide on any post.
  • A post’s detail view: Select Create content guide at the top of the post.
Then:
  1. Select Create content guide.
  2. Wait while Syncly builds the guide. This takes a few minutes, so you can keep working in the meantime.
  3. Open the finished guide in Content > Content guides.
Guides are written in your workspace’s language.

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What’s in a guide

Reference analysis breaks down the original video:
  • What’s in the video: What was actually observed
  • Hook: How the opening grabs attention
  • Core message: The main point the video gets across
  • Flow: How the video unfolds
  • Recurring techniques: The directing style it repeats
  • Interpretation: Why those choices work
Production plan turns that into a plan for your video:
  • Production direction: How to apply the idea to your own content
  • Scene-by-scene plan: Each reference scene, analyzed and matched with a plan for your version
  • Visual direction: Framing, shots, and on-screen elements
  • Audio direction: Voiceover, music, and sound
A Content guide with the reference analysis and production plan

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Manage your guides

In Content > Content guides, you can:
  • Open any guide to read it in full
  • Edit a guide’s title and description
  • Copy a guide or download it as a PDF to share with your team or creators
  • Delete guides you no longer need
  • Filter guides by reference post
If you create a guide from the same post again, Syncly reuses the existing one instead of starting over. If a guide fails, select Retry.

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Content guide vs. Content strategy

  • Content strategy breaks down how an existing video was made, across six dimensions.
  • Content guide goes a step further and turns a reference video into a plan for your next one.
Use a guide as a starting point. Film your own footage with your own product and voice, rather than copying the original.

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