Video Content Drives Revenue For DIY Auto Repair Publisher Haynes

Repair Tutorials Expand To Include Individual On-Demand Video

Breaking things apart and putting them back together again—that’s what Haynes Publishing is all about. For the last 57 years, the company has been producing step-by-step guides for do-it-yourself mechanics to fix their cars with ease. With over 2,000 printed manuals on the market today, Haynes is recognized as a trusted leader among automotive repair experts and enthusiasts alike.

“The company’s founder, John Haynes, would take an engine apart, snap pictures as he went, and then hang all the pictures on the wall, so he would know how to put the engine back together,” says Andrew Golby, Haynes’ Global Digital Director. “And it all started in response to a simple question, which was: ‘How do I fix my car?” Today, a new vision for the future of Haynes is being led by J. Haynes, the company’s second-generation CEO, who is ensuring that a 21st century audience can find trusted repair content for their vehicle in new ways.

With the rise of web-based digital content, Haynes has expanded beyond its traditional print roots, providing targeted audiences with on-demand video instruction and digital guides. Keeping in line with its elemental style of instruction, the company has also taken a more contemporary approach to content distribution with Brightcove’s Video Cloud platform.

By offering customers on-demand video content that features specific repair projects and instructions, Haynes customers aren’t pigeonholed into purchasing an entire online manual; instead, they can pick and choose individual videos best suited to their repair needs. And because Brightcove’s platform allows for content distribution behind a paywall, Haynes generates more revenue and increased customer conversions, all while maintaining user-friendly viewing experiences for audiences.

Video Tutorials Provide an Immersive, Engaging Learning Experience

Haynes targets two very specific audiences, providing each group their own highly-focused content. For DIY home mechanics, there’s The Haynes Manual, the backbone of the entire company. Available in markets throughout the U.S., U.K., and Australia, The Haynes Manual is available in both print and online editions to suit every customer’s needs.

For professional mechanics and small repair shop owners, there’s Haynes Pro, available only in Europe. It serves more than 100,000 automotive professionals throughout the E.U., offering more highly specialized content than the Haynes’ DIY manual. Since this audience is mostly comprised of certified repair specialists, auto parts distributors, and manufacturers, Haynes leaves out the basic know-how and focuses on professional-grade projects in a digital format.

Despite the wide breadth of knowledge Haynes already provided, the company felt DIY audiences still lacked a more direct approach to instruction, one that could offer them effective repair tutorials in video form.

That’s when Golby and a dedicated content team took it upon themselves to transform Haynes’ entire digital presence, starting with the introduction of impactful video content for its targeted audiences. According to Golby, video was a critical asset sure to catalyze company growth, as it gives customers a way to actually see a repair in process and understand exactly how it all comes together. And with Haynes’ 25 to 40 year-old, digital-savvy customer base, Golby knew a transition to digital video distribution would further strengthen the Haynes’ brand among younger, tech-friendly audiences.

“As much as you can communicate through words and pictures, a video just gives an extra dimension that one can’t get any other way,” says Golby. “When you watch a short video of how a project is completed, suddenly your perception of that task changes. Video, as a medium, does that better than any other format.”

Modular Video Content Sparks New Monetization Model, Driving Sales and Revenue

Traditionally, Haynes’ two instructional guides were made available in both print and digital formats. But the company realized not every customer wanted the whole manual; some people only needed one or two excerpts for certain repairs. By making it a requirement for them to purchase either manual in their entirety, Haynes was limiting itself in terms of sales and potentially losing opportunities. That’s when the company designed a new monetization strategy to boost business and provide more purchasing options for customers.

The new model focused on modular, on-demand digital content, which allows users to purchase repair projects individually with accompanying instructional videos for a price well below that of the full manual(s). For those in favor of the entire digital or print guide, plus all related videos, Haynes offers customers a price for those as well. Video and static content is distributed behind a protected paywall, so customers can only access material after paying the respective cost. Currently, digital content is only available via Haynes.com, but Golby is working on several new options for distribution. This includes adding preview versions of Haynes’ instructional videos on YouTube and partnering with third-party distributors to expand customer reach.

Haynes Strengthens Leadership Position With Trusted, High-Quality Video

Along with this new revenue model, Haynes also restructured its content creation strategy with the aim of producing high-impact video content for its customers. The company’s new pieces would be tightly scripted, well-structured, and neatly edited, as real-time video would be far too long and tedious to watch.

“It’s very much about creating authoritative, high-quality content with a lot of provenance attached to it,” says Golby. “That’s unlike a lot of videos easily found on the web.”

That’s why, he argues, Haynes’ revamped video content gives the company a competitive edge.

“There’s good content out there on the web, but there’s also a lot of not-so-good content. And for the DIY repairer, he or she needs to pick through that and guess which one to trust. By distributing Haynes branded videos, people can feel safe in trusting our content.”

Brightcove Proves a Critical Asset for Current and Future Business Growth

In redesigning Haynes’ revenue model and creative production strategy, the business needed a video solution capable of supporting these two initiatives. Specifically, the solution had to be able to host video behind a paywall, because while YouTube was a convenient hosting option, Haynes did not consider it a viable option for monetizing content. And since the team was fairly new to digital video, they needed a platform that would be intuitive and easy-to-manage. Furthermore, it had to support the technology necessary for previewing clips of full-length videos. As it turned out, Brightcove checked all the boxes.

“Brightcove fit the bill,” says Golby. “They offered us the range of features we were looking for.”

Haynes couldn’t be more satisfied. Brightcove’s platform now gives Haynes an effortless distribution solution, one that’s able to disseminate content to multiple destinations from a single source. In fact, the company plans to take even greater advantage of this feature for future distribution plans, such as Haynes’ third-party partnerships.

Looking ahead, Golby says the Brightcove platform will also provide many more opportunities to monetize video, contributing to Haynes’ overall business growth.