How to Create and Share a SAM

SAM stands for Source Activated Moment. 

A SAM is the Source experience that is being delivered to the viewer either as part of a video or as a standalone experience. A SAM is a combination of actions or assets with each managed via a Block system. Think of these Blocks as the fundamental building blocks, very much like a LEGO® set. Additional information on how each Block works can be seen in the Source Blocks section of our help here. 

Once logged into your account, go to the SAM Builder TAB as seen on the left side of the screen:

This will take you to the SAM Library. The LIbrary is where all your SAMs will be managed. Folders can be created to help in organization, and folders within folders are also supported. Clicking the [+Create] button will start the process of creating new SAM:

Give the SAM a name. This name is more for organizational purposes and is not the name that will appear as the label on the video. The Slug will be automatically created based on the name, or a new Slug name can be entered here if desired. Slugs can optionally be used as part of the distribution of a video or a SAM. 

Choose Template

Once submitted, you will land on the first TAB of the SAM Builder page where you can choose from a variety of starter templates designed for different purposes or one can choose to build a SAM from scratch by selecting the Custom template. The following is a preview of what the "Location" template can look like if used. It is comprised of the following blocks in this order from top to bottom:

1. Markdown Text Block
2. Image Block
3. Location Block (Map)
4. Markdown Text Block
5. Social Media (Share)

Select the desired Starter template and click Save in the upper right.

Edit SAM Overlay

Once that is done, click on the Edit SAM Overlay on the left side of the SAM Builder. This tab controls how the SAM will look when it displays on the video and some of its behaviors. 

As data and assets are added to the different fields, they will show up in the right-hand column as they will appear when published. Not all functions are represented in this preview. Social Media for example, only appears on the SAM when published. 

• Preview Text
  • This is the text that will appear on the label when the SAM appears on the video. Keep this as concise as possible. This acts as a call to action, so make it clear and engaging. 
• Display Image
  • This is the image that will be used for the thumbnail that appears with the Label when displayed on a video. Use a link that references a supported image file or select one from the Source Media Asset library. 
• Social Media Networks
  • These are the Social Media platforms where a viewer can choose to share the SAM they are currently engaging with. The Link contains the video reference and the open SAM at that moment in the video. 

In this example Facebook, Twitter, and Link have been added:

When published and the SAM is open, the user can click the share icon:

Which opens the available options to tap and share as needed:

• Customize Preview
  • Allows for how the overlay will appear when it appears below the video. This is common when videos are viewed on mobile devices in portrait mode and the video display size is too small to display the overlay. 
    • Background Color changes the color of the label
    • Text Color changes the color of the text in the label
    • Separator color changes the color of the bar separating the image from the text
    • The image size slider bar controls the size of the image in the label

• Convert to SmartBlocks
  • Allows for any of the Blocks to be displayed as the overlay on the video. This allows for different strategies to be enabled depending on the goals of the engagement.

• • Things to keep in mind when Blocks in this manner:
    • When displayed, like an opened SAM, they tend to take up most of the vertical display in the right 1/3 of the video when on the video, as well as a lot of the real estate below the video. Because of this, you will not want to kurate more than one of these at a given time in the video. 
    • It does allow for multiple Blocks to be stacked (like a SAM), but for the same vertical space 
• Click to Dial
  • Click to Dial allows for any phone number to be dialed directly from the display when it appears on a video. All country codes are supported and default to +1 (United States of America). 
  • When using Click to Dial, the SAM never opens, so blocks cannot be added to this function
  • Click to dial leverages the Text Label, Display Images, and Customize Preview sections mentioned above to create the look and feel of the overlay function as seen here:

Display Block

Additional options for the Overlay Preview are provided via the Display Block described here.

Editing the SAM

The following functions allow for the creation of interactive engagements within the SAM when opened. A SAM is a combination of Blocks in a defined order defined as part of the kuration process. Which blocks, the order of the Blocks, deletion and adding of Blocks, and settings within Blocks can be changed at any time and will update automatically in and distribution containing this SAM when saved. 

The following example is based on selecting the Location Template as a starting point. When that template was selected, and clicking the Edit SAM tab, the Blocks that made up that Template are ready to be used:

At this stage, any of the Blocks can be opened and their settings adjusted to reflect the goals of the SAM and links and assets they refer to as it will display in the SAM when published. 

For example, Social Smartblock when opened:

Functionality:

• Rearrange Blocks by clicking and dragging the block to its new position
• Open a Block:
  • Change settings
  • Delete Block (X)
• Live Preview. As the changes are being made to the individual Blocks, the SAM Builder generates a live Preview of the SAM on the right-hand side of the SAM Builder. Here is an example of creating a Location SAM for the Massachusetts State House

1. Select Location Template
2. Go to Edit SAM Tab
3. Open each Block and add the information
   1. Block One in the Markdown Block will be the callout at the top of the SAM:
      
      
   2. Block Two in the Image Block will be the image of the State House:
      
   3. Block Three uses the Location Block to insert a Map:
      
   4. Block Four uses another Markdown Text Block to enter some information on the State House:
   5. Block Five uses the Social Media (Share) Block where the MA State House's Social Media Platforms will be entered:
      
      
      
   6. The completed SAM is  now ready to be inserted onto a video, or published as a Standalone SAM:Wehn
      
      

Additional Blocks can be added by clicking the Add Blocks button at the top of the builder. When doing so, a list of available blocks will be presented. Select one or more blocks and click "Add Blocks". They will be added to the bottom of the SAM, then can be dragged to the desired position. 

It is also possible to insert a block from any other SAM available in the library making it easy to repurpose any of them for quick curation. For example; a Social Media Block or a Location block may be used in other related SAMs. Click "Import Blocks" from the top of the SAM Edit Window:

User will be presented with a window of existing SAMs:

Open the SAM from which you want to grab or more blocks from, select the blocks with the checkboxes, then click"Import Selected Blocks":

Duplicating a SAM

Sometimes it is convenient to use an existing SAM as a starting point for creating another SAM. This is done by clicking the SAVE AS button next to the SAVE button at the right of the SAM Builder:

Once clicked, the user will be prompted to give it a new name:

Creation will be confirmed and the choice to either open the newly created SAM, or keep working with the original SAM:

Sharing a SAM

A SAM can be shared as a standalone SAM as a simple URL that can be used just like any URL or hyperlink. When in the SAM library, a link icon will appear on each SAM regardless of which view is being used:

or:

Once clicked, the entire URL will be copied to the clipboard to copy/paste wherever it is needed. 

SAM Organization

Within the SAM library, SAMs can be further organized within folders and folders within folders:

Clicking the blue folder icon with the + will create a new folder. Clicking the three buttons icon on each same (or all selected SAMs) allows them to be moved to any of the created folders. A folder can be created within a folder for further organization. 

A folder can be renamed or deleted by clicking the three dots in the folder icon:

And selecting Rename or Delete. A folder containing items cannot be deleted. Move the items out beforehand if that folder needs to be deleted: