How much will it cost to have your video produced?
As increasingly more businesses realise how effective video content can be, and how their competitors are often using it to their advantage, the need to include video in their marketing budgets has become the norm.
In the past, commissioning video was considered an expensive one-off production, something that you would expect to leverage for a substantial period of time. Now, thanks to new digital technologies, the cost of production is more affordable, making it something you can factor into your budgets on a more regular basis.
You can plan a strategic range of videos for putting across key messages and promoting different products and services, perhaps at key times of the year or season.
In this post, I look at the key things to consider for working out a video budget. There are lots of variables that depend on the specific requirements for a video – e.g. what needs to be filmed and how many days this could take – so it would be impossible to provide a ballpark figure right now. However, I hope the information below will give you a good indication of the various elements you need to consider when budgeting for your next video.
Ask A Production Agency!
If you want to cut to the chase and get an estimate of how much your video is going to cost, the best route would be to ask a video production agency like Sightline directly!
You could start by looking at examples of the agency’s work and find something comparable that you would like to achieve, and then ask them for a rough estimate of how much a similar video would cost. Videos tend to be tailor-made to suit the requirements of a business or organisation; so, if you can’t find a video in their portfolio that reflects exactly what you want, give them an outline brief to use as a basis for your quote.
Also, consider the points below to help you write this brief so the agency can give you a good idea of the likely cost. Our blog Writing Your Video Production Brief: Step-By-Step could help with this. It’s used by businesses and organisations all over the world.
You Get What You Pay For
This old adage is generally true when it comes to making a business video. High production values will result in a high-impact and high-quality film. Filming costs are fairly standard across the industry – and will include all the fees incurred during a shoot, as well as the production crew’s expenses. The cost for post-production (editing, etc.), will vary, depending on whether it includes voice-over, music, sound effects, motion graphics or animation.
The difference you may see in price between video agencies will often be down to their experience and skill in creating engaging and effective video communications. It’s important to remember that without this expertise, any savings you make by going with a cheaper option could compromise the end result.
Value For Money Vs. Your Value Proposition
Lower-cost video production can still deliver real value, but only in the right context. You could commission Vlog-style content to promote a product or engage your audience, using basic lighting and a smartphone, and it could be very effective – but this only works if it’s targeted at the right audience with the right message, not as a one-size-fits-all approach to cheaper video content!
What you say about your company, your products and your service should be reflected in your video’s production values. So, if your value proposition is based on ‘creativity’, ‘innovative technology’, and ‘quality’, your video should reflect these too.
Similarly, would you sell a luxury product using a video that has obvious low production costs – unless you were trying to be ironic?
Video content should, therefore, manage your viewers’ expectations and ensure that it correlates with your company’s value proposition. It should match your brand impression; how you want your customers and prospects to perceive and remember your business and what it offers them.
Benchmark Your Competitors
If your video is for external use – your website and social media – you should also look at how it will sit alongside your competitors’ videos.
Benchmarking your competitors is also a very useful exercise to see how effective their video communications are. This gives you an opportunity to differentiate your business from the rest of the pack by either improving on what they are doing, doing something completely different, or bucking the trend entirely.
Taking these factors into account now is the time to pick up the phone and talk to a video production agency to explore how much your video could cost.