How much does professional video production cost?
Live-streaming a cooking event for Schnucks Markets
This is a difficult question because, much like any investment, there are a number of factors at play. How much does a house cost? How much does a car cost? Obviously, there is a wide range of answers to these questions that depend on a number of factors. A house trailer in rural Illinois is going to be a lot less than a luxury condo in New York, and a New Tesla will cost a lot more than a 1988 Ford Escort. It’s the same when it comes to commissioning a video. Obviously, we need to define the type and scope of the video you need so you aren’t spending too much or too little to achieve the result you are looking for.
How to set your budget for video production
Consider the Value
Like any investment in your business. It can be helpful to have a realistic number in mind before getting bids. But how do you do that when you have never done this before? We suggest starting with the value that you need the video to produce. Ask yourself: what is the problem the video will solve for you and how much would the return be on solving that problem? Would a marketing video help you to move $100k of product in the next three months? Or maybe you are losing $15k a month because you don’t have enough staff to service your current business volume. Or maybe standardized easy to understand training will help you gain back $1-$5M a year in efficiency. These are important data that should inform your budget. For instance if you set a budget of only $1k and you need to move $100k of product, then you are probably not going to be happy with the results of that investment because it’s not enough for a team of professionals to work out how a good solution to make a video that achieves your result. Think about spending around 10% of what you hope your result will be. That’s why big brands spend millions on ad campaigns. Big investments get big results as long as they are executed in a thoughtful way by knowledgeable professionals.
Consider Placement and distribution costs
Another thing to consider when setting your video production budget is what the spend for placement should be. Sure there are many places where you can share a video for free and expect even a little bit of organic traffic. But in order to really get your message across you will most likely need to buy views with ad placement. Targeting the right audience is fairly easy and straightforward on most platforms, so with a little guidance, we will be able to make sure that spend is as efficient as possible. Knowing what platforms are right for your brand, product, or service is key to knowing how to target your audience.
Even when it comes to training videos, deciding how the video content will be distributed to your staff for review is a budget consideration too. For instance, your training may contain trade secrets or confidential processes that you wouldn’t want to just be hanging out in an unlisted video on YouTube. There are several services that are purpose-built specifically for distributing and tracking employee training videos that can manage access, manage security, and even track the progress of coursework assignments. So don’t forget to budget for this investment too.
Types of business videos:
Let's think about the common types of videos businesses make to start.
Company Overview/Brand Story
Advertisements
Recruiting
Company Culture
Training or onboarding
Testimonials
Social Videos
Live Streams
Product Demonstrations
This list is by no means comprehensive. But these are some of the most common types of videos businesses are looking to make. All of these types will require different kinds of production, and all these kinds of production will have different costs. Starting your conversation with us by accurately describing what type of video you are looking for will go a long way in helping us price out a bid for the work.
The Producer
The next thing to keep in mind is how much you want to be involved in the production. A “producer” is a big word and can mean a lot of things. However, in this context, we are talking about the person who arranges the nuts and bolts of the shoot, like who will appear on camera and where and when the video will be shot. So are you planning to be the client/producer? Is there a member of the staff that will manage the project internally? That’s time that needs to be accounted for too. The best practice is to have a single point of contact between the production and the client for uncluttered communication and to connect with company internal logistics. Working with you to make things happen in a timely and efficient way is part of our job.
Production Quality
This will mainly be determined by two things: your budget and your concept. But we can help you decide the kind of production that works best for the idea, too. Style, tone, and target audience are all factors to consider. This might also be determined by the platform where the video will be seen. A video used in national television advertising will require a much different level of production than some informational videos for TikTok.
Technical details are important factors, too. Do you need to light a big room? Do you need multiple cameras? Drone footage? How many people will appear on camera at once? There is a wide range of production quality that can be used.
Lastly, look at the kinds of videos your competition is making –not to copy them, of course, but it will give you an idea of the production value that others are investing in for your space. When you talk to us about your project, having some examples of videos you like and what you like about them is always helpful.
But that’s not all!
There are dozens of other factors involved in pricing out a video job, and we haven’t even touched on all of them. But bottom line start with determining the value you need from the video and let that be your guide for setting a budget. Think about what your problem is and what you are willing to invest to solve it.
If you would like to to talk to a real person (me!) about how much your project might cost feel free to book a free 20 min consultation here. We’d be happy to hear from you.
