What Does A Business Marketing Video Cost To Make?
Making the decision to incorporate video into your business marketing strategy is a smart move.
The first question on a typical business owner’s mind is, “How much is this going to cost?”
Great question.
Unfortunately, it’s not an easy one to answer.
Cost can range anywhere from $5K - $25K. Your cost relies on many factors that contribute to the overall production of a business marketing video.
All these factors play important roles, but when it comes to budgeting for your business marketing video, you will need to prioritize what is most important.
Depending on your company’s budget and your video’s scope, you may or may not want to cut certain corners.
Every business is going to have different priorities and will have to make decisions based on what is best for their unique video production.
Therefore, it’s impossible to give a general price for every video. The best thing to do is to sit with a professional video producer and talk about the goals you have for your business marketing video.
Then, with the advice and expertise provided by a professional videographer, come to a decision that serves both your goals and your budget.
Here are just some of the factors that you have to think about when budgeting for your business marketing video…
1. Size of your videography crew
You have to pay every member of your video crew.
Therefore, a larger crew will cost you more – there is no way around this.
Nevertheless, don’t be too tempted to limit the size of your crew just to save a few dollars.
Sometimes, just adding an extra person for a few hundred dollars will exponentially add value to your shoot.
For example, having an extra person on board might save you a ton of time on set, which means you can shoot more in less time, which would save you money on equipment and space rentals.
So in other words, when it comes to crew size, you want to consider your options carefully.
2. Your crew's experience
Depending on your video production’s requirements, it may be wise to hire an experienced crew.
Specifically, you want to enlist the help of people who have experience in the niche that you require.
For instance, if your business marketing video requires animals on set, you need a crew that has experience working with animals.
If you require aerial footage, you need to work with someone who knows how to operate drones and the required equipment.
If your video is going to require extensive animation and effects – you guessed it, you will need a crew that specializes in these areas of expertise.
Depending on the specialty, depending on the niche, an experienced crew will cost you more.
But, if you want a specific result from your marketing video, experienced crew members are worth investing in.
3. Number of days to shoot
The more days you have to shoot, the greater your expenses.
Think about it… every extra day you shoot, you will have to bring in your crew members and pay them for their time.
You will also have to budget for an extra day’s worth of equipment rentals and studio or location space rentals.
If there are actors or paid talent involved, you will have to budget for them as well.
Then, you will also have to take into account all the hair, makeup, and wardrobe professionals required to take care of all the talent.
Plus, you have to feed all these people!
And then on top of all that, there’s transportation of equipment, talent, and various crew.
See how extra days quickly add up?
You can avoid adding extra days to your shoot with proper planning, and investing time in careful scripting, storyboarding, and rehearsals.
Your professional videography crew should be able to come up with suggestions that will cut down on shoot time.
4. Pre-production
Planning, scripting and storyboarding are all essential to ensure a smooth shoot.
Do not skimp out in this area.
Remember, if you don’t plan properly, you run the risk of running out of time to shoot (and not getting the footage you require to edit your video together) or adding expenses by adding more shooting days.
It might seem crazy to invest so much time and people (and therefore money) before you even shoot a single frame of video, but the hard truth is, if you don’t invest in planning first, you will pay dearly for it later when you are shooting.
5. Post-production
Inexperienced videographers sometimes make the mistake of overlooking the importance of post-production.
This is a critical error, as post-production is when the actual video comes together.
Depending on the complexity of your video, you may need to spend a lot of time in the editing room.
That’s a lot of time with an editor, in a room full of expensive equipment.
Don’t forget that post-production is also where effects and animation have to come together.
These are very specialized skills, and often require teams of people if your project is complicated.
Then, there’s original music, sound design, sound effects, and sound mixing and editing to think about.
Post-production is where the “movie magic” happens, and you definitely don’t want to take this phase of creating your video for granted.
6. Deliverables
Deliverables are the various formats and components that you need to deliver in order for your video to be shown to its desired audience.
This could mean having your video available at various resolutions, with and without subtitles, on separate audio tracks, in different languages, etc.
The deliverables for your video project will vary depending on what your situation is.
If you don’t plan ahead (and this is where working with an experienced videographer comes in very handy), the time investment and the financial blow of delivering deliverables can come as a bit of a shock.
Do not be caught off guard, and know what deliverables are required from you early on in the process, so that you can account for them when you are finally ready to submit your video for viewing.
Just the Facts
There are many factors to consider when budgeting for a business marketing video:
- The size and experience of your professional video crew is definitely a cost factor to consider.
- So is the number of days you shoot.
- You should also remember to account for the pre-production and post-production phases of your video shoot, not just the actual shoot days.
- And finally, don’t forget that you will be expected to provide a number of deliverables so that your business marketing video can be shown to the world, and these can add to your cost, depending on your situation.