There are countless articles on the Internet describing how and why web videos can be one of the most effective tools in your marketing arsenal. The one question that pops up right after every Grammy-award winning persuasive article is: how much is it going to cost me?
This is a question many of my clients, who have very little or no idea about the video production industry, ask me. Let me break it down. The production of a video is not a one-size-fits-all package. It doesn’t necessarily come in different levels of package deals either. There is so much that can go into a video, and the creator and client can take it as far as they want…at a cost of course.
One really good way of describing how different each video can be and what elements or features can be added would be to compare it to buying a car. For example, you can buy a base model of a Lexus and it will do what you need it to do, but it may not have all the bells and whistles or the fancy features that the more expensive luxury model might have. You can also buy a base model, but add maybe one or two more features without having to buy the entire luxury car. Essentially, it is customizable.
Web commercials work in the same way. In comparison, there are many variables that can go into the making of a video. It all boils down to what you want. It is like ordering from a menu a la carte. There is no basic answer to how much a video costs without the production company knowing what it is that you want exactly.
We need to know information such as, “Will this be shot on a green screen or at your location? Will you be hiring an actor to read your script or will you be the talent? Did you want animation? If so, how much animation and how detailed would it be?” A lot of the costs are tied in with how much time it takes for the company to shoot the video, edit it, and put it all together.
One tip video productions find helpful for clients is coming up with a budget that your company is comfortable with and seeing what kind of video that budget can afford. From there, you may decide to make any changes to your budget or your vision for your video.
Another helpful way in determining costs or figuring out what you want your video to look like would be to bring video examples of what you want. For example, a real estate client may have seen a one-minute video on YouTube that showcased a property. The structure of the video, the actor, and/or the music represented basically what he wanted. Bringing the video production company an example like that can definitely make the costs process easier to estimate.
There is a lot that goes into video production. It is definitely not just a base cost to create any kind of video. The best way to approach the “How much is it going to cost me?” question, is to have a basic idea of what you want it to look like, and how much you want to spend.
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