HOW MUCH DOES VIDEO PRODUCTION COST? 

The short answer to the question “How much does video production cost” is – it depends.

If you don’t actually have any significant budget for video production, you still can make a video with an iPhone for free and do it so well it might work out perfectly for you especially in such platforms as your personal blog or Youtube channel.

Or if your budget is unconstrained – the sky is the limit really (you know the movie budgets, don’t you).

In order to get a deeper idea of how to determine video production costs, it is necessary to start with one simple question, and that is “What kind of video do you need?”

1. WHAT KIND OF VIDEO DO YOU ACTUALLY NEED?

How to understand what kind of video you actually need is in itself a broad subject which would deserve an entirely separate blog post or article. Here we will offer some suggestions on how to start your decision process.

A What Is Your Target Audience?

Start by defining your target audience. The type of audience you wish to target with your video will determine the type of video you have to produce as well as many small details of the video production process. As a result – the cost of the video also will vary.

If your target audience, for example, is people visiting your website, then a motion graphics based explainer video describing your product or service can be a good choice. If your target audience is, for example, your own employees who need to pass some certification, then you will have to produce a series of staff training videos.

These two types of audiences call for different videos and therefore the costs will be different as well.

What Are The Goals You Want to Achieve With Your Video?

Next thing to think about is the goal you want to achieve with your video.

If your goal is to raise brand awareness you can start with for example a captivating time-lapse video showing how your product is being built. If it proves to be interesting enough, people will share it across social media thus creating a buzz around your brand.

Alternatively, if your goal is to educate and inform your target audience you can start with a series of simple “how to” videos about your product or service. And again – your chosen goal will determine the type of video and as a consequence – the cost of the video.

What Quality Level Do You Require?

Now that you have a clear idea about the target audience and the goal of your video, think about the quality.

As mentioned earlier – it is possible to shoot videos on the iPhone and actually get away with it. But you have to remember that – similar to other advertising methods – your video represents the whole of your business. It is like a salesperson without holidays. It will be there – on your website, in your youtube channel, on TV – all the time and it will be selling your product, brand or cause non-stop. You don’t want your most productive salesman to look untrustworthy and incompetent.

A good way to decide on the quality level is to look at competitors’ videos. You don’t want your video to be less quality than theirs. You want it to be equal or higher quality.

After checking out your competition you will probably also realize more about some extra features you want regarding your video like special effects, choosing celebrities as presenters, use of cranes or drones for those nice top shots, etc.

Thinking through all these questions will help you to have a more precise idea about what kind of video you really need. And as a result, you will have a more effective dialogue with your video production company.

Now that you have decided what kind of video you need, you can ask yourself the final question which actually narrows down the focus of our quest much more effectively than the question “how much does video production cost”, and the question is:

2. HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU SPEND ON A VIDEO?

The amount you should spend on a video largely depends on what is your overall marketing budget. But remember – a video can serve you for years to come, so it should be considered a long term investment rather than a simple expenditure.

Firstly we would advise – again – to go online and browse videos about similar products and services as yours. Note down the ones you liked the most and show these examples to your prospective video production companies. Seeing an example video will make it very easy for the video production company to tell you how much this type of video production costs and why. If you send your quote request (with included example video URL) to several video production companies, you will be able to get several quotes and as a result, make an informed decision.

Obviously – the more educated about video production costs, in general, you will be, the more you can “squeeze” the video production company, as you will be able to tell when they are budgeting for things you don’t actually need to spend on.

You can find more detailed information about aspects that drive costs of video production projects up or down in our blog post about the main components driving video production costs.

We also highly recommend using our video production cost calculator to get a more precise understanding of the costs involved in various types of video production projects.

Last updated on 04 July 2019