A marketing video can certainly cost a lot of money. However, video marketing success is often measured in terms of the return on investment, which means that it must be profitable over time.
Fortunately, video marketing can increase sales and profits for businesses of all sizes. Making video content doesn’t always require significant budgets; video marketing done right does require some planning and preparation to create video assets (videos) that provide value to your audience.
While video production has become more accessible with lower-price equipment and editing software, professional video is still likely out of reach for many small businesses.
Fortunately, there are video production companies that work on cost-effective video rates for marketing purposes. A marketing video doesn’t necessarily need Hollywood-level FX or an Oscar-winning screenplay to result if you have a strong strategy If you have a big budget and want to hire a huge production company with lots of connections, know-how, and equipment it can cost a lot of money.
You could spend anywhere from $10k – $30k on high-end projects. But don’t worry – there are some things you can do to get around these costs if you’re not willing or able to pay that much for your video yet:
1) Think small. What is the smallest they would need from me? Maybe I can deliver those elements myself? Or maybe they won’t need as many people as they think, what about just doing a video by myself?
2) Get a partner video company. Companies like this often work with video production companies to spread the cost of video making over many different businesses.
They will bring marketing projects into their network and cover all or part of it as one credit, reducing your cost per video significantly. Or they may offer marketing video as an extra service (ie: They do web design at $X and then also include marketing videos for free).
So don’t be afraid to ask!
3) Plan ahead. If you’re doing a video now then you can probably afford something simple but professional that will serve its purpose and mean you’ll come out looking good and not spending too much (even if it’s not perfect!).
But what about next year? How many videos do you need to produce this year in order to make video a part of your marketing strategy going forward? What about video content for social media or video snippets for blog posts.
If you plan ahead then the video tools below will be able to help you work out how much video you’re going to need and give a good estimate of how much it’s all going to cost.
4) Find local video production companies. The internet contains lots of video producers but tries looking locally first! Video companies running out of London, New York, and LA can charge stupid rates because they think people from other countries will pay them.
But don’t get tempted by their allure – especially if what they offer is not worth the money! Find video companies in your own country who are willing to work at local rates.
They still have the same access to video equipment, video team members, video talent, and video expertise as any other video production company – they just don’t take advantage of their location’s proximity to international markets!
5) Use free video tools. There are applications that you can download and use for free, you can always search for these tools. Oh and here’s another; some video templates that you can use for free (just remember that if you put them on YouTube or Vimeo please give video credit to the video maker).
While video production has become more accessible with lower-price equipment and editing software, professional video is still likely out of reach for many small businesses.
Fortunately, there are video production companies that work on cost-effective video rates for marketing purposes. Working with video experts and video marketing agencies is a great way to get the video done on a budget and video experts can help you get more for your money than just video production.
