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How Much Should Your Next Video Cost?

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOUR NEXT B2C/B2B VIDEO COST? THE SKY’S NOT THE LIMIT, BUT THE ANSWER IS THE MOON.

Asking how much a B2C or B2B video costs is like asking: “How much does a house cost?”  Or, “How much does a car cost?” The answer, of course, is: “It depends.” You can buy a house for $300,000.00 or $3,000,000.00. You can buy a Mini Cooper starting at $24,000.00, or a new Audi Electric SUV starting at $66,800.00. You can also buy a pricer Jaguar, Rolls Royce, or—you get the idea. It all depends on what your needs are, what you can afford, what’s important to you, and how quickly you want to solve those needs.

THE AVERAGES WEAVE BACK AND FORTH LIKE A STACK OF TURTLES

As you know, there are national averages for everything; housing, cars, gas, but these averages start to weave to and fro like a stack of turtles from Dr. Seuss’ Yertle The Turtle when it comes to videos. For proof, just Google the subject and see all the blogs and articles that pop up.

One video production company says the average cost is between $1,000 and $50,000.00. That’s a lot of weaving. Another video production company says between $2,500 to $10,000.00. Hhm… bet that doesn’t include any type of animation, usually much more expensive and time-consuming than live footage. Still another video production company says an average is $5,000.00 per finished minute. So, a four-minute video equals $20,000.00, right? But what about when you have to shoot at several plant locations around the country, or the world?

Obviously, the best thing to do is shop around, check out video production companies, and try to get the lay of the pricing land. That’s just smart. It’s also smart to know the difference between a video production company and a video ad agency. More on that in a minute. But one thing any video production source will tell you–including your own in-house team if you have one–is “The cost depends.” It depends on your needs: the use, locations, timetable, your overall marketing strategy, audience, and the value you place on the video, not unlike the quality of a car, or the square footage and amenities inside a house.

NO ROOM FOR THE SUBSTANDARD

One thing that’s a certainty is video is essential for your business. Whether it’s daily conferencing with remote teammates, doing a training session, or reaching out to potential customers, partners, or investors with a sales piece. The days of having someone in your marketing department shoot something on their cell phone are long gone. As a writer for Forbes Magazine put it a few months ago: “Now, more than ever, the quality and look of videos define an organization’s brand image, perception and success in the market. There’s no room for half-baked, substandard video when a company is trying to make its best impression.”

MORE USE SHOULD MEAN BETTER QUALITY

There are many things to consider when making your video. Earlier, I mentioned use. If you’re a small company and you’re making a fun, even whimsical video for your sales team of six people who are going to see your video just once at an annual company gathering, it’s safe to say you can consider some quick and inexpensive production values. But what if you want to use that video on the company’s Facebook page? Or put it on YouTube? Your audience just jumped from your six-person sales team to the world. “Oh, c’mon now!” you say? “That’s not going to have a negative impact on my company.” It absolutely will if a potential customer trying to learn more about you sees that video and thinks: “Chintzy!” It’s wise to consider producing a video for multiple uses, and if you’re going to do that, remember that it’s not just a video; it’s a calling card for your business that people can access around the world 24/7.

The same is true with webinars. Think through the use and what’s valuable. A webinar with 10 minutes of chit-chat that before you actually get into the subject matter will lose your audience. Similarly, a locked-off stationary camera on a tripod will have the same effect. When the average 30-second commercial has as many as 20 different shots to keep the viewer’s attention, a stationary camera focused on a stage with a couple of people talking for 45 minutes is a practical guarantee of lost interest and opportunity. 

ANIMATION CHANGES THE AVERAGES

A lot of companies these days use animation. It’s popular, you don’t have to worry about paying actors, going on location, weather days, and you can be as diverse as you want with characters instead of taking the time and effort to find and cast people. Even if you don’t “cast” people and use your own employees, animation is still often preferable because it wears better. You’ll never have to see that scene with Bob from Accounting who actually quit the company 10 months earlier, or hear from Susan in HR who has since moved on to Regional Sales. Animation solves a lot of these problems. But it has to be built. The action of a character simply waving can take hours to render; a character walking across a room, hours more. Animation has to be drawn and it simply takes more time and money to do, and that goes for beautiful gleaming logos, blueprints that turn into buildings, even putting your logo on a conference room door where the door you’re using is a piece of stock footage. Animation can quickly mount up costs, and 3-D animation–which is very cool–even more.

SO, WHICH IS BETTER, LIVE-ACTION OR ANIMATION?

This all gets back to your needs, objectives, and intent. There’s no question that animation has distinct advantages: it’s popular, you don’t have to cast and pay actors, you can be as diverse with your characters as you want, no weather days, it brings logos to life in dynamic ways, you avoid seeing company employees who are no longer with the company, and so on. But live-action has its distinct advantages, too. Corporate videos featuring people talking about their company, or customers giving a testimonial, are real. It’s people talking to people and nothing’s more relatable than a person telling a story. Using a professional spokesperson and actors has advantages too because it gives your organization a sense of polish and professionalism. You’re psychologically saying to your audience: “We think enough about you to tell our story well.”  According to AdAge Magazine, the average attention span of a consumer is 8.25 seconds. So, trusting those 8.25 seconds to experienced on-camera professionals makes all sorts of sense. 

LOCATION, TIME, AND THE REALITIES OF YOUR BUDGET

Working with a production resource in say, Portland, OR, is going to be less expensive than working with a production resource in larger markets like London, or New York, or LA. Things cost differently in different cities, just like housing and cars. Another factor is time. A quality video that has be produced in two weeks is very probably going to be more expensive than a video that has to be produced in eight weeks because more resources have to be brought to bear more quickly. Then, there’s your budget. We at Hybrid Moon want to be responsible and give you the best value for your dollar. In fact, we try to give clients more for their money. But if that money is modest, well–like used cars and fixer-upper homes–there are ways to make efficient videos that can achieve results if put in the right hands.

WHY YOUR NEXT PROJECT SHOULD BE DONE BY A VIDEO AD AGENCY, US 

Video production companies are in business to produce videos. 90% of the time, companies seek out production resources with an outline, script, storyboard, and budget already in mind. While we understand and respect this process, that’s not our world.

On the Moon, we prefer clients come to us at the very beginning of the video phase. We talk about everything we’ve touched upon in this blog and more: the audience, the use, the possible locations, the needs of animation versus live action, and the expectations (objectives) of the video. Are we simplifying a very complex technical story? Doing a sizzle reel or sales video for a trade show? Filming a multi-day conference? Or, are we aiming to inspire a sales force with new tools that will help them succeed? We talk about timelines, research competitive landscapes if necessary, and discuss what the client envisions regarding attitude, tone, and voice. From all of this, a strategy is developed, then an outline, then a script, then a storyboard or animatic. We walk with a client every step of the way like we’re their in-house video development team because that’s precisely what we are. We bring over 30 years of experience to the table learned from hundreds of productions. Then we produce the video to exceed your expectations. We’ll format it for multiple uses. We’ll even help track results. This is the kind of difference that makes us different: a video ad agency versus a production company that so often simply executes.

How much does this cost? We’ll answer that together. And we’ll do it with transparency, thoughtfulness, and a dedication to making your next video experience the best one ever. You’ll never feel like you’re on the dark side of the Moon. Only the bright. Reach out at info@hybridmoon.com or call us at 503-295-1991. It’s one small step, and one you’ll be glad you took.