Costs can be saved at every stage of video production. This chapter will help you decide which video type and approach is right for your project.
One of the first questions you might ask when you’re getting into video marketing is how much does it cost to make a video? And with good reason. Creating an effective video can become eye-wateringly expensive, but the good news is that, with the right tools, it doesn’t have to be.
In this chapter, we’ll explore the costs involved in creating videos to help you decide which format and approach is right for you and your business.
The cost of producing a video can vary widely and is based on a number of factors, including:
Video production costs can be divided roughly into low cost, medium range, and high end.
Let’s take a look at each of these categories:
Slideshow videos are one of the easiest styles of video to create. They are produced by still images in video footage, with animations, text, and slick transitions to tell a story or display products.
Cost: You can create customized slideshow videos for around US$29 each, with Placeit.
Product videos are videos that showcase a product, either in use or standalone. They’re typically around the 60 second mark and may be used on promotional landing pages.
Cost: Between US$1,000 and US$5,000 (source: Advids)
In 2018, Wistia, a video-hosting platform, conducted an experiment to promote their cool web app, Soapbox, and to test the benefit of spending more on video ad production. The company had three different video ads created, with the $1,000 ad shot using a mobile phone, the $10,000 version shot using a dedicated video camera, and a $100,000 video shot using a full production crew.
When the company reviewed the ads, they had a clear idea which of the three best told the story of what Soapbox is and how it can be used. However, they wanted to see how their target audience would respond, so they ran and promoted the ads separately on Facebook and YouTube, with similar targeting and copy, and with a primary key performance indicator (KPI) of Cost Per Install.
What they found was that the $10,000 video ad—the one they felt from the start told the product’s story most effectively—outperformed the other two versions. This shows that a good idea, executed well, outweighs production cost and quality.
Wistia explained, “Small businesses with a good idea and willingness to get scrappy should optimistically recognize that successful video advertising is not beyond their means.”
Video production costs can vary widely, but we’ve used a Video Cost Calculator from Gydes to provide an indication of where your budget might be split to cover the cost of production:
Know how to maximise your budget? Head to Chapter 8 for an overview of video advertising. Or visit Chapter 9 to learn about the video tools that you’ll find in every smart video marketer’s toolbox.