How Much Will A Marketing Video Cost?

It isn’t easy to put a price on any creative task. And as with any creative discipline, video marking services costs may significantly vary. Putting a price on a creative process is not only difficult but can also be very vague. It is, however, a very critical component of your marketing budget and thus needs to be determined.

It has been noted that businesses refrain from investing in marketing videos primarily because of the time involved and the money required. But you can include marketing video costs in your overall budget, regardless of size.

Factors that Affect Marketing Video Costs

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In order to include a line item for video marketing services cost in your marketing budget, you first need to understand that several factors affect the costs. This, in turn, depends on the type and purpose of the videos. Look at the most important factors determining the marketing video production cost.

1. Video Quality

The quality of a marketing video will depend on the creator and the ideator. A freelancer who does this as a side hustle will, in all probability, produce a video of inferior quality to a professional. Lack of quality, however, may mean different things if you are clear on the purpose. For example, entertainment or instructional videos may afford to be of amateur quality. But if your purpose is to promote your brand, then be ready to spend more on marketing video costs.

2. Video Length

The length of the video also dictates the marketing video production cost. An extra run time of even a few seconds can shoot up the price significantly. This is because:

• Adding extra seconds to the run time implies that the creator must invest more time in developing newer elements and storyboarding.
• Sometimes, new footage might be required to be added to the video to lengthen the time; this means shooting afresh, even in new locations and with new people.
• A longer run time means extra editing efforts that push up the video marketing services cost.

3. Video Type

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The type of video that you are making also dictates the pricing. For instance, you may want to shoot some nice aerial shots that require more sophisticated equipment, like a drone and a drone operator. These entail additional costs, which means a higher marketing video cost for you.

Finally, how you execute the video production also determines the final marketing video production cost. Let’s discuss this in more detail.

Marketing Video Production Cost Based on Types

You can broadly make marketing videos through 3 channels that are discussed below.

1. Outsourcing

Depending on the scope of the project, outsourced video marketing production costs can see huge fluctuations. This is, by far, the most expensive option you can opt for if you have the budget. Prices may range from INR 5,000 per second to INR 10,00,000 for the entire project. It depends on whether it is a premium video or a basic marketing teaser.

The main components of an outsourced marketing video cost are:

1. Concept: The video-making agency will need to dedicate resources and time to develop the initial storyboarding ideas and the overall concept. The time required for this may vary between a few hours to a few days depending on the overall project scope.
2. Pre-production: Once the concept is approved, the team then needs to complete the pre-production assignments like getting permits to shoot in particular locations, finalizing actors, and characters, getting the equipment ready, etc.
3. Shooting the video: The marketing video production cost will depend on the number of days spent actually shooting the video. There is usually a per-day cost multiplied by the total number of days.
4. Post-production: This phase is when the editing and polishing happen. It is also the most important and sometimes takes the maximum number of days.

With outsourcing, although the video marketing services costs are high, the benefits are also many:

• You can just outsource the entire project to professionals, including conceptualization and completion, without sweat about how it will turn out.
• Some marketing agencies also offer support by helping you plan additional promotional activities to use your marketing videos effectively.
• You don’t need to worry about gathering equipment for the shoot.

2. In-House Production

It might be more feasible and sustainable at times to go for in-house video production. Although this entails a considerable amount of investment in equipment and initial setup, it might bring down the marketing video costs in the long run.

Take a look at the major components of in-house marketing video production cost:

• Equipment: The equipment required to shoot your video really depends on its scope and purpose. If you are an established brand and want to take things a notch higher, investing heavily in purchasing equipment and paying your internal resources to operate them makes sense. In this case, the equipment cost may vary from INR 25,000 for a basic DSLR camera to as much as INR 10,00,000 for any other high-end camera. 

Then, there are costs attached to microphones, background setup, video editing software, lighting, etc. You may want to invest in training and initial skill-building of the internal team. Although this may sound too much, remember that these are all one-time investments. So, your overall video marketing services cost will be lower in the long run.

• Locales: If you plan to shoot indoors, like in your office space, it won’t cost anything. But if you want to take things outside now that you have all that fancy gear, your marketing video cost will go up. 

The prices will depend on where you want to shoot, the permits you need, etc. If it is a day-long shoot, you also need to take care of the team working hard on the field. This means providing them with meals and sometimes accommodation if the location is remote.

• Resource Persons: For a marketing video, you may make it promotional by simply sharing information. But many brands like to hire actors or important people to speak about the brand to build credibility. This has to be accounted for while budgeting for your marketing video production cost. Remember that the more popular the person, the higher their fees.
  
• Post Production: You have already purchased the video-editing software. Now you have to invest time in editing the raw footage. For this, you will need professionals who might already be working with you and drawing a monthly salary. Or you may need to spend some money training a team of people to do this. Either way, it has to be factored into your video marketing services cost.

3. Online Videos

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Now that you have a basic comparative analysis between outsourcing and in-house video production, here is one last option to consider for marketing video production – online video makers. They are available in plenty and have the following benefits:

• Low marketing video costs: If your marketing budgets constrain you, go for an online video maker without any doubts. Some of this software can make amazing videos and are inexpensive. Most of them run on a subscription model. Try the basic free version to test it out.
• Profit maximization: When considering overall marketing costs, online video makers cost almost nothing. This is a deal maker for small companies as they do not have huge budgets to cover their marketing video production costs. By investing almost nothing, you can increase your profits as your purpose of promoting your brand is still met.
• Great features: Although inexpensive, online video makers are rich in features. You, as a business, may have a great idea and concept for a video but need help executing it. Try out an online video maker and bring your ideas to life.
• Content quality: Since online video-making software comes built-in with the technicalities, you needn’t worry about quality. All you have to do is provide the right inputs to generate the best results for you.
• Accessibility: Since they are available on the internet, they are more accessible than professional agencies. What’s more? You don’t even have to worry too much about video marketing services cost since you don’t need to invest in training resources.

As a business that rides on promotional content, video marketing is a non-negotiable channel. And depending on your overall budget, you can determine the marketing video costs beforehand to choose the best avenue of video content creation.

Key Takeaways

1. Marketing video production costs are integral to a company’s marketing budget.
2. The key components of video marketing services cost are type, quality, and length.
3. You can create marketing videos in-house, by outsourcing, or by using an online video maker.
4. Equipment is the most costly component of marketing video costs.
5. Post-production costs must be included in marketing budgets.

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