Corporate Video: Working with a Videographer Video Series - Wylie.Video

TRANSCRIPT:

How much does a corporate video cost? The answer is simple: It depends. Hi, I'm Eric Wylie, a freelance corporate videographer and editor. Welcome to this series for corporate communicators, marketers, and business owners about partnering with a videographer to share your message using video. Please like, share, and subscribe.

Today we're tackling one of the most common questions about video production. How much does it cost to produce a corporate video?

As I said, it depends. What does it depend upon? Well, just like in your business, multiple factors contribute to the cost of creating a product or providing a service. Video production is no exception. Let's look at a few key elements.

Experience. Seasoned professionals charge more, but their expertise can elevate your final product. Someone with specific experience in your industry may cost more, but have higher returns.

Equipment costs.Professional cameras, lighting equipment, and microphones cost money and need to be maintained and eventually replaced. Better gear means better quality.

Business and vehicle insurance. Professional videographers carry insurance to protect their equipment, vehicles, and any locations they work in.

Travel expenses. If your production requires travel, expect costs for transportation, lodging, food and daily expenses, and travel time.

Subcontractors and rentals. Sometimes additional crew members or specialized equipment are needed, such as drone operators, sound engineers, or lighting specialists.

When working with a videographer, you'll generally encounter two pricing models: flat rate packages and custom estimates.

Flat rate packages typically offer a set number of hours, locations, or editing revisions at a fixed cost. These can work for predictable projects like event coverage or simple promotional videos. Package pricing is often used by people capturing images or video for basic social media use.

Custom estimates are more common in corporate and business video production, ensuring that your specific needs for the production are met.

Now, you might hear the terms estimate and quote used interchangeably, but they're actually quite different. An estimate is an approximation of the cost based on your project's requirements. It can change if the scope of work evolves.

A quote, on the other hand, is a fixed price offered after details are finalized. Once agreed upon, it doesn't usually change unless additional work is requested. Some companies, particularly manufacturers who are used to purchasing raw materials and parts, are more familiar with quotes.

But quotes don't usually fit with the creative work of video producers, graphic artists, and writers. There are too many variables in play. Understanding these differences can help you communicate clearly with your videographer and avoid unexpected costs.

In my business, for me and my clients, I don't provide package pricing, only estimates, and I don't provide quotes,

only estimates. Here's why:

In my experience, a package price for a creative service like video production often puts either me or the client at a disadvantage. Either the package price costs the client more than it should, you've paid too much for the work, or it isn't enough money for me for the level of work the job ends up requiring because of changes that are requested once I get on site.

I don't ever want me or my clients getting a bad deal. I want things to go well because I don't want to make one video for a client, I want to help make all of that client's videos.

So I want to do what I can to ensure that our business and working relationship is a good one.

As long as I know and understand all of the expectations and requests, I can create an estimate that provides clients a very good idea of where we will land for a final cost when the project is completed.

And if the work changes throughout our planning time or even when we're recording, and it often does, I can share what that change in direction or additional request might add to the cost.

Of course, there are two ways for you as the client to approach the situation. You can say, I have X dollars to create a video that needs to include A, B, and C content, and allow the videographer to assess the funding and the needs and reply to you with what they can provide within those parameters.

Or you can say, I need to create a video that includes content A, B, and C, how much would you charge for that work?

Both approaches are valid and both approaches will likely include some back and forth to discuss the details regarding locations, expectations, and timelines.

In the first approach where the client shares their budget and expectations, I will sit down and run the math on the costs to do the work compared to the amount of money budgeted and respond with ways I could fulfill the request within the given budget.

In the second approach where the client asks for an estimate and doesn't want to share a budget, I'll run the same numbers for costs and see where it comes out. In both cases, you should end up with a good estimate based on the information known at the time.

However, sharing your budget up front can save time overall.

If your videographer is honest, and most all of us are, you'll get a good estimate. But if you've provided a budget that's larger than required for the video,

you might hear me say, "I think we could get two videos out of this project."

In fact, I try to do that whenever I can when creating estimates.

I'm looking for efficiencies and opportunities to get you as much meaningful content as possible for your money.

For one of my corporate clients where I work with multiple departments, once I have dates to be on site for video recording, I'll email my other department contacts to let them know when I'll be on site and that I could potentially extend my time there by another day or so if they have a project brewing that they would like recorded.

That allows me to share the travel costs between two or more projects and save each department a bit of money.

But the company as a whole wins through the cost efficiency and I win with some additional work.

Again, I want to be asked back so I do what I can to make things easy and efficient.

In everything we do, we should be looking out for one another and seek out methods that allow everyone to have a win.

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So how much should you budget for video production?

Here are some very general price ranges as of the date of this video.

Basic business videos, single camera, one day of recording and basic editing is between 1,500 and $5,000.

Mid-range videos, which might include multiple locations or multiple days of work, some travel, additional cameras or other equipment will be between 5,000 and $15,000.

Large productions, which are longer productions that require many recording days and lots of editing, specialty graphics and animations,

travel to multiple locations, additional crew, licensing or location permits, those are $15,000 and up.

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Partnering with a videographer is an investment in your business. By understanding cost factors, pricing structures and how to talk with your video professional about a budget, you can work together to create video content that delivers results.

If you found this information useful, please be sure to like and share this video and subscribe to my YouTube channel and turn on notifications so that you know when the next video is available. And please add your comments and questions to the discussion.

Thanks for watching, we'll see you next time. (Upbeat Music)