Promotional Video Production Cost
In 2023, perhaps nobody will be surprised by the fact that video content keeps conquering the world. According to to Think with Google, 68% of YouTube users watched videos to make purchase decisions. So, let’s talk about the average cost of video production.
Due to the efficiency of promo videos and their huge impact on consumers’ interest, you’ve probably been wondering about the promotional video production cost.
The average video promo prices start somewhere at $1,000 and may go up to $50,000. As the video production hourly rate range is quite wide, the question remains open. If you want to make a viral but affordable video for your business, let’s investigate the matter and try to answer the question. So how much does it cost to make a promotional video?
In this post, we’ll cover the main steps of the video production process. You will find out more about the team usually involved in creating promotional videos and learn how making such videos can boost your business.
What is Promotional Video and Why is it so Important
How to promote a new product with animation and video? A promotional video should be short and engaging since its main aim is not to sell the product directly. It lets customers know about a sale, an event, or any other marketing campaign. Promo videos are made to capture the users’ attention, get them interested in your product or service, and establish an emotional connection.
A simple advertising video tends to make viewers interested in the purchase. At the same time, a promo video has another aim to achieve. It is set to get people involved, introduce your brand, and become a memorable link for further attention to your product.
People in the 21st century prefer video content to be concise. The briefness of the promotion video reminds video teasers, has the goal of making viewers excited about what comes next. And just like teasers, promo videos have a good reason to be short. According to Wistia, if a video lasts for more than 2 minutes, its chances of losing viewers dramatically increase.
Emotional hook also matters. A promo video gives a great chance to achieve the balance between making your brand recognizable and touching people emotionally. It makes them want to learn more about your brand and discover opportunities and solutions it offers. Hence, such videos need to be engaging and contain the key points for potential customers to persuade them that they need your product. Read our blog post to get tips on how to make hype videos.
Sure, creating promotional videos isn’t easy. Such a video has to contain a clear idea and plot, outstanding and engaging visuals, and be consistent to keep viewers’ attention till the end. Moreover, there are different formats of such videos. You should decide which one is the most suitable for your case. Experiment with different types of promotional videos and see what works best for your company.
Even if you have little or no experience in video production, don’t worry. We’ll explain the whole process in more detail. But first, let’s learn more about the formats at your disposal.
Main Types of Promotional Video
Having the same aim, promo videos can hit the target in different ways, using different tools and approaches. There is quite a big number of promo video types. The video production price sheet may list different options , depending on the length and the complexity of production. But this short overlook with examples will help you get inspired and choose the direction you would like to move.
Brand Awareness Video
For almost any company, it is a great idea to have an “About Us” video. Its main goal is to introduce the brand to the audience, make it recognizable, show the team working on it, values and aims. The more emotions a brand awareness video can evoke, the more it stands out. Brand awareness video helps your company be identified among hundreds of competitors.
The Product Demonstration Video
The best way to introduce your product or service and show why it’s unique is to show how it works in action. A product or a product feature demo can hook the users much better than a common ad or a text description, even if it’s 1 minute long. Animation, good music, or a humorous approach may boost viewers’ attention.
Customer Testimonial Video
A testimonial video is worth considering if you want to show people why your product is great, not by promoting it yourself. You can let your happy clients do it for you. People would rather trust each other than rely on the words of a hired actor or an employee of your company. Testimonial videos are normally not expensive in production and are considered one of the audience’s favorites.
Explainer Video
An animated video production services can help you to create a brief guide that helps the customers understand how your product works and how to use it correctly. Explainer videos are the best option if you want to introduce a quite complicated tech product. For instance, it’s an app with many features and complex functionality. Make it animated so as not to complicate the viewing process but to make it clear and entertaining.
The Event Video
Creating an event video is beneficial because of three main factors. Firstly, they can partially fulfill the role of introducing your brand, product, or service, showing it through an event shoot. Secondly, this type of video is getting quite popular between video for social networks and may even become viral. And thirdly, you may significantly save the cost spent on production if your budget is strictly limited.
Company Culture Video
If you want to make an emotional connection between your company and the audience, a Company Culture video is the best choice. It introduces employees in a more personalized and casual way, making them closer to the clients. Such videos also summarize the company’s culture and values through a few brief stories of individuals who stand behind your brand. The Behind the Scenes video is also worth mentioning, as it shows what happens inside the company in a relaxed or humorous atmosphere.
What are the Main Components of the Price of Promotional Video
Now, having learned the variety of directions you can move, let’s get back to estimation. The price of your promo video will normally depend on a set of different factors. Depending on your choice, it may undergo major changes. If you want your video to be both good quality and affordable, here are the main components of the price and the most probable range of prices for each.
Factors that will impact your video production price the most:
- The general complexity of your promo video and its type
- Length of the video
- Time spent on creation, editing, and release
- Type of the team you hire
- Necessary equipment
- Location and possible transportation
Stages of Video Production
The main component of the price of your promo video, budget video production is the number of stages you need to pass by the moment of the release. First of all, you choose between two main options. You may hire a production team or do it in-house.
The first option would usually be preferable for those looking for a more professional approach to video production. Doing it yourself requires a lot of spendings on equipment, the cost of which may range between $1,000 and $10,000. Not to mention a lack of skills and experience. While you may not know how much to charge for a 1 minute video or an hour-long film, a production team will prepare a detailed price breakdown so you could properly plan your finances and not exceed your budget expectations. So if you are not a professional filmmaker, let’s focus on the first way.
Of course, the status, expertise, and location of the shop of your choice make a difference in the cost of the promo video production budget. The approximate video production prices of an average one will vary from $2,000 to $15,000 in total. Now, let’s take a closer look at these numbers.
Pre-production
It all starts with developing the idea of your promo video, writing a script, and preparing all needed for the shooting itself. A professional script writer’s hourly rate is about $50 – $150, so it’s $600 – $1800 in total. Remember that whether the video finds its way to the audience depends on the success of the concept and the script.
Production
How much does it cost to make a video? The average cost of video production is estimated not per hour but a day. So the total video production pricing will mostly depend on the complexity of the shooting process and the time that should be spent on it.
The number and price of equipment used for video shooting also depend on its type and complexity, but the regular set consists of one or two cameras. If your video doesn’t demand advanced features such as drones and specialized lenses, you may expect it to be somewhere between $25 and $100 per hour as average video production cost.
The team working on your promotional video production normally consists of several people. Below, you’ll see the list of experts and their approximate daily rates:
- Director of photography – $400 – $2,000 per day
- Camera operator (one or two) – $200 – $400 per day
- Sound technician – $200 – $700 per day
- Actors / actresses and models – $250 – $2,000 per day
The other crew members, such as production assistants, makeup artists, or hairstylists, are not always involved. Their presence is necessary only for more complex video creation. Some video production costs:
| Crew member | Daily rate estimates |
| Director of photography | $400-$2,000 |
| Camera operator (one or two) | $200-$400 |
| Sound technician | $200-$700 |
| Actors/actresses and models | $250-$2,000 |
The additional charges may go on location and transport. If you plan to shoot the video in multiple locations, it will take more time and get more expensive. Many promo videos are filmed in offices or client’s homes to reduce the promotional video prices. Professional studio prices may vary from $500 to $3,000 per day, or even more. In addition, you will have to pay for transportation and meals (up to $500 per day).
Post-production
The post-production process usually takes much more time than the previous stages. The amount of footage is crucial here. Editors work with the shot material and color, sound, design, voice-overs, music, graphics, and more advanced visuals if necessary. Bringing you the final cut in the required format also belongs to this stage of video production.
An average promo video post-production without special effects and other sophisticated features will cost somewhere between $500 and $2,500 in total.
Factors that Affect Promo Video Pricing
Except for the basics, let’s consider some additional factors that can increase the final price of your promo video. These features are not essential in video production and will be needed only in certain types of videos.
Quality
A video sequence’s overall quality can then be evaluated by recording and pooling the quality measure of each frame over time, as established by an image quality model. After that the pricetag may be added.
Revisions and iterations
It is significantly less expensive to identify a problem up front than to attempt to fix it after investing money and time on the product’s construction. Some production studios may include endless revisions to the price, others – not.
Length
Most videos should be kept under two minutes as a general rule, although the ideal video length varies based on where you distribute or embed it. Make it for every channel. How lengthy ought a brief video to be? Most promotional videos should be no more than two minutes which does not affect the price directly due to many other factors involved.
Voiceover
Voiceover narration is a tool typically used to represent a company, a product, or an event. It is an off-screen voice that explains something to the viewers. Voiceover is rarely mixed with music or any other sound effects not to distract people’s attention. A voiceover in a 5-minute video may cost from $250 to $2,000.
Music and Sound Design
Music can be way more important than you think. It brings the right mood and helps viewers dive into the atmosphere. However, it’s not so easy to implement. Composing unique material is much more expensive than finding it in stock. Sound effects also can set the tone. The total cost of these features will be $1,000 or even more.
Distribution
Distribution has a direct impact on the success of your promotional video. To let people see it, you will need to spread it around. The price for that depends on how big the target audience is. The cost for distribution starts at $1,000 and may increase significantly.
Animation
If you do a little research on YouTube, you will see that many promo videos are animated. Animation is a popular tool since it is an easy to perceive, imaginative, and creative way to tell people about your project, business, or event. Naturally, the process of making animated video content seriously differs from life-action, as well as the stages of production and the price tags. So how much does video production cost if you choose animation? Here are the approximate prices.
- Script or storyboard – $50 – $2,000
- Illustrations – $500 – $10,000
- Animation – $700 – $20,000
- Voiceover, music, or sound effects – $50 – $1,000
| Task | Estimated rate |
| Script or storyboard | $50-$2,000 |
| Illustrations | $500-$10,000 |
| Animation | $700-$20,000 |
| Voiceover, music, or sound effects | $50-$1,000 |
Thus, the average price for an animated promo video will vary between $2,000 and $10,000.
The Main Range of Prices of Promotional Video
A promotional video is a great way to establish the connection between your brand model and the audience. Instead of leaving them unconcerned or even frustrated, it lets them dive into the atmosphere you want to create around your project structure within just a few minutes.
Thus, a 30 second promotional video cost may end up around $1,500 to $2,500.
Again, the cost of the video may depend on various factors: voiceover, animation, sounds, graphics, and any additional features. Also, the size and scalability of the project and the deadlines can affect the end price. too Therefore, the cost of an average 30-second promotional video is typically around $1,500 to $2,500 on average.
How much to charge for a 1 minute video? Here’s a video production price sheet summary of Promo.com:
|
Equipment |
$1,100 – $9,700 |
|
Location |
$200 – $3, 000+/day |
|
Talent |
$50 – $500/hour |
|
Post-Production |
$645 – $2, 520/hour |
|
Grand Total |
$1, 995 – $15,720 |
Indigoprod.com provides the following figures: the budget for a professional promotional video (or marketing video or branding video) may range from $3,000 for the most straightforward possible project, up to $50,000 or $200,000 or even beyond – all that depending on the project complexity, the complexity of the concept and the overall quality you’re going for.
Hopefully, this post helped you get a better idea of how much to charge for a promo video. The process of its creation may be quite costly and takes a while. But it’s essential for those who want to keep in touch with the customers and conduct successful marketing.
So, how much does it cost for video production? Here is the summary of the average promo video pricing, which describes the costs spent on each of the main production stages.
- Script and pre-production – $500 – $800
- Video production (for an approximate 4-day shooting) – $2,000 – $20,000
- Video post-production – $500 – $2,500
| Task | Estimated rate |
| Script and pre-production | $500-$800 |
| Video production (for an approximate 4-day shooting) | $2,000-$20,000 |
| Video post-production | $500-$2,500 |
So the average promotional video production cost analysis without advanced budgeting features will be somewhere between $3,000 and $30,500. Also, keep in mind that most companies charge daily instead of providing a video production hourly rate expenses as it usually takes several full-time working days to create a video.
If you need to create a video to grow your business fees, introduce a product, or announce an event or a sale, you have come to the right place. We at Explain Ninja make video content that stands out and can visualize your idea the way it will hit the investment target. Feel free to drop us a line. We are ready to join!
Read more about creating engaging video content in our blog.
