The Mystery Of Video Pricing

One of the questions we get asked all the time and maybe the most important one is, “How much does a video cost?”

There are times when it’s easier to answer this question but more often than not I’m presented this question without any information about the potential client and project. Most people don’t know what it takes to produce a video, just like most people have no idea how much it costs to remodel a bathroom until you have to go through it. There is a huge range in both of these kinds of projects, a lot of it depends on what you’re looking to have done. Everyone knows the price of an average burger and sure, that can range but the cost isn’t typically the first question we ask when going to lunch.

What’s different from ordering a burger as opposed to the creation of a video? The main reason for the large range in pricing is that you’re not just paying for a product, you are also paying for the skill of the person. Someone with 10 years experience and a team of sous chefs might create an amazing lunch for you but at the same time you might be just as happy with grilling a burger at home, having no culinary training of your own. That’s the difference of creative services. A person or a company with 10 years experience is very likely going to do a better job than that person with very little experience. The end product will be high quality and you’ll pay for that.

When a potential client comes to LooseKeys, we have a general price we work within for most videos but this can go up and down. Depending on a lot of factors.

There are always huge swings in this industry, you’ll see one minute videos being produced for $500 and then another one for $500,000. We’ve even been asked to produce a 30 minute video for $500. This might sound ridiculous but again this goes back to a lack of knowledge. Estimating the cost of a video takes some work and it can often be seen as some kind of math wizardry. If you look at it simply, you are essentially estimating the time needed and the cost for the people involved:

• Project Manager — This person’s role is to make sure everything stays on track.
• Copywriter — This can take anywhere from 1 hour to a week or more if there are revisions.
• Production / Post Production Team — This can involve shooting the video, editing, designing, animating and is usually the longest part of the process.

One person might be able to tackle all of the pieces of a project and that’s how LooseKeys started but as you grow and have some extra hands on a project, the quality can go up. So when you think that an average two minute explainer video for us takes about 4 weeks to produce (from pre-production to delivery), the thought of being a highly skilled team, spending a month working for $500 just seems unfair… even if we do love making these videos.

One thing that helps for creating an estimate of a project is a good creative brief that outlines the style, goals, and length of the video.