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It's clear that video, especially online video, has moved in to the mainstream. In fact, according
to a recent survey by the Web Video Marketing Council... 81% of marketing executives intend
to use some form of video in their marketing programs this year.
This is an exciting time for the video production business. In fact, given the renewed interest
in video, we thought it might be helpful to share a few tips to help you get the most
out of your video budget:
First, work with professionals. This may seem like a no brainer; however,
there are a lot of fly by night one-man operations popping up on every corner. And the truth
of the matter is that it can be very difficult to compare even the most professional video
production companies... apples to apples. Most marketing folks already know how difficult
it can be to compare one ad agency to another... well, selecting a video production company
is very similar. This is due, in large part, to the subjective nature of creative services.
And unfortunately... while RFPs may work in many industries, they seldom work in creative
industries.
When possible, meet face-to-face with prospective video production companies to see what their
people are like. Are they professional? Do they have experience in your industry? How
is their portfolio? What do there past customers say about them? All of these factors will
combine to paint a complete picture of who is best suited to take on your project.
Second, tap into your video production company's expertise.
You may already know exactly what you need; however, most professional video production
companies have a wealth of experience, with lots of different approaches, styles, and
types of videos. If you ask a prospective video production company to provide you with
an estimate to do a promotional video, many of them will simply provide you with an estimate
to shoot a promotional video. And that may be fine most of the time.
On the other hand, if you present them with your objectives and challenges... you may
be surprised by the recommended solutions that are presented to you.
Third, be open about your budget. Having honest discussions about budget can
save a lot of time and aggravation for everyone. Of course, you may not always know how much
something should cost, or how much you need to allocate towards certain projects; however,
it's important to establish some guidelines. You can always show your production company
an example of another video that is comparable to what you like and ask them how much they
think something like that would cost. This would give you a frame of reference, and allow
you to make sure your allocating an appropriate budget to a project. If you don't provide
some guidelines, you may get a wide range of prices and possibilities.
In fact, the truth of the matter is... the video production companies that win the most
business and typically do the best work are the ones that propose solutions that offer
the most value within an allocated budget.
For Black Tent, I'm Jerry Teuschler.