Is a videographer worth it? Here’s 5 things to consider
Are you ready to take your business to the next level? You need video content to reach the masses.
But with such a powerful 4K phone camera already in your pocket, you’re left wondering…
Is hiring a video production company really worth it?
How much does a videographer cost anyway?
After all, the most viral pieces of content on the internet are just stupid cat videos and people hurting themselves.
These are the top five things to consider when choosing between making your own content, and hiring a professional videographer.
Story-Telling
Video production, while essential in the modern age of the internet, is only a means to an end. It’s a form of communication. By far, the most effective one available to you on the internet. Here’s some stats to prove it.
But a video in itself can still be very boring. What sets your message apart is good story telling.
Not all videographers are created equally.
If you do decide to go down the professional route, make sure you jump on the phone with them to assess whether they’re willing to take the time to understand your brand.
If they’re not willing to brainstorm ideas with you or show no interest in your message - red flag.
But if you do find the right videographer or video production company, their unique perspective and story telling ability could grow your brand astronomically.
Format
The next thing to consider is your video format. Practically speaking, this will be the biggest determining factor for whether you should hire a professional or not.
There are three questions to ask yourself:
Where on the internet is my audience?
What is that audience looking for?
How can my brand fit into those trends?
If your audience is quite general, YouTube ads might be a great idea for you. If you have a younger audience on TikTok, creating organic, lo-fi smart phone videos could be perfect.
That’s good news for your budget.
If you’re tech and trend savvy and willing to put in the time, you can grow an organic following for your brand with videos you’ve created on your iPhone.
But if you’re marketing to professionals, you might want to create content for LinkedIn or Instagram.
While a TikTok audience might be primarily looking for entertainment, those on LinkedIn, YouTube or Instagram are often after education.
Look for popular topics in your niche, and create professional video content educating your audience on that topic.
Over time, you’ll become the master of that niche in their eyes and become the go-to choice for your product or service.
Brand Image
The next thing to consider when choosing between a professional videographer or self-produced smart phone videos is how that content style will reflect on your brand.
Lo-fi User-Generated Content (commonly known as UGC) is often more effective because it feels native to the platform. Especially when you’re creating organic content rather than paid ads, professionally shot videos will feel to the viewer like advertising.
But this is not always the case.
If you sell an upmarket product or service and your brand image is clean and classy, potential clients could be turned off by your rough smart phone videos on social media. In this case, we would highly recommend hiring a videographer or video agency.
That said, there are some amazing examples of world-class brands who take themselves very un-seriously on socials, such as Duolingo on TikTok.
The best thing for you to do is observe your competitors, and smash their content out of the park in both quality and value.
Time
The next factor to consider is time.
How long does a professional video take?
Video production agencies can sometimes take three months to get your project completed. For us at Sharehouse Video, we often will get the project done from first call to final delivery in as little as three weeks.
But on the flip side, creating content for yourself can be even more time consuming.
You have to set time aside to do:
market research (what’s popping?)
ideate your videos
pre-production
gather props, locations and talent
shoot your videos
figure out how to edit them
post them on all platforms, including writing captions and completing best practices
…and did we mention you should be posting at least three times a week?
That’s 12 unique pieces of video content every months.
144 videos a year.
It’s overwhelming! But don’t worry, there’s absolutely value in starting slow and working your way towards more frequency.
The Budget
Finally, the buck stops here: cost.
How much does a videographer cost? How much do video agencies charge?
If you do it yourself, the only cost is your time. If you follow the above schedule, we’d estimate it will take you 8-10 hours a week to create and post content.
That’s about that’s about 32 hours a month - close to your weekly salary.
On the professional side, a video production company can cost as much as $50K-$80K for a video campaign. Whereas a solo videographer might create your video for $1000.
There’s always someone on AirTasker who will get it done for $50… but I wouldn’t recommend doing that.
That’s a massive difference. You’ve got a lot to consider.
These our tips, boiled down:
Option 1:
If it will suit your brand and your audience, (and you can allocate 8-10 hours per week) do it yourself. Especially if you’re starting out and budgets are slim, there’s massive value in putting out raw, real, educational and/or entertaining content. And you can start today!
Option 2:
Start marching through the weeds and find a videographer. It might cost you to $1000 - $5000, but they’ll have professional 4K cameras and will make good-looking content that lasts forever. You might still have to do pre-production yourself, including writing scripts, finding actors and locations.
Option 3:
Reach out to a nimble video agency. (like us!) We’ll do everything for you - ideation, script writing, pre-production, talent, locations, shooting and editing… and we don’t cost $80K. In fact, our prices start around $5K. If you’d like to learn more, watch this.
Those are your options!
The right choice depends entirely on your brand, your audience, your budget and available time.
Good luck! :)