Video Production Services that Won’t Blow Your Budget

Welcome to the video age. Everywhere you go, everyone is watching videos – on their phones, on their tablets, on their laptops. And everyone wants you to see the video they just watched. They share them on Facebook. They share them on YouTube. They send you a text link. You know it’s time to get videos out to the world about your business, but you’re scared. You cannot spend a ton of money, but you don’t want to create videos that go viral because you did it wrong either. Here’s a look at video production services that won’t blow your budget.

Graphic Spots Save Money and Tell Your Story
One simple solution you can build in-house involves creating graphics that are pertinent to your story, then using a video editor to meld them into a nice storyboard. You gain control over the content while presenting a media that can appeal to knowledgeable viewers. A professional service such as an accountant could use this effectively as customers are buying your expertise, not your visual images. Also, by using your own graphics you can ensure you are creating unique video content. There are some great tools out there and they are fairly easy to use. A long time favorite is Adobe After Effects, this application can do just about anything and the Internet is packed with tutorials on how to use it. If your feeling ambitious you can check out a 3-D package like Cinema 4D, this one will take some time to learn but the end results can be absolutely amazing. There are dozens more out there, it doesn’t matter how much they cost, or the amount of features they have, if it works for you then it’s the right tool.

Using Quality Royalty-Free Video to Look Great and Save a Ton of Cash
Hiring a video professional to create unique content can put a serious dent in your wallet. But the Internet is full of great-looking videos that can be had for free that you develop into content specific to your needs. If you search a hub like Flickr be sure commercial-use is allowed if you plan on using it for your business. The big stock houses like Getty and Shutterstock have some beautiful royalty-free video that is fairly inexpensive. Grab a few from one of these that reflect your message, add some text and a little music and you are on your way to a nice looking video. They also break down their videos by category, saving you a ton of search time. It’s going to take a certain time investment to find the video(s) you need to set the tone for your production but it will be well worth it.

Online Video Services
Again, you can find various types of video editing/content providing services online. For instance, Animaker allows you to create unique animated videos using their vast library of animated objects in a drag-and-drop format, all free of charge. The drawback is you’re going to spend a good deal of time searching for the graphics and building the video, then there’s the risk your competitor will grab some of the same images. That would be a little embarrassing. Magisto is another example of a company that takes your raw video and automatically edits it into a movie format with a music background. The downsides are it’s only for Android and you have no control over the frames it chooses to include in the movie. There are a lot of great video services out there, do a little research and find which works best for your message.

Agency Retainer Services
One way to control your cost and get professional video production is to hire a marketing agency that offers a monthly retainer service. You know your monthly expenses and plan for projects that can fit within that monthly budget. This can help you avoid the large, one-time fee for a production. It also gives you the flexibility to spread your money through different projects, instead of putting it all in a one-shot venture.

Work with an Agency to Polish Your In-house Video Materials
You also can save some money by working with an agency that is willing to work with videos you already have. Maybe you’ve shot video of events or products, conducted an interview with your CEO or have a hard drive full of photographs that could be worked into a video production. But you’re daunted by learning a video editing software and don’t want to make the CEO look bad with an amateurish editing of his interview. An agency will save you time and create a professional-quality video from your raw material. They also can enhance your videos with many of the options we mentioned earlier as they will have familiarity with each of these services plus are likely to have a stock of free video footage at the ready.

Keep it Simple
However you choose to go about producing your video please remember to keep thing simple. Only use one or two friendly, legible fonts that reflect you brand. Use simple text animations like fades and slide-ins. Nothing looks more amateur than several cheesy text animations, not to mention they are quite distracting. When cutting from one scene to another just use a hard-cut or a simple fade, stay away from the silly iMovie transitions. Your story is the most important thing here, (not the effects packed in your software) so make sure it’s clear, engaging and thoughtful.

Feeling better? Feeling more charged up to get that video in the works? We’re here to help and bring 15 years of experience to the table. Click here to get  FREE Video Consultation from Bloom Media.