Choosing a video production company is a huge deal.
When you’re running a small business, you become increasingly aware of how important digital marketing is. The companies with the best stream of engaging and entertaining content are the ones that rise above their competitors.
One of the best ways to get customers’ attention is with great videos. Video marketing is incredibly popular for companies right now because customers much prefer watching their content than reading it. The only problem is that for small businesses, creating high-quality videos is quite difficult.
Not very many companies have the budget to have a video production team on staff. But, there’s nothing worse than a poorly produced video that fails to get the point across. That’s why you have to hire a production company to take this burden from you.
Today, we’re going to give you 5 tips for choosing a great video production company so that you turn your great advertising ideas into content that works.
1. Expertise In Digital Marketing
There are dozens of different sectors that video production companies specialize in, from food videos to talking head videos, etc. You want to make sure that the video production company that you work with has vast amounts of experience in what you need them to do.
So, start by brainstorming what you want your ideal stream of video content to look like. Then, research the companies by checking out their portfolios. A portfolio can tell you what they’re capable of producing and any good video production company will put their best stuff on their website.
When you’ve narrowed it down to a few of the best companies, you can start consulting with them about how they produce their videos. Getting a sense of how they work should give you a good idea of how much experience they have creating your type of content.
2. Understands Your Brand and Goals
While you’re holding meetings with prospective production companies, you have to make sure that your brand and your goals are coming across properly. You’ll be doing research on what they’ve done, but they should do some research on your company and brand.
A good production company will have looked at the content that you’ve already put out and they’ll be able to tell you how they can improve upon it. Taking into consideration your branding and online presence, they should be able to give you some examples of how they could boost your brand awareness.
Ultimately, you want to be able to work with someone that understands what you’re going for and works within those guidelines, like this service. If you don’t, you might end up with great looking videos, but ones that don’t jive with your overall vibe.
3. Make Sure They’re Collaborative
Collaboration is key during the creative process. Make sure you’re working with a company that involves you in what they’re doing. Ask them a lot of questions about how they work and have them give you examples of collaborative efforts they’ve had with past customers.
Speaking of past customers, it’s never a bad idea to contact some of their previous clients and discuss this very topic with them. Ask what the video creation process was like, who the initial ideas came from, how communicative the production company was throughout the process, how receptive they were to edits, etc.
One of the keys to working collaboratively is a mutual understanding that the first cut is never the final one. It’s impossible for a production team to understand what you envision in your head. It’s just as impossible for you to completely communicate that vision, so you both have to be patient with one another.
4. Creativity and Process
As we see more and more how important video production is for marketing campaigns, we gain an appreciation for creativity. The best commercials, Instagram, and YouTube videos are always the most creative and unique.
You can get a good idea of the level of creativity you’re dealing with via their production portfolio, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. You have to grill them on how they brainstorm and even request to speak to the creative team at the company if there is one.
The creative process is the most important because you can have videos that look amazing and sound great, but if they don’t engage the audience, then they’re still going to fall flat. It’s about striking a balance between super creative and super professional. It’s the hardest thing to achieve, but a good company will do it.
5. Prices and Turnaround
There are a few more issues to get nailed down before you make the big decision on your production company. First, what kind of turnaround are they going to be able to give you?
This is a tough one because the best production companies are going to be in high demand. That makes it harder for them to promise you quick turnaround.
If they’ve got hot-shot customers, they’ll be obligated to prioritize those projects first. As long as your requests are reasonable and they work efficiently, however, it shouldn’t matter.
Lastly, and most importantly, you need to choose the company whose rates fit in with your budget. Video production can be expensive, but it’s worth it to get high-quality content out to your customers. If you have to shuffle your finances around to be able to afford the best candidate, do it.
There Are Lots of Video Production Companies Out There
It isn’t hard to find video production companies, but finding one that has a combination of collaborative spirit, creativity, expertise, and affordability will take a lot of patience. It’s all worth it to find a company that can give you great looking, entertaining content that boosts traffic and sales.
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