INTRODUCTION
Not once have we seen a look of surprise in our clients’ eyes after we shared the cost of promo video production. However, every Blue Carrot customer should bear in mind this effective marketing tool is not offered off the shelf. We provide consistent and scrupulous work of a dedicated team and a multi-step, time-consuming process that results in a custom, cutting-edge product to effectively promote our client’s business. According to Backlinko.com, 87% of marketers say video gives them a good return on their investment (63% mentioned increased engagement, 55% leads and click-throughs, about 43% noted enhanced customer engagement and brand awareness). Do you still doubt your promotional video production expenses are worth the award?
Let’s look at the matter in more detail.
First, we are going to deal with the types of promotional videos.
Summary:
- What You Should Know About the Types of Promotional Video
- How Much Does Promotional Video Production Cost
- What You Should Know About the Process
- Hiring a Production Company
- Final Thoughts
- BlueCarrot’s Experience
What You Should Know About the Types of Promotional Video
Not all promos are created equal. Different marketing purposes require different video types, quality levels, and detail. What is more, different marketing clips can help achieve different results, and it’s vital to remember the sales funnel when it comes to marketing and business processes. Each stage of the funnel requires specific types of videos which are well-defined in the picture below.
As you can see, promo and e-learning videos work best at the awareness stage. You either promote your product or service or provide a deeper explanation of certain concepts related to them. E-learning videos stand out due to their bright and easy-to-follow visuals that no text can communicate so well.
Promo Video:
Promotional videos aims to promote your products or services to customers. They transfer the information from the brand to the target audience but without outright asking you to buy something. We have a great experience in creating promo videos. Take a look at our case study on promotional video production for Onfo or one more example of a promotional video case study created for Please Save product.
E-Learning Video:
To generate even more interest in what you offer, it’s reasonable to create explainer videos. They are used to explain the product or service your company offers.
Explainer Video:
To provide your potential customers with some social and product proofs during the decision-making stage, you can consider producing testimonials that increase trust in your company. The effect is achieved because viewers see real customers who have solved their problems with your product or service and praise your brand for it.
Onboarding and branded videos serve best to decrease the number of interactions with the support team and increase loyalty to your company. Branded productions share the values of the company and are aimed at monetizing positive associations (for example, funny video on April Fools Day – see above), while onboarding videos offer your target clients practical guidance on how to achieve their version of success with your product or service.
Branded Video:
In summary, the overall tendency is to use short and bright videos toward the top of the funnel. The lower you go in the funnel, the longer videos become. The animation becomes simpler as well.
As a result, promotional video production cost is roughly the same at every stage of the sales funnel. A super-intensive promo clip lasting 15 seconds, can, for instance, require the same budget as a 2-minute explainer created to spark customers’ interest. Just take a look our promo video production case study for Buyonick.
That’s why:
it’s extremely important to choose the sales funnel stage that if improved will bring the most benefit and invest in a video product to match it.
Naturally, there are exceptions to every rule. You can find both cheap and simple, yet workable 15-second promos as well as expensive complex explainers lasting 2 or 3 minutes.
GET THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EXPLAINER VIDEOS: TYPES, BUDGETS, STYLES
How Much Does an Explainer Video Cost?
Since the work is creative, there is no such thing as a fixed budget for the promotional video. Several factors determine the cost to make a promotional video, such as type of clip, its style, length, the intensity of action, and other variables. We will take a closer look at more detailed costs of explainer video production.
It’s vital to look at all video-related expenses as investments that are going to boost profit. Blue Carrot prefers the ROI-based approach to production budgets. ROI (return on investment) indicator is the ratio of the revenue received to the invested means. First, you should calculate your ROI based on marketing experience and then estimate how much your video production and distribution charges may take.
To give you some understanding of average promotional video prices, we’ve prepared some examples.
The cost to make a promotional clip with a cutout character animation like this will range from $2,000-$3,000.
Cutout Video:
Motion graphics of this kind or a simple 3D animation will cost you approximately the same (on the condition that you have a ready-made 3D model already).
Motion graphics Video:
3D Video:
In general, a video production budget depends on the number of hours a team spends on the project. As for the team, it can be comprised of 5 to 10 people. Such factors as the complexity of animation (its intensity, design, the level of details, etc) and timing should be considered. When it comes to 2D and 3D animation, there is a rule: the more characters moving simultaneously, the higher the budget for the promotional video should be.
A video of up to 60 seconds does not differ much in cost from the one that is longer than a minute. A producer needs to go through the same stages for all clips. Thus, a 15-second video may cost 60% of the budget required for a one-minute video, while a 30-second video will require 80% of the same budget. When your clip exceeds one minute, the situation changes. The cost for videos up to 5 minutes grows more or less proportionally. However, every additional minute costs less. After the fifth minute, the budget drop is more drastic.
To a great extent, the overall budget of a 2D animation is determined by the complexity of illustrations/animations as well as timing. The budget of Disney-style animation framing can be 5 times higher than the budget of a whiteboard video. In Disney-style 2D animation, you need to create 25 illustrations for just a second of a clip where your character makes a slight movement. Alternatively, a whiteboard video requires just 1 illustration for about 5-10 seconds of the clip.
Video:
Concerning 3D animation – the promo video pricing depends on the number of models that should be created, as well as the complexity (textures/shadows/overtones/level of detail, and more), the movements to animate, the intensity of animation, and video length. The more realistic you want the video to be, the more you should invest. As a rule, a good quality 3D animation is more expensive than a 2D animation, thus, it is reasonable to use it only when needed. For example, when you need to add realism or to show a complex device, say a 3D printer or a chemical process, you can show it more effectively in 3D.
3D Video:
Sometimes a long 3D may also be cheaper than 2D. There is an explanation for this: in 3D you create a set of models and then just move them, while in 2D you have to constantly draw new scenes.
Live shooting is another option that should be mentioned. It’s less flexible and more expensive. If you want to crash a car for your clip, it will cost you a car. However, in animated media, you will only pay for the animation.
Budgets for live shooting are much more difficult to calculate, as they depend not only on the script, references, and timing but also on things like location, casting, actors’ fees, time for filming, scenery, and much more.
As you can see, there is no clear-cut answer to the question and the promo video production cost breakdown may be variable. To get a clearer picture of what you need for your project, contact Blue Carrot for an estimate.
GET THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EXPLAINER VIDEOS: TYPES, BUDGETS, STYLES
What You Should Know About the Process
An average 2D project requires a team of
- a producer
- a scriptwriter
- a creative copywriter (occasionally)
- an editor (at times)
- a storyboard artist
- a main artist, or several artists (like concept artist, background artist, characters artist, etc)
- a motion designer
- a sound designer
- a voiceover (VO) artist
The standard video creation process can be described in the following way:
Strategy Development and Scripting
Week 1: A strategy meeting is needed to discuss the project create an outline, and develop the video script. The script is the very foundation of your future promo clip, and it’s vital to get it right. It’s important to grab the viewer’s attention in the first few seconds and then express your idea in a catchy way to engage the target audience.
Storyboarding and VO Casting
Week 2: A storyboard with sketches specifying characters and actions is created at this stage to get a general feel for the future video. The sequence of events is mapped and organized into a story.
At Blue Carrot we also cast and select voiceover artists at this stage before proceeding to the production phase.
While we’re speaking primarily about 2D, it’s essential to mention that 3D animation requires an additional stage—3D model creation of the characters and objects or locations used in the video.
Style-frame and Illustrations Phase
Week 3 – 4: This is the stage to work on a design. The key task is to create a style frame of the video. The colours, style, tone, and motions are also decided upon at this stage and crafted into the illustrations later on.
Animation Phase
Weeks 5 – 6: The final stage is animation. In other words, reviving the illustrations for 2D or models/locations for 3D to bring the video to life. A clip is then supplemented with sounds or music.
Each stage presupposes 1-2 reviews.
However, knowing the overall process, you should also take into consideration the separate tasks performed at each stage as well as the team members’ qualifications. All of this influences the cost of promo video production. A skilled artist will do the work quicker, however, the hourly rate will be higher. Find the approximate hours breakdown for the project below.
Check more details in this article.
Hiring a Production Company
Earlier in our article “Basics of Video Marketing and Video Production”, we reviewed the options of hiring a freelancer or a production studio. Read the article to learn more.
We strongly maintain that a video agency or a production studio can do the work better. The major reasons are:
✅ An agency speaks a business language that is familiar to you with no bewildering towering matters in the language of art. A dedicated creative producer leads you through the process by hand, provides you with project status updates, and can answer any questions that come up.
✅ An experienced promo video production сompany not only crafts a cutting-edge art product for you but also offers the best solutions for your marketing tasks. The overall team and its existing bank of ideas help to create a better product, knowing which tricks work best for certain purposes.
✅ As a rule, studios have several teams working on various projects, thus working in a variety of styles. Also, team members can step in for each other in case of unforeseen situations. This allows agencies to provide their clients with better guarantees and avoid blowing the deadlines.
While a production studio is a costly option, a perfect solution for your budget will be to hire a studio outside of the expensive Western European region or the US. Instead, look for example in the countries of Eastern Europe. The rates are lower, yet the quality is not compromised and at times is even superior. What is more, you can always choose contractors with the same mindset as yours since the people mentality is western and business-oriented.
Final Thoughts
Naturally, being one of such agencies we offer our services with the above-mentioned nuances in mind. Blue Carrot is a personalized videos production company, with expertise in all types and all stages of the animated video production process for a variety of purposes – from marketing to education. We help companies achieve their goals faster and more efficiently by creating engaging brand-consumer communication through uncompromisingly high-quality animated videos.
Our clients take part in the creative process and as a result, receive not just a communication tool, but a creative product to meet their needs. You can come to us with just an idea, and we’ll bring it to life. The Blue Carrot team can also carry out some specific production stages to help you in the video creation process.
Let’s discuss your project
Blue Carrot’s Experience
Testimonial:
Blue Carrot completed the video to the client’s satisfaction, bringing a good eye for detail to the project. They provided several professional channels to solicit client feedback and showed progress at every stage.
Tassilo Ott, CEO & Founder at Talque
Case for GetUpside App:
We created a short promo for the GetUpside App for AppStore and Play Market. The choice was between a live video shooting and this short video chosen through A/B testing.
With the Blue Carrot video, the app quickly made it to the top of the AppStore rating.
Testimonial:
We ordered a promo video to launch Nutritionista on Product Hunt. The video has received engagement on YouTube in the form of “likes” and ratings. Blue Carrot quickly processed and responded to feedback. They had a client-oriented workflow.
Nathan Melnyk, Co-Founder, Nutritionista
