by: Arleen Atienza
Given today’s fast-paced world, business owners must constantly come up with new ways to entice customers. This is becoming even more evident seeing how people’s attention spans have become shorter. One way of doing that is through video marketing. Research shows that 72% of consumers prefer watching videos as a means of learning about a product rather than reading about it.
Video marketing could instantly capture your audience’s attention in a way that written words can’t. The right video material could truly boost your sales as well as your business’ visibility. You could take the DIY route if you’re aiming to save on costs, but if you want quality video marketing material, you are better off hiring a professional team for this. Thus, you’d need to look into a video production vendor.
Here are 5 things to consider when choosing a video production vendor.
1. See That You’ve Done Research on Prospective Vendors
As with any major investment whether it be personal or business, adequate research must be done before making a decision. Aside from having a concept and budget in mind, you also need to consider proper vendor selection and management. Remember, your video marketing material could make or break your business, so it is important to make sure you have got your bases covered.
This is where the elimination of prospective video production vendors would come in. You could start by looking through social media pages or even asking for referrals in your network. No doubt a promising lead is bound to come up. Depending on whether you want to broaden or narrow your scope, you might want to look into video production vendors in your area as well as those out of state.
2. Does Their Specialization Match Your Vision
Once you’ve gathered a list of potential vendors, narrow down the list by contacting them and asking for a list of their portfolios. Video production vendors may have different specialties ranging from the typical tv and commercial segments, training, and even corporate video production. Knowing all these would make it much easier to determine whether their specialty would align with that of your business. Also, do note that just because a video production vendor is great at one category doesn’t mean this expertise would automatically translate to a different one.
If possible, meet with them to better have a feel of whether the team could pull off what you want to achieve. Nowadays it is easy to set up a meeting with people using any of the various virtual platforms out there.
3. Ask About Their Production Process
Any good video production provider worth their salt ought to walk you through their production process and be as detailed as possible about it. They should be able to communicate how they are going to go about bringing your vision to life. This includes their projected timeline, creative process, the number of people involved, and so on.
It is also a good opportunity to see whether they would be able to take direction well and if their interpretation of your concept is something you are happy about. Don’t be afraid to voice your expectations but make sure they are realistic and reasonable ones. Having a clear understanding of what is going to happen will help prevent confusion in the future.
4. Consider Their Price
Now that you’ve laid out your expectations, request a proposal and quotation. Ensure that their proposal is as detailed as possible as this leaves very little room for misunderstanding. That said, make sure that their fees are reasonable and commensurate to the quality they are putting out. Aside from making sure their asking price would fit into your budget, you want to make sure you are not being short-changed.
When you can, try to compare multiple proposals and quotations from different vendors. It would be easier to see which vendor has the deciding advantage over the other. If you found another video production vendor that could easily accommodate your requests at a slightly higher price, then go for it. After all, the price is an important factor, but it isn’t the only deciding factor. Also there is the saying “you get what you paid for”, so don’t only seek out the cheap option or you could be left with cheap quality.
5. Look into Their Reputation and Testimonials
Video production providers would want you to see their best works, their highlight reel, so to speak. While this is great, you have to consider all other aspects such as whether they are a pleasant team to work with or if they are the type to steamroll over their client. The point of hiring a video production vendor is for them to do the work for you but if you are going to have a headache hiring them, then you might as well have done it yourself.
To do this, it is worth looking into testimonials from past clients as well as asking about their reputation. This provides a more in-depth look at how they interact with their clients and their work ethic. You could also get feedback that wouldn’t be available in their profile. For instance, if they are the type to cut corners or if they are the type to frequently miss deadlines. See what people say about us.
In Conclusion
Utilizing video marketing is the way to go especially if you want to hang on to customers’ rapidly dwindling attention span. Turning to professionals like a video production vendor would yield more quality results and would do your vision justice than if you were to DIY it. Think of it, not as added expenditure for your business but investing in it. After all, your business is worth it and more.
