By Russell Sparkman, Fusionspark Media, Inc.
Excerpted from Content Marketing Institute. 10/11/10 – Read Full Post
Content marketing clients interested in incorporating video into their publishing understandably start by asking the question, “how much does a video cost?”
There’s no easy answer, of course. My own answer is usually prefaced with the analogy of trying to answer the question of “how much does it cost to build a house?” To answer that, we need to know intended use (full-time residence or summer home?); size (for a family of four or a single person?); and the quality of the materials (Home Depot fixtures or high-end functional art fixtures?).
The same holds true for video. Everything from intended use (60-second video news release or five-minute documentary story?) to the quality of the final editing (is it to be edited in iMovie or Final Cut Pro?) influences the costs of video.
Before you can answer the question “how much,” you really have to answer the questions “why” and “what kind” and “who for?”
A starting point when contemplating video budgets is to consider whether your needs can be met by a “Low Production Value” (LPV) video, or a “High Production Value” (HPV) video. The following explains some of the distinctions between the two levels of production values, which can also be thought of as production inputs, as the basis for understanding how to budget for videos.