Guide
How much does a video commercial cost
Figuring out how much a video project costs can be hard. That's why it's important to know the costs before planning your next project's budget.
Written By:
McAndy Tony Duclos
Figuring out how much a video project costs can be hard. That's why it's important to know the costs before planning your next project's budget.
Written By:
If you're planning a video project, one of the first questions is usually: how much is this actually going to cost?
The frustrating answer is that it depends. A 30-second video could cost a few thousand dollars or tens of thousands depending on what needs to happen behind the scenes.
That's because you're not really paying for "30 seconds of video." You're paying for everything required to create those 30 seconds.
At ThinkRaven, we built our Creative Project Estimator to make that process a little less mysterious. Instead of waiting for an agency to build a proposal, you can enter some basic information about your project and get a better idea of what your budget may need to look like.
Before using it, though, it helps to understand what actually drives the cost.
This is usually one of the biggest factors.
A founder speaking to camera in an office is a very different production from a commercial with actors, multiple locations, custom sets, food styling, or visual effects.
Even when two videos have the exact same runtime, the work required to create them can be completely different. A customer testimonial, product demo, social ad, brand film, commercial, lifestyle campaign, animation, or corporate interview will each require a different combination of planning, crew, equipment, locations, talent, and post-production.
This is why asking "What does a 30-second video cost?" is a little like asking "What does a house cost?" We need to know what we're building first.
Video length matters, but deliverable count often matters just as much.
You may start by thinking you need one commercial, but the actual campaign might include a 30-second hero video, several 15-second cutdowns, short social variations, vertical and horizontal versions, clean versions without text, and different hooks or calls to action.
At that point, you're not really producing one video anymore.
This is especially important for brands running paid media. Often the most valuable part of a shoot isn't creating one polished commercial. It's capturing enough material to create multiple pieces of creative that can be tested across a campaign.
When estimating your project, think beyond the hero asset and consider everything you'll eventually need delivered.
Production complexity has a major impact on budget.
A smaller shoot may only require a director, cinematographer, producer, and a few supporting crew members. Larger productions can involve lighting teams, production design, wardrobe, hair and makeup, sound, art direction, food styling, and more.
Other expenses can include locations, equipment, props, set design, transportation, permits, catering, travel, and insurance.
None of these automatically make a production better. The goal is to use the right resources for the idea.
A good production partner should be able to tell you where spending more will materially improve the final result and where it probably won't.
Talent can range from employees or customers appearing naturally on camera to professional actors and models.
The cost is not just determined by how long someone is on set. Usage matters too.
An actor appearing in a small organic social campaign may be priced differently from someone whose image will be used in paid advertising nationally for a year. Pricing can depend on experience, shoot duration, the number of talent, geography, platforms, paid versus organic usage, length of usage, and exclusivity.
This is one of the areas brands sometimes forget to account for when thinking about their initial production budget.
A lot of the work that determines whether a shoot succeeds happens before anyone arrives on set.
Pre-production can include creative development, scriptwriting, storyboarding, shot lists, casting, location scouting, scheduling, production design, wardrobe, and logistics.
A simple project might require very little of this. A campaign with several concepts, actors, products, and locations may require weeks of preparation.
Good pre-production can actually save money because more decisions are made before an expensive production day begins.
Capturing the footage is only part of the process.
Depending on the project, post-production can include editing, color grading, sound design, music, motion graphics, visual effects, animation, voiceover, retouching, multiple aspect ratios, cutdowns, and alternate versions.
A video with extensive animation or VFX may actually require more resources in post-production than during the shoot itself.
This is another reason runtime alone isn't a reliable way to estimate cost.
SO, HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU BUDGET FOR VIDEO PRODUCTION?
There isn't one universal number.
A relatively straightforward production might cost several thousand dollars, while a more involved campaign can easily move into the tens of thousands or significantly higher.
The more useful question is: what does the video need to accomplish, and what resources are actually required to accomplish it?
A $5,000 video that cannot deliver what the campaign needs is expensive. A $25,000 campaign that produces months of usable creative and generates meaningful business results may be comparatively inexpensive.
Budget should follow the objective.
GET A STARTING ESTIMATE FOR YOUR PROJECT
You shouldn't have to schedule three agency calls just to figure out whether the project you're thinking about is closer to $5,000 or $50,000.
That's why we created the ThinkRaven Creative Project Estimator.
Tell us a little about what you're creating, the scope of the production, and what you need delivered. The estimator can help you get a more realistic starting point for what a project like yours could cost.
