In this blog, we explain why commercial video for your business is more affordable than you might think. As a small to medium business, you might think that an advert or commercial is way out of your budget. You imagine the snazzy, high-profile shoots with celebrities and hundreds of crew members creating beautiful TV adverts. The kind you discuss with your colleagues the next day, dreaming about having one for your brand.
‘I bet they cost millions’
‘Yeah we’d never be able to make a commercial. Maybe one day….’
Well, maybe those commercials do, but a commercial video for your business is more affordable than you might think. They don’t all have to feature Brad Pitt picking up his coffee or a car transforming into a robot. These days, commercials are far more affordable than they used to be, thanks to a few reasons which we will discuss.
Decreasing Technology Costs
It’s been a trend for a few years now that the TV and film industry has become democratised. With consumer cameras capable of shooting stunning videos and even modern smartphones being used to shoot award-winning films, the landscape has changed dramatically.
This means that a well-crafted and planned advert doesn’t cost as much as it used to. We regularly shoot with equipment that produces cinema-quality footage and is Netflix-approved.
Equipment cost is now one of the smaller parts of the overall budget, allowing more money to be allocated to elements such as script, talent, and production design, which are the key elements proven to make great content.
Web Distribution
Gone are the days when TV was the only place to showcase your adverts. While TV can still yield great results, online advertising is the future of video campaigns, as it’s where the next generation is watching. Publishing your video on streaming platforms is much cheaper than traditional TV advertising for several reasons.
Your budget allocation can be infinitely more targeted than with TV advertising, making your campaign more of a laser pointer than a torch. Using analytics, all platforms allow you to target your advertisement to your chosen demographic, helping you spend less overall.
Online video is the best way to make an impression and engage with your audience, and you won’t have any trouble seeing a return on your investment. By targeting your audience specifically, you achieve a more effective ROI, as you’re not wasting any ad spend on people who aren’t in your demographic. Some sites even allow you to target people at different stages of the purchasing process.
You can also A/B test and iterate over time to optimise your campaign. You can test different edits, copy, or voiceovers to make your ad as effective as possible. Additionally, you can use any stats or analytics to adjust the campaign or inform future campaigns.
‘64% of Internet users are more likely to purchase a product online after watching a video.’ – Hubspot
Perfect Planning
A top commercial video agency will plan a shoot not just creatively but efficiently to avoid wasting time and money. We always aim to make every penny count. Ensuring the scope and creative direction of the ad campaign is on point is critical for more cost-effective advertising.
We will have meetings with you and your team to hone this, so that we create something that delivers on what you need within the agreed budget. During the pre-production and planning stage, we make sure we’re all on the same page and that we all know what the end product will look like before we’ve even set foot on set.
Skillful Editing
Our editors have the skill to turn a low-budget shoot into a polished product your clients will respond to. When possible, we always aim to have multiple outputs from our commercial shoots to maximise your budget and ROI.
We suggest planning to have the hero commercial, a vertical output for Instagram/Facebook, and a version for TikTok. We also shoot at resolutions that allow you to pull hero stills, which can be used in other media such as billboards, print, and web. If the campaign includes voiceover, we can also deliver radio adverts. Behind-the-scenes content is great for blogs, hosting on your site, or YouTube for an added organic marketing touch.
This approach further enhances ROI, as you can maximize the output from the spend on one project and target consumers both online and in the real world.
We hope you have enjoyed our insight into why commercial video for your business is more affordable than you might think. If you would like to know more about creating a bespoke commercial or advert for your brand aimed squarely at your target market, feel free to get in touch here or call us on 0161 327 3799.