Do you need to produce a corporate video for your business, but are not sure how much it will cost? When it comes to investing in content marketing and social media, the key is to ensure that the video will generate a return on investment (ROI). But what should you pay for the production of a corporate video?

In this blog post, we’ll discuss how to estimate the cost of producing a corporate video or an event video. We’ll explain why ROI is important when considering costs and provide some tips for ensuring that your money is well-spent. Finally, we’ll explore how much each lead may be worth to your company and compare these costs with those of producing the video.

By the end of this blog post, you should have a good idea of how much to pay for the production of a corporate video and why ROI is such an important factor. Let’s get started!

First, we’ll look at why ROI is so important when considering the costs of producing a corporate video. We’ll discuss what kinds of returns you should be looking for and outline some tips for ensuring that your money is well-spent. Then, we’ll explore how much each lead may be worth to your company and compare these costs with those of producing the video.

Return on Investment (ROI)

The return on investment for any corporate video is a critical factor to consider. To ensure that your video will generate ROI, there are certain factors to take into account when budgeting for the production of your video.

First, you should determine what kind of returns you can expect from the video. Do you want to purely create visibility for your company to establish yourself either as a thought leader, a compelling employer or provide valuable content for existing or new clients?

Or are you interested in creating the video as a key ingredient for your lead funnel? While the first use cases are a bit more difficult to budget, the latter can be budgeted quite easily taking into account the value of each lead the video generates.

Consider the duration and topic of the video, as well as its intended audience. This will help you estimate how much reach and engagement you can expect from your finished product.

Unfortunately, that's the point where I see many companies failing. They decide to produce a corporate video without having a clear marketing strategy ready. The video is often simply added to the website or on the company's Youtube channel and then largely fails to match the expectations, or in other words: the ROI is completely underwhelming.

First, you should determine what kind of returns you can expect from the video. After that, do research on industry-standard costs for creating similar content so that you know what to expect when it comes to pricing for services like scriptwriting, videography, post-production work and more.

When planning out your budget for producing a corporate video, be sure to factor in additional costs such as music licensing fees, graphics and animation costs or hiring professional actors if needed. It is also important to consider how long it would take for any investments made in producing a corporate video to pay off. For instance, if you have chosen an expensive production company that specializes in high-quality videos but takes longer than expected to finish them – then this could mean delayed ROI due to prolonged timelines associated with the project.

Understanding how much each lead may be worth to your company is crucial. You need to calculate this based on factors such as conversion rate (how many people convert into paying customers) and customer lifetime value (the average amount of money spent by each customer over time). Once these figures are established, compare them with what it would cost your business to produce the corporate video in question. If your estimated returns exceed the cost of producing the corporate video – then it would make sense financially for your business to invest in its production!

Overall, calculating ROI is key when it comes down to deciding how much money you should budget for producing a corporate video. Keep track of all expenses associated with creating content and understand what kind of returns you should be expecting from each investment to break even or make a profit from producing quality content for your target market!

Calculating the cost of a corporate video based on ROI

Calculating the cost of producing a corporate video requires some reverse engineering. We won't start here with the obvious first step: the price a video-production company would ask for, but instead, we'll turn it the other way around and will calculate the production costs based on your expected ROI.

Let's suppose that your goal is to generate more revenue through leads sourced from the video to be produced.

Some basic parameters we base our calculations on:

- your customer life-time-value (CLTV) is 5.000€ (or $5,000 if you prefer)

- you own a database of 10.000 contacts you will send out the video to

- your website has 5.000 monthly visitors

- you have 6.000 followers on Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook

Here you have everything you need to start estimating how much a well-produced video could generate over the first 3 months after the initial publication.

Mailing

Your mailing will probably have an open rate of approx. 30% (=3.000 opens). Roughly 5% of those will click and watch the video (=150 views). Supposing a conversion rate of 2% you may generate 3 sales through your mailing which results in a revenue of 15.000€.

Website

Putting your new video prominently on your website might result in 3.000 views (based on 5.000 visits). Eventually, 2% of the viewers (=60) will request more information about your services. You may be able to convert 2% of them (=1 new customer). This results in a revenue of 5.000€.

Social Media

Through your followers on social media, you might generate 15.000 views of your video if it’s well-published and liked. Eventually, this will translate into 2% new leads (=300). Again supposing a conversion rate of 2% you will end up with 6 new customers. This results in 30.000€ additional revenue.

Revenue & profit over 3 months

Total revenue generated through the video: 15.000€ + 5.000€ + 30.000€ = 50.000€.

Let’s suppose that your net profit on each CLTV is 30%, then you will generate 15.000€ profit through video production.

Consider the life-span of the video

Of course, this amount has to be put into perspective. Usually, we should suppose that this initial ROI happens over the first 3 months after the initial publication. The life-span of a video is much longer than that. We have seen clients using the same video for 4-5 years, even though 2 years are more realistic. During this life-span, the video will continue generating leads.

Mailing

Roughly estimated additional mailings over the 2 years may generate another 30.000€ in revenue.

Website

Supposing that the video will be continuously visible on the website it might generate over 2 years a total of 40.000€ of revenue.

Social Media

A social media campaign should as well not only be driven once but several times over 2 years, similar to mailing. Additional social media campaigns can result in another 60.000€ revenue.

Revenue & profit over 2 years

In total over a 2-year life-span, the video might therefore drive a total of 40.000€ + 30.000€ + 60.000€ (+the initial revenue of 50.000€) = 180.000€.

The net profit would then sum up to 54.000€. Considering production costs of 10.000€, the bottom line would be 44.000€ in generated profit through the video.

Adapt your marketing strategy

After production, marketing is key if you want the corporate video to generate ROI. Make sure to reach out to industry blogs, websites and influencers to share your video and extend its reach. Additionally, create social media campaigns around the video with targeted ads and influencer recommendations to support organic reach.

Also, consider repurposing the content for different media. For example, you can turn the video into a podcast or create motion graphics to use on Instagram. This will help you reach more people and increase the recognition of your brand.

Ultimately, by investing in content marketing and leveraging the power of video, you can ensure that your corporate video will generate a return on investment. Calculate the expected ROI before beginning the production process and carefully consider all expenses associated with the video. This will ensure that your money is well-spent and that customers will be interested in what you have to offer.