How much does it cost to start with video for sales?

There are three key things to consider when looking at the cost of video for sales and marketing:

1 - What hardware or equipment will you need?

2 - What software will you need?

3 - Does it cost to share your videos on different platforms?

Video sales is cheaper than you think

How much does a marketing video cost? How much does a sales video cost? - The simple answer. It depends.

I know what you’re thinking. A blog answering the question “how much does a sales video cost” should come with some kind of monetary response, but the truth is it’s a complicated question.

On the one hand, a sales or marketing video can be incredibly cheap (definitely cheaper than you imagine). On the other hand it can be as expensive as you want to make it depending on the equipment and resources you want to use.

However, we don’t want you to go away empty handed, so in this blog we’ll run through some guidelines to try and give you a better idea what it costs to get started with video sales so you can get started with boosting your sales and creating more interesting, engaging content.

What equipment/ hardware do you need for video sales and marketing?

To start with, let’s consider the “hardware” you’re going to need to get started making videos for your sales and marketing:

Camera - You can typically pick up a decent camera for a few hundred quid (some camcorders go for less than £100 today and do the job you need just fine).

If you don’t have the budget for a new camera, who has a smartphone in your company? Today’s smartphones have decent cameras that can do a good job of shooting video.

If you can’t do this, how about the webcam on your laptop? Again, no-one is going to judge if you don’t do video in 4KHD so a quick webcam video could be good enough.

Microphone - Any device that can do video has a microphone built in, and these can be fine if you’re in a quiet spot and up close to the camera. But these built in microphones typically don’t filter out background noise so the second the office gets noisy you might struggle.

Not checking audio is one of the key mistakes people make when doing video and they end up sending something that requires the services of a lip reader to decipher - so you should definitely invest in getting this right.

But, again, you don’t have to break the bank. You can typically pick up a clip-on microphone for between £10-£20 which does the job for a single person speaking direct-to-camera (which is enough).

Location - Give up on those dreams of sending whimsical sales and marketing messages from exotic locations. In fact, when it comes to video sales and marketing, you’d be surprised how well a “real-life” environment (like an office) can work.

One, it's a relatable environment for your audience, and two, those little imperfections (like your colleague walking behind you with tea in hand) add a human touch to your videos.

And that’s it. That’s the equipment you need.

What software do you need for video sales and marketing?

Editing your videos can seem like a daunting task, but it’s really not. It is much simpler than you think, it’s definitely cheaper than you think and, depending on what phone you’ve got, you likely have the software already.

Let’s get one thing straight first.

When we say video editing, it doesn’t mean studio quality. Most sales and marketing videos are done straight to camera and have no graphics involved at all.

In this case, if you have an iPhone, the iMovie app allows you to do simple cuts and join videos together. If you’re on Android you can get free apps which do the same thing.

No money spent so far.

If you want to add animations, iMovie and similar apps let you do that too, or you could go for a more expensive option.

More professional video editing suites can cost up to about £40 a month on subscription.

This, again, is not a substantial cost which can make your videos look a bit sharper, but they’re not completely necessary if you’re just getting started.

What do I need to share videos?

Once you’ve made your videos you’re going to want to share them with customers and prospects and there’s a good chance you already have these. For instance, do you or your company have:

1. A website
2. LinkedIn account
3. Twitter profile
4. Facebook page
5. Instagram account

There are loads of others but you get the point. You are already running the platforms you need to share your videos.

You can include the cost of any paid for accounts, or paid media activity you might do as part of your video sales and marketing - but that’s all.

Platforms like Vidyard can be a good option for making the video creation and sharing process easier, and even this is cheaper than you think (are you seeing the pattern).

Vidyard starts from free forever (yes, it really can be free forever) upto Plus (which is billed annually) up to Enterprise, which is priced based on your specific needs.

See, you really can create sales and marketing videos on a budget

By now you’re getting the idea that this sales video and marketing game is way cheaper, and easier than you thought it was.

Apart from the costs above you need to factor in some time it would take to film and edit the videos, and the time taken to promote the content.

You can either do this in-house, and plenty of companies do so successfully. Or, you can look for a third party videographer or video marketing and sales agency to help keep you creating videos consistently.

In the end, if you want to do video for your company the way to start is by turning on a camera and start creating them. You might be bad for the first few (in fact, you probably will be) but that happens to everyone trying something new for the first time.

If you want more information about getting started with video, download our complete Video Sales guide which has more tips on filming, writing scripts for your videos and more tips on promoting and measuring the impact of your videos.

Also, in case you missed it.

We recently did a joint webinar with Vidyard on using video effectively in sales and marketing which you can still watch.