We’ll be the first to admit it: There’s a lot of waste in the average marketing budget. That’s especially true as more brands look for ways to appeal to modern, mobile-first audiences with video marketing.
Even if you’ve worked with a marketing vendor for years, there’s never a bad time to take a close look at what you’re getting. And if you’re accepting bids for a new project – like video marketing – you can save yourself a lot of trouble by comparing the proposals closely.
But there’s a catch: Sometimes, the lowest bidder turns out to be the worst deal.
When it comes to video production mistakes, business leaders should be careful who they trust. If vendors cut corners, their cheap video production risks eroding trust in your brand. And once you’ve lost someone’s goodwill, you can’t win it back with online content alone.
Done right, video marketing ROI outpaces the return on investment you can expect from most other approaches. Video is the most popular content out there. By many metrics, it’s also the most effective: It’s memorable, easy to consume, and motivates people to buy.
Long story short, when folks are close to the end of the buyer journey – they know what their issue is and approximately what a solution should look like – marketing video production gives you a winning edge. But that advantage quickly slips away when vendor cost-cutting undermines your videos’ quality.
We get it: Businesses don’t get ahead by paying more than they need to. But a premium option can save you money in the long run. If you choose the lower bid, you’re that much more likely to end up paying dearly in the future. By the time the project finally wraps up, that’s 2X or 3X the sticker price.
Why? It’s simple. Real video production experts get the job done right the first time. Low bidders are far more likely to waste your time and money with rework. That’s true whether they’re new to video, don’t understand how labor-intensive the work really is, or simply plan to coast on minimal effort.
By the time you know something’s amiss, it’s often too late.
Why a Lower Price Leaves You Stuck with High-Friction Video Production
Even if you don’t have an in-house video team, there are plenty of people inside and outside your organization who’ll be impacted by the quality of your video content. Marketing, sales, product management, and front-line employees can all feel the sting when video production falls short.
That’s because video isn’t just about one aspect of your marketing strategy. Low-end vendors wreak havoc all throughout your operations, causing confusion when what you most want is clarity. Here’s how it happens:
1. Re-Shoots
Re-shoots present the biggest risk when you’re working with a low-bidding vendor. A team of experts can capture dozens of compelling still photos and hours of useful footage in a day, but the same isn’t true of just anybody who happens to know how to use a camera.
Re-shoots are trouble because, by and large, you won’t know you need them until time has already passed. You might notice your vendor go silent for days, putting off telling you the bad news: After reviewing everything they captured, they don’t have enough quality material to meet your brief.
After that? You’re stuck. If shooting is disruptive to your operations, or members of your team have to make time to get photographed, prepare to do it all over again. What’s more, you probably won’t get compensated for the lost time. In fact, you may end up having to pay more for the “do-over.”
2. Lost Leads
You already know there’s an opportunity cost for every decision. That cost really piles up when you’re waiting for vendors to deliver. Every day you don’t have the video content you need could cost you a future customer – someone who’ll never discover what your brand could do for them.
Sure, good video production takes time. But real professionals provide clarity to the schedule from the start. You should know exactly what you’re waiting for and when you can expect the finished product. That way, you can coordinate all your related sales, marketing, and advertising efforts.
The average freelance photographer or videographer doesn’t know much about project management, and you end up paying for their lack of expertise. You can estimate the value of the lost leads, but you may also get hit with other scheduling mishaps and cost overruns you won’t know until the final tally.
3. Brand Credibility Damage
The only thing worse than waiting weeks or months for a vendor that can’t hack it? Using what they come up with and hoping it’s “good enough.” When there’s one excuse after another from a vendor, anybody would lose patience eventually. That often ends in giving subpar video a try.
The logic makes sense: You want to get something back for your aggravation. But video is one of those cases where something isn’t always better than nothing. It’s been a long time since brands could post grainy smartphone videos on Twitter and call it a day. Now, production values matter.
If you post substandard video content, potential customers are going to wonder what else is going wrong behind the scenes. It’s not fair, but it’s true. Branded video that’s hard to hear, difficult to follow, or just plain unimaginative turns people off. Usually, that means losing them for good.
4. Internal Team Frustration
And then there are the people who have to make it right at the end of the day – your team.
Whether you’re waiting for a vendor to get it done or do it over, every delay has consequences. Your big product launch could fizzle without the video to back it up. Your sales team may end up wasting time on less-qualified leads because video isn’t in place to capture attention from high-value ones.
All of this leads to frustration. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and all too often, that weak link turns out to be a marketing vendor. With your brand’s reputation (and your team’s sanity) hanging in the balance, how can you make sure your strategic video partner won’t drop the ball?
We’re glad you asked.
Paper Jacket Is the Strategic Video Partner Trusted to Get It Right the First Time
With the right equipment and a few years of spare time, just about anyone can learn to shoot video.
Not just anyone can deliver at the level your brand deserves.
It’s not only about shooting a video, but framing a compelling message and bringing it to life. That’s why Paper Jacket brings technical and creative talent together under one roof for every engagement.
You not only get the camera operators and audio engineers, but the producers, directors, and project managers who ensure smooth sailing from first concept to final product. That’s a long way from your average event photographer – and when you see the results, we think you’ll agree.
No matter what you have in mind, our team has the skills, experience, and insight to build it right the first time. That saves you time, money, and annoyance. More than that, it can help you achieve things with video marketing you might not have believed possible.
Case in point: Your message hits home best when it comes directly from you. We’ve helped clients who’ve never been in front of a camera before project confidence, authority, and warmth for their videos. That not only gives you marketing ROI, but unlocks capabilities you didn’t know you had.
Whether you have a clear plan in mind or no ideas at all, Paper Jacket helps you get from where you are to where you want to be. And that’s a whole lot more than you’ll get from some guy on Facebook.
Marketing Video Production You Can Set Your Schedule By – in Florida or Wherever You Need It
We’re Florida production experts with two studios – one in the Tampa area and one in Central Florida(DeLand). But you don’t need to be based in our area to hire us. We offer professional video production for marketing wherever it’s needed – in all 50 states and beyond.
If you want to stand out with high-quality video production, you can’t afford to hire the lowest bidder. When they need a truly sophisticated, integrated corporate video strategy, Tampa and Central Florida companies look to us.
Contact Paper Jacket to find out more.