Whether you are a business owner, marketing director or a producer looking to execute on a video, there comes a point when you need to look around and figure out which production company you are going to hire.
So, where do you start? Do you just Google "video production company" and start mindlessly working through the results? Well, if you don't have a history of working with a company, that's one way to approach it. But, maybe you can be more strategic on the front end so that your video will have better results on the back end.
In this post, we work through 5 tips on how to choose a video production company to get the best results out of your marketing or internal efforts.
1. Review The Body Of Work
This one seems pretty obvious ... because it is. But, as you're reviewing different video companies you may hire, the first thing you'll want to do is look at their work. Then, ask yourself a few questions: do they create content that feels fresh and unique? Do they create content that looks professional?
After reviewing a lot of demo videos, they might start to blur together, but there are a few nuances to look for. Let's use how people look on screen as an example.
Many companies have some sort of interview video in their portfolio. How do the people look? Does their skin tone look colorless or drab? If so, the video company didn't do a good job of making the person look natural.
Helping people look natural and alive in the video is a matter of good techniques both on set and in post production. If you don't create the set in the right way, no amount of post production coloring techniques can fix the mistakes.
At Drive Media House, we spend a lot of time making sure we start off shooting the right way so that we aren't trying to fix mistakes in post production.
2. Talk To Previous Clients
This may seem like another no brainer and a standard business practice, but it's one that we rarely see companies taking the time to do.
While you are reviewing the portfolio, simply grab a few names of the companies of videos you like. When interviewing the prospective video company, ask if they will give you contact information of past clients. If not, you already have a big red flag.
Another way to go about this is to check out the number and quality of reviews on Google. Simply type in "video production in [city]" and you should get a list of results within Google Maps. Click on the company's Google Location to read their reviews, and click into "More Places" to compare different video companies.
3. Gauge Their Willingness To Meet Your Individual Needs
Often times, business owners or marketing managers will call us up and say, "just give us a quote on this video." We believe we are doing our clients a disservice if we just offer them a quote without having any idea about the details or the goals of the project.
Testing how much someone will push back on "just give me a quote" is an excellent factor to use in determining how to choose a video production company. Whether or not they want to have a more detailed conversation about the project before just sending a quote reveals a great deal about the company.
Price matters, but what are you getting for that price? If you just get a quote without discussing the details, how do you know that company will deliver on your needs? You need to know if the video company is going to comprehensively look at your brand and make the video a good fit for the budget at hand.
4. Price: Quantity Vs. Quality
That said, of course price matters. But, what are you going to get for the price?
You need to gauge whether a video production company cares more about quantity or quality. In the end, when there is a sea of videos being produced every day, it is only the quality videos that will rise above the rest.
At Drive Media House, we would much rather invest marketing dollars into the best possible production. We want to use the best creative and crew talent - directors, actors, videographers. We want the best gear. We want the best creative process and storytelling efforts. And, we want the best post production: music selection, sound design, coloring, editing and digital effects.
Having the best obviously will impact the price, but will also give you a much higher end video.
5. Work With People You Would Want To Work With Again
This last tip is just a reminder that life is short. Work with people you like!
There are some video production companies out there that may have a lot of hype and pizazz on the front end. Reverting back to Tip #2, did anyone want to work with them again? Make sure you ask that question. Often times we hear from clients that a project with another company started strong, but went south quickly.
We also believe a video production company needs to bring a strong point of view to the table. For example, in this TriHealth video below, they came to us wanting to do a diversity video and the idea was around interviewing different members of their staff. We told them their idea could work but then we offered a different idea that shows lots of faces and tells the story of why they believe in diversity.
We heard and listened to our client, but we were also able to strongly and kindly suggest a different direction. In the end, we believe that if you want to win the day, stay the course, be kind and also be willing to make the adjustments the clients are asking for.
Figuring out how to choose a video production company can be overwhelming. We hope these 5 tips help make your search a little easier.