Marketing your startup can be a daunting task, especially when you have a limited budget to promote your business, product, or service.
The challenge becomes more prevalent not only when you promote your brand, but also when you need to explain and tell about:
• What your company does.
• What makes your brand different from the others?
• Your story and convert with content.
Let’s use ourselves as examples.
People probably won’t sit for a long time to read dozens of pages of white paper. We need something simpler and easier to digest. So, what will our startup do?
The best answer is definitely the startup animated video, AKA startup explainer video.
What Is A Startup Explainer Video?
A startup video is a short video that explains your startup idea in a simple and engaging way.
Why does it work so well?
It simplifies your main idea by addressing people’s pain points and suggesting the solution in 60-90 seconds.
Here is a great example of a startup video. In 60 seconds the video:
• Brings up the problem
• Suggests the solution
• Tells how the product works
• And talks about the main benefits
Why Are Startup Explainer Videos So Popular?
Well, the most convincing reason is that return on investment is quite high.
Businesses report that explainer videos can help to increase conversions by up to 80%.
According to the most recent survey, around 89% of customers believe that video is very helpful for decision-making, and 64% of users are more likely to purchase a product online after watching a video about it.
Now, you are probably wondering what is the cost you should pay a for startup video?
Basically, you have four main options. And depending on which direction you take, the result will be different.
Now, let’s break them down and understand which option fits your startup marketing objectives and goals.
The Four Pricing Options For Making A Startup Video
Online Video Makers ($50 – $500)
For this budget, you are going to get a video only from online video creator platforms.
Of course, we all know that online creators can not provide any custom video solutions. However, sometimes they can be useful, especially if your budget is tight.
Just remember; online video makers do not create a marketing message or any specific message. They are just tools that create moving images based on templates.
All you need to do is enter a few keywords, choose the template, fill the text in, add some effects, and you’re done!
Some of the best online video creators also allow you to upload your videos to your YouTube account for free.
This way has a big catch, though.
The content you find is not unique and not customized. Since you use the templates provided by the site, there are also thousands of other similar videos that look just like yours. Not to mention that it may not fit your brand.
Online Animation Makers
Renderforest
Hiring Freelancers ($500 – $1500)
The quality of your startup explainer video in this budget range might be the same as with the first budget category. The difference being you pay people to handle the production while they use the same templates.
Of course, there are a lot of great freelancers but they charge much more. However, if you’re not qualified to evaluate them and figure out who’s the real deal, it’s going to be a nightmare.
There are a lot of freelancers or businesses out there who claim to be able to create a fantastic video for you. But you need to be selective because most of them are the self-proclaimed best, and many are far from that.
Useful Recourse
What to consider when hiring freelancer animators
Hiring An Explainer Video Production Company
($3000 – $5000)
We think that this is the best option so far because explainer video production companies focus on a specific niche in the video marketing industry. Many have been working with startup video production for years.
Other types of video marketing may not be relevant to your startup. An animated explainer video will present these ideas in a more entertaining way. Even better, this type of video production costs less than the traditional formats.
The good thing about explainer video production companies is that they hire the best-skilled and experienced people who are specialized in creating explainer videos. Designers excellent at both technical and aesthetic skills. Knowing that your business videos are handled by experts will give you peace of mind.
You will not only save time but also save resources because with effective video you can make sure that your messages are being delivered to the audiences that you’re targeting.
Top Animation Production Companies
• Epipheo
Useful recources
10 things to check before hiring a professional animation company
The best 30 Explainer Companies
Hire An Agency ($15000 And More)
If you have a budget more than $250K then this is a good choice for you. Large agencies can handle both explainer video production and video marketing. As an added benefit of a marketing team, they will be working with you on strategic plans to maximize the ROI.
However, if you’re going to only create a video, then you would better go with option three. With agencies, the thing is sometimes they aren’t even creating the video themselves. They can easily hire an explainer video company and outsource the production and then keep the extra fees for themselves.
Agencies work better for specific needs. For instance, if you only want to promote your specific product in the summer, your agency will handle it from scratch. Hiring an agency applies that you have multiple skilled people in one place.
Of course, they can help you to make better decisions and help you to avoid costly mistakes. However, working with them is already costly.
That is why we think that this might not be the best option for you as a startup. First and foremost, hiring an agency is extremely expensive for a startup. And again, there are chances they outsource the production service.
What Is The Best Price For Startup Videos?
Of course, everything depends on what your marketing budget is. However, we all know that startups, as a rule, have tight budgets. That is why we recommend something around $3500-$5500. Just remember that you will also probably need to invest some money to promote and market the video.
Conclusion
As you have read, there are actually a few different possibilities for your startup video, and all are worth reading into. If you’ve got a tiny budget, you may benefit from an online creator. On the flip side, if you were lucky enough to get tens of millions of dollars in investor funding, you may think about hiring a full service agency. For everyone else, though, we highly recommend an animated explainer video production company.
