Video Marketing Services vs. In-House Production: Which is Right for You?

For many marketers and business owners, deciding the best route to take for video production is a tough call. 

Should they work with a video marketing agency or go it alone with an in-house production team?

Unfortunately, there is no definitive correct answer. There are pros and cons to both using a video marketing agency and to building an in-house production team. 

You need to assess your current resources and decide which is right for you.

In this article, we'll give you an in-depth look at the pros and cons: video marketing agency vs in-house production team.

With this information, you'll be able to choose which is right for you and begin ramping up your brand's video marketing efforts immediately. 

Before we dive in, let's take a look at why the need for professionally-shot video content has become such a priority for B2B marketers.

Why B2B Companies Need Brand Videos

With the ever-growing emphasis on digital media, B2B businesses can no longer sell their product with words alone. 

They have to showcase their product, their brand, their content and their clients in an engaging way that attracts the attention of prospective customers. 

And the best way to accomplish this is with video.

Videos are already a part of prospective customers' day to day experience. People will spend 100 minutes per day watching videos in 2021.

In addition, videos can be easily shared on social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter with your target audience.

Your business' prospective customers are seeking branded video content to learn and discover new products that will help their business. 

59% of executives prefer to watch a video to learn about a new product rather than read about it.

Your business can achieve this by producing high-quality video content which includes brand story videos, product demo videos, testimonials and case studies.

For instance, this video testimonial for Celect (a cloud-based predictive analytics platform). 

In just 1 minute and 50 seconds, you hear about the software's functions, features and benefits from existing customers who have seen success:

https://vimeo.com/300841026

The challenge, though, is how to create videos like this. Should B2B businesses use an agency or build an in-house team? 

Let's weigh the pros and cons of each.

Video Marketing Services: Pros, Cons and Pricing

Leveraging a video marketing agency for video production is a popular choice for many B2B companies. 

Before you decide to work with a video marketing agency, consider the following pros and cons about the potential arrangement.

Video Marketing Agency Pros

Quality and efficiency are two of the most important proponents of choosing to work with a video marketing agency.

#1: Quality

B2B marketers need to ensure their video is professionally shot. Quality is often a concern when it comes to shooting and editing the video yourself.

Marketers who try to produce high-quality videos with little to no experience will often come up short. The end result will not work, and they'll waste money and time in the process.

More than 59% of non-video marketers expect to start video marketing in 2020. Imagine how much time and money businesses would save by simply outsourcing their video marketing efforts to an agency.

Video marketing agencies work directly with the marketers, but take the lead on concepting, writing, filming and editing the video. Their core competency fills the voice that most marketers have when it comes to video marketing.

A creative agency can help their client launch a video ad campaign that is designed to reach their target audience. 

They may even help with the landing page, YouTube channel optimization, social media promotion and other marketing services too. They can be your partner every step of the way.

Testimonial Hero put together this video testimonial for NewStore. We worked with their clients and team to bring their story to life.

Quality is something that can't be overlooked. Selecting the right agency will result in a high-quality end result.

#2: Efficiency

Marketers are busy. No matter the company, they're likely juggling a handful of miscellaneous tasks.

They are asked to be content creators, SEOs, social media managers, designers, video editors, email marketers and more. It's too much.

Marketers are being pulled in a million directions. This disrupts their day and overall efficiency. Over 73% of marketers find it difficult to complete tasks because of interruptions.

By working with a video marketing agency, your team will save time and be able to focus on other aspects of your marketing.

Video marketing is a specialized skill that takes time to learn. By outsourcing to an agency, your marketers can focus on their campaigns.

Video Marketing Agency Cons

Despite numerous pros, there are a handful of cons for working with a video marketing agency. 

Two popular negatives of working with a video marketing agency include the selection process and overall costs associated with your projects.

#1: Selection Process

There's a lot of pressure on marketers to select the right agency. 

Will it deliver a high-quality project? Will you get along with the team? Who else have they worked with? Do they specialize in motion graphics, animation or video content marketing?

Businesses need to consider many different aspects of video marketing agencies when making their selection. After all, they'll be delivering a marketing video that will represent the company. 

You don't want to select a company that will be a wrong fit.

The wrong video marketing agency can rush through the project and rip companies off, only to deliver a poor video that doesn't get the point across. 

Marketers need to be thorough in their selection process and make sure they are teaming up with the right people.

Over 30% of marketers are dissatisfied with the arrangement they have with their agency.

Testimonial Hero partnered with Botkeeper to produce a video testimonial for their website. It went so well, we asked him to be featured in a testimonial for our site.

https://vimeo.com/280941519

True, effective agencies work as partners to clients who want to tell their story. Find an agency that will work to understand your business and bring your story to life.

#2: Cost

Depending on your arrangement with the agency, it can get expensive to produce a series of videos.

Businesses need to make sure they understand all the fees associated with the project before signing a contract.

Agencies can sometimes charge you for a la cart items like extra rounds of editing, music rights, alternate cuts, b-roll footage and more.

You should begin your relationship with your agency by exploring the different payment structures or agreements you could potentially have in place. 

If you do this, both your company and the video marketing agency will be on the same page, preventing future issues.

The average cost of a small business marketing agency is $5,200 per month.

If you have room in your budget for a video marketing agency, it might still be the right path for you.

Video Marketing Agency Pricing

Equipment, software, and full-time employee salaries and benefits can quickly add up if you go the in-house route. 

If you're only producing less than 20 short videos over the course of a year, it's more cost-effective to outsource your video marketing efforts.

Testimonial Hero provides full-service video production at a low cost. Reach out today and we'll get started bringing your story to life.

In-House Production: Pros, Cons and Pricing

There are certain scenarios when it makes the most sense to produce the video with an in-house production team. 

Let's take a look at the pros and cons for taking that route.

In-House Production Pros

B2B marketers that decide to produce and edit their video in-house will benefit from full creative control and flexibility.

#1: Full Creative Control

When you develop the video in-house, you're responsible for its success and failure. 

You are managing the process and are the creative driver for the production.

This can be exciting for creative marketers that are ready to step up and show the world what they can do. 

Over 35% of marketers cite greater control over branding and creativity as a key consideration for making in-house videos.

For others, it can be daunting—especially if being creative isn't their strongest suit.

For example, this introduction video that Slack filmed is simple and straightforward. It was shot with basic animation and talking heads by their employees in front of a white background.

Sometimes, you have all the ingredients you need to create effective in-house videos. You might discover it's easier to work with your team than a production agency.

In this case, producing videos in-house may be right for you.

#2: Flexibility

If you're producing a video tied to current events or a rapidly changing product, you'll need to be able to edit it at a moment's notice.

With an in-house team, you can quickly adapt and change your messaging if your content needs to pivot. Agencies sometimes don't move quick enough to satisfy the needs of the client.

Brands at Digiday's Brand Summit said, "The issue we had with the agency we were working with was they were constantly changing the teams they were working with, and that led to a slow turn-around."

When you work with your in-house team, you are your own bottleneck. 

You don't have to work on a production agency's timetable that isn't entrenched in the day-to-day operations of the business.

In-House Production Cons

There are plenty of cons to creating the video in-house as well. Some of these include the lack of help and support along with the overall cost of the team.

#1: No Lifelines

Video production is a highly specialized skill. There aren't many low-cost shortcuts that marketing teams can take to make it easier.

You need to hire the right people to execute, because without the assistance of an agency by your side, you're completely on your own.

This can put added stress on already busy marketing teams trying to do too much at once.

With an agency at your side, you can simply ask them to complete the project for you and not worry about it. By doing it yourself, you don't have this luxury.

More than one-third of small businesses (37%) currently outsource a business process, and more than half (52%) plan to in the coming year.

Decide which route is right for you, and make the jump.

#2: Cost

Before you decide if you want to work with an agency or build an in-house team, do a full cost analysis. 

In-house production teams will add a lot of expenses to your company and payroll.

But will it be more than a video marketing agency? That's what you need to figure out.

However, over 70% of companies are increasing their budget in content marketing (inclusive of video production) in the coming year. 

(Image Source) 

The money might be there for your company, but does it make more sense to invest in an agency that's skilled at producing videos? 

By finding the break-even point, you can see whether it's more financially viable to hire video marketers or work with an outside agency.

It can be a bit of a gamble to invest in full-time employees, cameras, equipment and software. 

You need to have a video marketing strategy in place that you know will get you a return on your investment.

Once you see your video marketing strategy is working, you'll know how much you can invest in your video marketing campaign.

Video Marketing Production Pricing

If you anticipate ramping up your video marketing efforts, building out a team to do it will likely be the best route to take. 

You'll earn a positive return on investment in employees, equipment and software if video marketing is a core component of your marketing strategy for the next few years. 

In order to find out if video marketing works for you, I'd recommend outsourcing a few videos to start and gauge their effectiveness. 

This can help you determine if you want to make the investment in all the components needed for an in-house agency.

Conclusion

The video marketing services vs. in-house production debate has been a challenge for marketers for years. How should they produce high-quality videos?

Video marketing is an essential part of any marketing strategy. B2B marketers need to produce product demos, testimonials and brand videos that delight prospects.

Video marketing agencies produce quality videos in an efficient way, but can be tough to select and pricey if you plan to ramp up your video marketing efforts.

In-house production teams enable you to have full creative control and be flexible with your production. However, it eliminates your ability to work with an extended team of specialized experts and can be costly if your videos aren’t effective.

No matter what you pick, you’ll be on your way to publishing engaging video content that is designed to attract and engage prospective customers at all stages of the sales cycle.

Contact Testimonial Hero today to begin the process of concepting, planning and eventually bringing your video marketing strategy to life.