Video serves as a must-have marketing tool for more than 91 percent of businesses. Ninety percent of marketers report seeing solid returns on investment from using video, which explains its popularity. Choosing between outsourcing video production or creating an in-house team often feels like a tricky decision. Both options come with their own upsides and downsides, making it tough to pick the best path. Understanding these differences shines a light on what could work best for any company\u2019s unique goals. Keep reading to discover the surprising truths behind these choices and why it matters for your business success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this post, we\u2019ll break down the main factors to consider with outsourcing video versus hiring your own in-house production team and how to make that final call. If you’re already leaning towards hiring an in-house team, “The complete guide to building an in-house video production team<\/em><\/a>” has everything you need to get the ball rolling from hiring to equipment<\/a>, with expert advice from successful in-house video team leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Making the call of whether to outsource video creation or have your own team can be a complex one. Deciding to outsource your videos to someone else can seem convenient compared to hiring someone<\/a>, but it also comes with costs. While there are a lot of different elements to consider, the four factors that you should look at first are budget, timelines, flexibility, and onboarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cost is top of mind for many organizations and businesses, so it\u2019s no surprise that this is the first factor to consider. And when budgets get cut or team members get laid off, many turn to agencies or freelancers, thinking that they\u2019ll save more with outsourcing the work. But the reality is that it\u2019s often more expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Casey Clark, Senior Manager of Video at Luma Health<\/a>, was hired on to take over video for this exact reason: “I was working for another Fortune 500 company. And they did outsource all of their video marketing to agencies. The reason they brought me in is because they were starting to realize this is very expensive. They realized, if we just paid one person to maybe reel some of these costs in, we could save a lot of money.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n With agencies and freelancers, you\u2019re paying a premium for specific expertise and deliverables that quickly add up. Whether you\u2019re creating short-form content<\/a> or longer videos, all of the different elements of your request can end up being far more expensive than what it would be to produce in-house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As Kaitlyn Rossi, the Creative Director at Storyblocks, explains, \u201cWe\u2019ve seen outsourced videos be 10x <\/em>the cost of what you might spend on them in-house because of all the skills that you bring in to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of that, there can be unexpected expenses down the road. If you eventually want to transition from an agency to in-house, you’ll have to buy the footage they filmed for you back. Clark experienced this first hand, saying, “One of the places I was working at, when we wanted the footage that we paid a company to go out and shoot, since I had come on board and wanted to redo the video, we had to buy the footage back. Just to get the raw files, we had to pay them again. So it was like double dipping.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, you have to think about how long you\u2019re willing to wait for your videos to get done. When you hire an agency or freelancer, you\u2019re at the mercy of their schedule and availability. You might want a video to go along with your new product launch, but there\u2019s no guarantee that they\u2019ll be able to make that date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not to mention the fact that you\u2019ll be in line behind all of the other companies and businesses who also decided to outsource their video production, leading to longer production timelines<\/a>, delays, and backlogs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Signing a contract with an agency or freelancer means that you get a set amount of revisions, hours, and deliverables. So if you want to make last-minute changes to your video\u2019s script or a new deliverable, you\u2019ll either be out of luck or have to pay extra, often at a premium. If flexibility is a priority for you, outsourcing your video production will be a challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As opposed to when you have someone in house, as Clark explains, “If you want to repurpose a two minute video and make a quick social clip, you don’t have to reach out to your agency contact. You don’t have to write another brief<\/a> that says we need Steve to clip 15 seconds of this two minute video to be able to put on Facebook or LinkedIn. You ask the person who’s working in-house.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, the last factor to consider is the entire research, vetting, and onboarding process for your agency or freelancer. You\u2019ll need to go out and find potential options, schedule calls, negotiate contracts, and bring them up to speed with your brand or product before the first video can get underway. If you choose to outsource video, you need to be prepared for the time commitment that comes with those beginning stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Communication can also be a huge challenge during this process. Typically, over communicating is the best approach with external vendors. But that also means more time you need to spend sending emails, commenting on drafts, setting expectations, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of the biggest challenges of outsourcing is the level of project management required to onboard new vendors,\u201d Rossi points out. \u201cOutsourcing work to an external vendor adds a lot of time to the production process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n4 main factors to consider with outsourcing video<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Budget<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Timelines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Flexibility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Onboarding<\/h3>\n\n\n\n