How Much Do Social Media Videos Cost to Produce?

How Much Do Social Media Videos Cost to Produce? Social media videos are commonly shared on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and even on Pinterest. More than 66% of all interactions on social media now involve video. In fact, if you’re not using video, you’re probably getting lost in the other commentary and interactions that are taking place on these platforms each day.

There’s little question that the production of videos for social media is something that every business should take advantage of, but can every business afford to? How much do social media videos cost to produce and what effects social media video production costs?

According to research, and according to our own historical background figures, the average cost to produce a video for social media is between $1,000 and $10,000 per finished minute. The good thing is, most videos on social media are between 1 and 2 minutes long, but how are these costs configured, and what factors influence the increase or decrease in the total cost?

Social Media Video Production Professionals

Most influential in the total cost of producing a social media video is the professional involvement that it takes to produce the video. A broadcast-quality production crew working on a social media video will certainly charge more than a freelancer fresh out of film school. Production professionals each have their own hourly rates that are based on expertise, education, and individual technical abilities. Rate vary as follows:

• Film Director – >$250 per hour
• Script Writer – >$150 per hour
• Cameraman – >$400 per hour
• Editor – >$175 per hour
• Actors – >$500 per hour
• Equipment – up to 100s per hour
• Studio Shooting – up to $400 per hour
• Narrator – >$400 per hour
• Audio Files – up to $1000
• Video Rendering – up to $75 per hour
• B-Roll – expect to pay a percentage between 10 and 50% of your total cost
• Miscellaneous Fees – can cost very little up to 1000s extra

As you can see, someone with no industry experience may charge $50 per hour, but someone with 10 years of experience may charge $400 per hour to shoot a video. Likewise, things like production crew size also come into play here. A small production crew of just 2 cameramen will cost just up to $800 per hour but if you have 4 cameramen working then you could pay up to $1,600 per hour. The size of the crew and experience level as well as expertise will all play critical roles in the total production costs.

Project Scope

Social media videos can have varied costs based on the scope of the project. A complex project that requires a Director and a Producer that has expert-level education will certainly be more costly than an entry-level project that requires very little industry experience or consideration, minimal creativity, and little strategic input.

Social media videos can cost between $1,000 and $10,000 on average to produce but for a two-minute video, these rates could be between $2,000 and $20,000. Keep this as well as all of the other influencers in mind when planning the budget for your film.

Here’s how the scope of the project can influence the price:

• The number of characters involved – this is especially influential in animations.
• The extent of the environment being filmed. More shoot locations increase the cost of production.
• The complexity of the story. A more complex story will require advanced scripting skills as well as more storyboarding and professional quality production.
• The strategic focus of the project. The more important the goals and end strategy, the more it will cost.
• Level of direct industry knowledge or expertise involved. A medical animation that cannot deliver incorrect results will certainly cost more to produce than an entry-level whiteboard animation that is explaining a new service.

Talk with your production crew about ways to reduce social media video costs or what steps you can take to stay within a particular budget. Give Beverly Boy Productions a call to learn more or to discuss rates for social media video production that works for you.

Here is an example of a social media video produced by Team Beverly Boy: