How Much Should it Cost to Produce a FB Video?

Producing short Facebook videos for your business or brand can help you to capture the attention of your target audience and outshine your competition. As a business owner, you probably realize the importance of including video in all of your social media marketing and advertising. Not only is Facebook the second most popular platform for sharing video, coming in just behind YouTube, but with more than 8 billion videos views per day it’s easy to see Facebook as a prime location for sharing video content. As with any campaigns, budget is important which is why you’re probably wondering, “how much should it cost to produce a FB video?”

The average cost to produce a FB video is between $1,000 and $10,000 per finished minute. Unfortunately, pricing with such a vast range can be difficult to budget for. With the average Facebook video running somewhere between 1 and 2 minutes, you can expect to spend between $1,000 and $20,000 on your FB video.

How can a business possibly plan for a bill so vast? You wouldn’t want to have saved $1,000 and find out that your video actually costs $8,000 or $18,000! So how can you plan?

What Influences FB Video Costs?

One of the best ways to plan out the cost of producing a FB video is in understanding the various factors that influence the overall price for your video. A broadcast-quality video, that is produced by the top professionals and includes intricate animations or graphics is going to be more expensive than a simple, film produced by a student camera crew using borrowed equipment and featuring very basic visual design. 

The fact is, when you ask, “How much should it cost to produce a FB video?” the first considerations we make are some of the most influential on the total cost of your video content. For instance, we consider the following:

• Total video length.
• Complexity of the video.
• Equipment needs.
• Expertise and education of crew.
• Technical skills required.
• Size of crew required.

Naturally, these factors influence your FB video production costs as will factors relative to the location and individual needs in regards to scheduling film shoots. A Facebook video that is shot across multiple locations could cost significantly more than if the film were produced in a single location. 

Facebook Video Production Costs

To help you understand where your budget is going when you ask, “How much should it cost to produce a FB video?” we’ve listed some of the most common video production costs involved in social media video creation below:

• Film Director – $250 or more per hour.
• Script Writer – $150 or more per hour.
• Cameraman – $400 or more per hour.
• Editor – $175 or more per hour.
• Actors and Talent – $500 or more per hour.
• Equipment – up to $100s per hour.
• Studio Shooting – up to $400 per hour.
• Narrator – $400 or more per hour.
• Audio Files – up to $1,000.
• Video Rendering – up to $75 per hour.
• B-roll – a percentage between 10 and 50% of total costs
• Miscellaneous Fees – vary from next to nothing to 1,000s extra.

Again, notice how varied these prices all are which is why it’s so difficult to hammer down the exact cost that you can expect to produce a Facebook video for your business. If you’re working with a professional film crew that comes with extensive experience, you can expect to spend significantly more on the hourly production rates than you would if you were working with a small freelancer crew or student filmmaker. 

Additional Considerations

In addition to the per hour costs involved in the production of Facebook videos, you’ll have considerations regarding the complexity of the video you create and things like graphics, animations, or special features. For most businesses, producing a 1 minute FB video will cost about $5,000 but an entry-level whiteboard animation might be produced for significantly less and an advanced stop-action animated film could cost significantly more.

Quality of production is a very important consideration to make that can influence the cost to product a FB video. Keep in mind that you should always try to aim for professional quality that reflects the professionalism of your brand. You wouldn’t want to produce a lower quality video for social media because this will send the message to your audience that you don’t care, or that you are not committed, which isn’t good.

If you’re concerned about the overall cost, or you’re just trying to get a budget set up so that you understand what to expect in regards to how much it should cost to produce a FB video, talk with your production crew about your individual needs to get an idea of what you can expect to spend.

Just know that when you ask, “How much should it cost to produce a FB video?” the answer that you receive could be quite vague and is almost guaranteed to vary depending on who you ask. Know that the average video on Facebook is about 2 minutes long, which means you can expect to spend between $2,000 and $20,000 but the range can be narrowed quite significantly if you figure out the exact details of your video needs including complexity, production crew size, and filming location. The best way to set a budget for producing a Facebook video for your business is to work closely with a film crew to set up a budget and prepare a plan for production of your film!