12 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Video Production Company

Now that you understand what a video production company is and how it can help your business, let’s take a look at the important questions you should be asking your potential production companies before you pick the right one for your brand.

1. What Videos Do They Specialize In?

Not every video production company creates the same types of videos. Some specialize in traditional advertising while others focus on online creative like social media videos. Make sure that the company you are working with has experience in the type of video you want to create, and take a close look at their demo reels and video portfolios to ensure that their style and production value matches with what you are looking for. You want to make sure that you find a video production company that will be able to replicate your brand voice.

2. What is Their Experience Level?

Video production companies come in a wide range of experience levels. There are some that focus on being “young” and creating videos that are best for the digital age, and others that have been established for a long time with trained and seasoned professionals who have been creating videos for decades. Each side of the spectrum provides value, with less experienced companies providing a fresh look and more experienced companies having plenty of on-the-job knowledge. Make sure you pick the right fit for your brand.

3. How Long Has the Company Been in Business?

Similarly to experience levels, you might want to ask the potential candidate how long their video production company has been in business. This might help you understand more about the company’s background and how many clients they have. It’s important to remember, however, that companies that have been in business for years might have younger, less experienced staff and a brand new company might have a team of vetted professionals. Asking about the team you will be working with can help you gather even more information.

4. Are They Listening to Your Input?

While you might not be an expert in video production, you are an expert when it comes to your brand, products and services. In order to create great videos, you need to be able to work alongside the video production company and input your own ideas. However, some video production companies like to take over the process entirely and have complete creative control over your videos. This might not be the best fit, unless of course you want the process to be entirely out of your hands.

5. Do Their Values Align with Yours?

It’s important that your values align with every external creative agency you work with and video production companies are no exception. The right fit for your brand will understand how important it is to have the same core values and similar missions so that the underlying tone and direction of the videos they produce for you will match your vision. You want to make sure that your company cultures will work together for a smooth relationship.

6. How Often Will They Be in Communication?

There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to work with a company that just isn’t responding to you. It’s important to ask any potential video production company that you might work with about their plans for communication. Do they have weekly or monthly meetings to touch base? Is there a point of contact you can send your questions to? When will they send you updates on where they are in the video production process? Asking these questions up front can save you stress down the line.

7. What is Their Pricing?

It’s an unfortunate truth that some video production companies overcharge for their services. Others might have unexpected fees and video production costs that weren’t discussed when you first reached out to them and talked about budget. You want to make sure as you are vetting companies that you get clear answers on pricing and have an exact (or near exact) quote for what the production costs will be so you don’t get blindsided by unexpected expenses. You might also want to see what a video within your budget looks like by asking for a comparable example.

8. What Services Do They Offer?

Not all video production companies will offer the same services. Some will have a very narrow scope as far as the services they offer, while some will seem to have multiple types of video service as an option. You want to make sure that you know what you are getting before you sign up. After all, you wouldn’t want to sign a contract with a video production company and then realize that they aren’t covering work like script writing or post-production effects like you initially thought.

9. Who Will Be Working on Your Project?

Another important question to ask is who will be working on your project. Some video production companies have large staffs with full-time employees so you can meet and get a feel for your video production team. Other video production agencies will only have a few full-time crew members and will hire freelancers and part-timers for the rest of their production requirements. Knowing who is working on your project is important, so you always want to know who the key players are.

10. What Type of Equipment Do They Use?

Another great question to ask is what type of equipment the company is using or what type of equipment they have on hand. Some companies have lots of equipment, including cameras, computers, lighting and sound equipment. Others have a smaller inventory and need to rent equipment as needed for bigger shoots or more complicated shots. Asking this question can help you figure out your production costs more accurately and plan for any charges for equipment rental if it is applicable to your project.

11. Are They Local or Global?

Some video production companies focus on making videos in a local region, which might be a good fit for businesses that need to create on-site videos for corporate or training videos for your internal team members. However, if you want your videos to be shot in a specific location that’s out of your region or maybe even out of your country, you should make sure that the video production company you hire has a global reach and can travel to wherever is necessary to film and shoot your video.

12. What Will the Video Creation Process Be Like?

Finally, you’ll want to get a feel for what the actual creative process will be like when working with the production company. You’ll want to get a feel for their workflow and their process so you know what steps are coming next, when your input is going to be needed, when costs will arise, and when your finished product will be delivered. Take time to dive down into the details as you work with your video production company and ensure that their process will fit into your own workflows to avoid confusion and keep all teams working together.