How much do healthcare video specialists cost?
It’s typically the biggest question I get from customers. How much does video cost?
It’s made even more complicated when you narrow your focus and you want to find out how much it costs to hire healthcare video specialists.
I wish I had a simple answer for you, but I don’t. A lot of video production cost comes down to the dreaded… it depends.
Nobody likes that answer, and I totally empathize. When you’re researching vendors (for anything), you want to be able to compare competitors by price.
Video production is tricky though because there are so many variables that need to be taken into account.
What I hope I can do for you is give you some perspective, share how we price our videos, and by doing so give you a better understanding of what you’re in for when you decide to look for a production company.
Why Hire Healthcare Video Specialists?
There are tons of video production companies out there. Heck, anyone with a camera and a little video experience these days might consider themselves a “video production company.”
But if you hire real pros, they’re going to bring a lot of the same things to the table:
professional equipment
talented staff
solid customer service
So why hire someone who’s a specialist?
I shouldn’t have to tell you this. You work in healthcare!
If you need heart surgery, would you rather go to general surgeon or someone who specializes in cardiac care?
Duh.😆
I can’t speak for others, so I’ll put it from our perspective. As healthcare video specialists, we understand that healthcare is a unique industry.
Complexity: the human body is amazing. It takes complicated medical knowledge, advanced technology, and skill for quality healthcare.
Ethics: there are often life and death situations to consider, and the “customers” are frequently making decisions in their most vulnerable state.
Regulations: from safety to privacy, there is a lot to be aware of when you’re in a healthcare environment.
Technology: innovation is a constant in healthcare, and technology is ever changing.
Economic Considerations: insurance coverage, reimbursement models, healthcare financing, and the rising cost of pharmaceuticals… none of it is cheap, and the struggle to pay for it all can be a stressor for many.
Societal Impact: healthcare is tied directly to our well-being and quality of life. Which is why so many healthcare providers look beyond their own walls to serve the community.
How many corporate video generalists consider these things when they take on a project? Probably not many.
Again, speaking just for us, we’ve been in the ER, OR, and around the block with HIPAA. That type of experience comes in handy. So does having a good bedside manner.
What’s Your Budget?
While our customers might want to know how much video costs, what we usually want to know is what’s your budget?
Ugh. Seriously? Can you believe the never on these guys? They want me to tell them how much I can spend?! How will I get a good deal like that?
True. That can be a frustrating question when you’re shopping for a video production company, but let me explain why you should embrace it.
It’s true. If you’re trying to keep your cards close to the chest because you want to get the best deal, sharing your budget is not a good idea.
But I’m going to let you in on a secret.
There are no “deals” when it comes to professional video production. There’s no blue light special, and you won’t find a “healthcare video specialist” sale on Prime Day.
Video production is one part valuable business communications tactic and one part art. If you want something really good, you’re going to have to pay for it.
Now, it’s not to say you can’t find low cost videos out there. You can. Just keep in mind that video is one of things where you typically get what you pay for. Especially when it comes to looking for healthcare video specialists.
Let me run down some basic budgets to put things into perspective.
Budgets can range from zero dollars (hello, DIY) to tens of thousands of dollars. Let’s break it down by budget to give you an idea of what you can expect for the dollars you spend.
Hundreds of dollars: if you budget is hundreds of dollars, forget looking for healthcare video experts. The person you’re looking for is probably someone creating corporate videos as a side hustle. A video video pro out to make some extra cash, a college student or recent grad. It’s possible to get a good video here, but your success rate is very hit and miss.
Thousands of dollars: again, if you’re at the low end of this ($1000-$3000), look for a video pro who has a side hustle going. ProductionHUB, Upwork… sites like these are good places to turn. If you’re in the middle of this scale, start looking into video production companies. They’ll have the skills and professionalism to do the job right.
$10K & up: Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. A budget like this is where capabilities should match with your expectations. Anyone meeting budgets like this are likely seasoned video pros. If you’re truly looking for a healthcare video specialist, this is the budget category you should plan for.
Why You Should Share Your Budget
Here’s the part where I push back on not wanting to share your budget.
While you might be showing your hand, you can still get a good deal. But instead of it being on price, it will be on value.
Share your budget with three different production companies, then sit back and see what they offer you in terms of time and resources. You might not be getting a lower price, but you will definitely see how to get more for the dollars you spend.
What You’re Getting for Your Money
Now that you have a better sense of the marketplace, let’s discuss a little about the difference in quality between these budgets.
If you’re just spending $500-$1000 on your video, don’t expect too much. Again, you can get a decent video, but it probably isn’t going to wow anyone. You also shouldn’t expect stellar customer service. The people serving this price point probably don’t have a lot of business experience.
As you move up the cost scale, you’ll see a leap in quality. The difference between a $1000 video and a $5000 is pretty dramatic. There’s also a jump in quality between a $5000 and a $10,000+ video, but it’s not as staggering.
Basically, the bigger the production company, the more bells and whistles. They’ll probably provide a bigger team:
multiple videographers
field producer
sound technician
production assistants
editors
You might also get access to special equipment:
cinematic cameras
drones
steadicams
sliders
booms
multiple lights
Is Bigger Better?
I will say this. The more you spend, the more likely you’re going to be happy with the finished product.
However, do you need all the bells and whistles?
No.
You have to consider what works best for your situation.
For example, working in healthcare, you might want to shoot in areas where real work is taking place. Bringing in a big crew with tons of equipment might not be the best fit for you.
I’ll brag on us just a bit, one of the things that makes us healthcare video specialists is understanding what a healthcare environment looks like and how it operates… figuratively and literally. When we show up to shoot a video, it’s usually a single videographer with a couple of cameras, tripods, and a small light kit. We don’t take over the place.
Having said that, there are plenty of times a big team with fancy equipment does make sense, so that’s something for you to consider as you make a plan for your project.
By the way, all of this is why we, along with other production companies, ask about your budget. What you’re willing to pay impacts the amount of resources that can be provided.
How We Price Videos
Okay, let’s move on to the part where we explain how we price video projects, and the first thing you should know is we don’t charge an hourly rate.
Instead, we charge by how many days the project will take us to complete.
For instance, our current day rate is $2500/day. So, if the video is going to take us five days to complete, the video will cost $12,500.
It’s important to note, this is how T60 Health prices things. Other video production companies might do it differently, but this is what works best for us.
Most non-video people usually want to know how much a 3-minute video costs, or a 2-minute video, et cetera. But in the video production world, pricing things that way doesn’t work well.
Here’s why. The length of the finished video isn’t always an indicator of how much time, effort, and resources it took to produce.
We have produced 3-minute videos that took four days to complete, and 1-minute videos that took two weeks. That’s a big difference in cost.
Our Video Production Process
I like to go into the production process to give people a sense of what’s involved. Many times, the only exposure communications pros have to the process is what they see first-hand during discovery and the video shoot.
There’s a lot more to it than that, so here’s what you’re getting for your money.
Discovery (1-day)
Communication is the key to any successful project.
Look who I’m talking to… you’re a communications pro. You know that!😉
It’s true for video production as well. It’s important to get on the same page, so during discovery we do our best to understand your goals for the video, who your audience is, and any thoughts you have on the story you want to tell.
I can’t stress enough the importance of this part. So many people go into a video project without a plan. That’s a recipe for disaster.
The Content Marketing Institute tells us, "85% of marketers say they get average or below-average results (from their videos). When asked what they need to get better results, the most frequently cited answer (59%) was a video strategy.”
Courtesy: Content Marketing Institute
This is why I spend so much time writing about video strategy and planning in my Amazon #1 bestselling book, Lights, Camera, Impact.
The Discovery stage is where the video plan comes together, and it usually takes anywhere from a few hours to a full day.
Activities include:
discuss the video’s look and feel
what needs to be in the video
who will participate
who needs to be brought into the loop
Pre-production (3-hours)
This is when we start to prepare everything we need for the project. It usually just takes a few hours.
creating a shot list
prepping interview questions
checking and testing equipment
making any travel plans
Video Shoot (typically 2-days)
This is the part most people think of when it comes to video production. The video shoot is the most visible stage because we’re on-site doing our thing.
on-camera interviews are conducted
raw video (b-roll) is recorded
spontaneity, stuff happens you just can’t plan for… for better or worse.😉
I like to say the video shoot usually take a couple of days, but this is one part of the project where “it depends” impacts the final cost.
How many video shoots will we need to complete the project? Sometimes we can get in and out in a single day.
Fantastic.
However, maybe the shoot involves a few locations, someone important to the project gets called away for an emergency, one day isn’t good enough to get all the interviews and the b-roll, et cetera.
Post-production (typically 2-days)
The stuff we do in this phase and the timing is easy to predict:
review the b-roll
transcribe interviews
create the script
edit the video
complete revisions
send the final digital file
Post-production is where “it depends” reins supreme.
When I’m asked, how long will our video take, I often say, “That depends more on you than us.”
The reason is we can predict how long just about everything will take in-advance, except for your approval process.
Sometimes it’s quick and easy. Sometimes there are several people who have to sign-off, and they all have an opinion.
Wrapping Up
So… how much does it cost to hire healthcare video specialists?
It depends… on all of the above!
I’ll say this, plan to spend $10,000+. There might be projects here and there where $6000 will get the job done, but for budgeting purposes $10K is a safe place to start.
Want to get an even better idea? Send us a note. We’re happy to give you an estimate to get you started.
