Rich Media such as video plays a big part in our lives today. The old adage of “If a picture can say 1,000 words imagine what video can do” remains as true today as it did ten years ago. The creative industries are booming, despite tough economic times. International events such as London 2012 showcased just how far we’ve come in video production techniques. Of course for some time now, lots of creativity and ingenuity has been showcased in short films and marketing videos.

This is a dilemma that many of our clients face before they come to us. In London alone, there choice of professional companies is staggering. Often people within a company have been tasked to find a video or film production company in a short space of time, and been given an allocated budget. It won’t take long before the person realizes that most video production companies have set prices or packages and this makes it difficult when companies need bespoke solutions.

So the first thing you should look at is the companies pricing – are they transparent with their rates or are there hidden extras. Indeed, this is a sneaky tactic that some companies employ such as not including transportation costs or studio and equipment hire, for example. Make sure you call the company and find out exactly what’s included in the price and not. Ideally, you want the company to work with the budget you have rather than having rigid pricing structures for certain packages. After all, we’re not talking about buying a holiday here, video production companies should be flexible to a certain degree.

The next tip is to look at the video production company’s existing body of work before engaging in a dialogue. This will give a good indication as to their style and quality of production and if it’s a good match with what you’re looking for. If the company you’re looking at don’t have an online portfolio, it’s recommended you ask them to send a sample of a recent video production and ask to contact previous clients to see if they were satisfied.

Finally, make sure you’re clear about their process and what happens if you require additional edits after they’ve delivered. Most professional video production companies will provide this free of charge, but will allow only one additional edit – after this it might start getting costly.

Special thanks to Dragonfly Digital Video Services – a video production company in London – for this great article.

Click here to check out Absolute Perfection Media’s portfolio of past work, and then contact us for a detailed proposal for your next marketing video.