Pros and Cons: Hiring a Videographer vs. Making Your Own Videos

A quick browse on Google will demonstrate that video content is powerful, popular, and here to stay. Some businesses successfully create their own content and others are comfortable hiring a professional to shoot and edit their videos. As with anything, there are pros and cons to both approaches and it is important to consider which is best for your business application.

Hire a Videographer

Pros: Less time involved in the video project, professional equipment, expert experience

Less Time Involved

If your staff is already spread too thin, hiring a videographer may be the best choice for you. When you hire a video professional, they handle everything from scripting to location to filming and editing. Your role is to guide the focus and direction and the videographer handles the rest.

Professional Equipment

When you hire a video expert, you get professional video equipment. Videographers have the tools of the trade to make sure that angles, lighting, and composition are perfect throughout the video. Professionals invest thousands of dollars into their cameras, lighting, and audio equipment. They also have access to the best editing software and tools, ensuring that you receive a polished, professional product.

Expert Experience

Typically, when you hire video production, you get a team of experts with unique specializations. For example, your production company may have a location expert who has connections that allow shoots at unique places. Also on staff is a professional editor, who handles post-production tasks. The team who shoots the video footage likely has years of experience and possibly a formal filmography education.

Cons: Higher expense, must be scheduled, misaligned artistic vision

Higher Expense

All of those benefits you receive from the "Pros" section above comes at a price. Many times, based on the experience of the videographer team, the price is hefty and may exceed your business' budget. Depending on how extensive the video will be, the number of locations, and how many cameras are needed, pricing can start at $1200 and run up into the tens of thousands.

Scheduling

If your business is in need of ongoing time sensitive video content, hiring a videographer may prove to be impossible. The growing popularity of video content has placed a demand on video production teams. High quality videographers are scheduling out several weeks in advance.

Misaligned Artistic Vision

You have a clear vision of what you want from your finished video content. Sometimes the video production team will misunderstand your vision or their vision begins to supersede yours. Sometimes your vision is simply unrealistic. Either way, conflict can occur when the videographer isn't a good fit for your project.

Make Your Own Videos

Pros: No scheduling involved, lower expense, artistic freedom

No Scheduling Involved

If your video content strategy involves creating lots of content on the fly, making your own videos will allow for this freedom. Videographers are booked out for weeks or months. Creating on-demand content will require you to make your own videos.

Lower Expense

Thanks to technological advances in video creation, for around $600, you can have a great set up to make your own professional videos. Your new equipment can be used to create thousands of hours of video content at no additional cost. If video content is part of your cornerstone content strategy, you could even hire someone to shoot video full time. The cost of this employee would still be less than hiring a video production team for every shoot.

Artistic Freedom

When you produce your own videos, you have the vision in your head and then it is your responsibility to execute it. If you want to shift focus mid-shoot, you have that liberty. Unlike when you hire a videographer, you can make unlimited revisions to your initial vision and shoot unlimited takes until it aligns perfectly with your concept.

Cons: Learning curve, more time involved, lower quality final product

Learning Curve

Like with any new skill, video making has a learning curve. The fastest and easiest way to get up and running is to take a crash course of the basics. In the profound words of author, Jonathan Raymond, "You can't know what you don't know. You can't know about things you have yet to discover." Commit to discovering everything you can about making professional videos. If you can't, hire a video production team.

More Time Involved

Directly related to learning video making skills, filming your own videos will involve more of your time. You will be in a perpetual state of learning and you will be responsible for all of the planning, production, and editing. If you have the time- great! If not, consider hiring a person for video content or hire a video production team.

Lower Quality Final Product

Luckily, candid, unedited video content has been gaining popularity on social media. Several unpolished videos have gone viral- queue the obligatory Dollar Shave Club launch video that now has more than 27 million views. But, if your industry demands a polished brand video, shooting it yourself may not be the best option.

Whether you shoot your own content or hire a professional videographer, the important thing is that you leverage video content to boost your brand.