Video Production: Outsourcing VS. In-House

By now, most marketers and entrepreneurs appreciate the power of video content and are actively strategizing on how to create the content they need.But as video becomes more and more important as a marketing tool, many companies who want to scale video content efforts struggle with whether to outsource video production or keep it in-house.In this post, we’ll explore the pros and cons of each option, hopefully making the decision easier for you. However, you should keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to decide one way or another. There is a third option to get the best of both worlds and to use a combination of outsourced and in-house talent.To start, let’s look at some stats to see how the market is divided on the topic today:

• 7% of companies create video content entirely in-house
• A relatively high 21% of companies outsource all video content creation
• A significant 72% of companies use a combination of outsourced and in-house talent

Source (stats and image): research conducted by Ascend2 in partnership with Vidyard

In-House Video Production

Today many companies hire video production talent, creative directors, writers, and former journalists to bring video production talent in-house. Video teams can vary pretty widely across organizations. For example, some video teams function as internal agencies, producing projects across the entire company. Others fit within a particular team (often marketing), and are mainly focused around one objective.

‍Pros:

1. An in-house team is a good option if your company creates video content regularly or you want to ramp up your video production.
2. Once the team is trained, it is easier to get videos that are consistently “on-brand.” Rather than working with a few members of the team to complete a one-off project, an in-house videographer can get to know more people at the company and better understand the brand, the culture, and how your business works.
3. An in-house team has the flexibility to try lots of different things to see what works and what doesn’t. Experimentation and iteration are encouraged and the stakes aren’t as high for experiments that don’t work out.

Cons:

1. An in-house team is capped at how many videos they can handle and create in a given period of time.
2. Costs of recruitment, salaries, and specialized equipment is a large upfront investment for companies looking to hire in-house video talent.
3. Over time, the ideas and creativity of an in-house team can begin to go stale.
4. An in-house team is typically limited to one or two geographies to shoot in

Outsourcing Video Production

As you saw in the stats at the beginning of this article, the majority of companies outsource all or part of their video production. Outsourced video production can range from a local agency, freelancer(s), or a global service such as Fiverr.

‍Pros:

1. Outsourcing video production is a great way to get a fresh perspective on your business/brand and project.
2. An agency or freelancer(s) are the ideal solution for handling a fluctuating workload, with the flexibility to take on video projects on an as-needed basis
3. When you outsource video production to an agency or freelancer, you get access to their specialized expertise and technology included in the price of the project
4. Using outsourced talent doesn’t burn up much of your own employees’ time, allowing your team to focus on other projects

Cons:

1. When outsourcing a video project, be prepared for the initial start period to take some time.
2. Generally, you’ll need to prepare a creative brief, brand guidelines, PO, and etc., which can be a time consuming process.
3. Working with a new agency or freelance creator has an element of risk, given the sunk costs if the project does not turn out as expected.
4. Using outsourced talent makes it harder to achieve consistency in the quality and tone of your video content, because you’re using different sources all the time.

Conclusion

Hiring an in-house video production team or outsourcing video projects are two options that present benefits and drawbacks. The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to choose between the two. Using a combination of outsourced and in-house talent means you get the best of both worlds. With this approach, you can create quick, low-budget videos on your own and on tight timelines. You also have the option to allow a creative team to take a fresh perspective on your brand and complete a video without burning up any of your own employees’ time. With Fiverr, you also benefit from a diverse network of videographers and animators, making your video content creation efforts completely scalable and unbound by location. And whichever way you decide to create a video, we’d love to see your finished product!

‍Have questions about how to create video content? Ask us in the comments below!