It’s exhausting to disregard the truth that video is now a number one development for advertising and marketing groups. I imply, even LinkedIn has jumped on the bandwagon by prioritizing video content material (now, whether or not or not you agree with that, it’s a dialog for one more day, however I digress).
The reality is that video is right here to remain, and advertising and marketing groups are investing extra in it than ever earlier than.
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With 2025 simply across the nook, I made a decision to take a deep dive into a few of the newest HubSpot knowledge, together with the 2024 Video Advertising Survey, to get a clearer image of what traits are shaping the sector.
I additionally spoke with a number of consultants to get their insights on how they’re planning to spend money on video advertising and marketing as we transfer into the brand new yr.
Desk of Contents
How a lot does video advertising and marketing price?
The brief reply? It varies wildly. You may spend a number of hundred {dollars} on easy movies or tens of 1000’s on skilled productions.
Sometimes, the largest bills fall into a number of classes:
- Manufacturing. Prices for scripting, filming, and taking pictures, which may vary from inexpensive for smaller groups to costly for large-scale productions.
- Submit-Manufacturing. Modifying, including results, and finalizing the video. As content material will get extra polished, this turns into a much bigger a part of the funds.
- Promotion. Social media advertisements, paid search, or sponsored content material to get the video in entrance of the fitting viewers.
- Instruments. Software program for enhancing and video efficiency analytics, plus any subscriptions to specialised video platforms.
Waiting for 2025, I believe we’ll see extra groups leaning into AI instruments to cut back prices, particularly in manufacturing and post-production.
With the rise of short-form movies, manufacturers may shift towards creating extra frequent, lower-cost content material for social platforms.
And whereas social advertisements will nonetheless be a serious spend, I count on customized, interactive video codecs will develop into a much bigger a part of the funds as manufacturers search for new methods to interact audiences.
How a lot are entrepreneurs spending on video advertising and marketing?
The numbers inform an fascinating story. Our 2024 Video Advertising Survey exhibits entrepreneurs are placing a major quantity of their complete funds into video.
And it’s paying off — 52% report excessive ROI, whereas 47% see common returns.
Most entrepreneurs that I spoke with plan to extend their video funds subsequent yr.
It is smart while you take a look at the influence: 52% cite model consciousness as their major aim, and 41% say video helps clients perceive their merchandise higher.
What’s the standard funds breakdown? In line with digital transformation skilled Suriel Arellano, right here’s how companies normally slice it:
- 40-50% on manufacturing
- 20-30% on promotion
- The remaining on expertise and advertising and marketing
How AI Is Making Video Advertising Extra Inexpensive
Video advertising and marketing can get costly shortly — whether or not it’s for manufacturing, post-production, promotion, or analyzing outcomes.
However AI video instruments are severely altering the sport, serving to entrepreneurs like myself scale back prices throughout all levels of the method.
Right here’s how I’ve seen AI make video advertising and marketing less expensive.
1. Manufacturing Stage: Brainstorming & Scripting
Making a video from scratch typically includes hours of brainstorming, scripting, and outlining. AI instruments can considerably velocity up this course of, decreasing the time spent on these duties.
For instance, ChatGPT or Breeze can help in shortly producing video scripts or brainstorming concepts. By merely offering the AI with a number of key particulars concerning the video’s goal and viewers, entrepreneurs can generate complete scripts or outlines in minutes.
This protects each money and time, particularly when you have restricted sources.
Now, as knowledgeable author, I ought to add a disclaimer right here. I definitely don’t advocate for ChatGPT changing human creatives, together with writers. A talented scriptwriter will convey a degree of experience your challenge desperately wants.
Nonetheless, I do advocate utilizing ChatGPT that will help you brainstorm new concepts or angles and polish sure points of the script.
2. Submit-Manufacturing: Modifying & Results
As soon as your video is shot, the enhancing part may be one of the crucial costly levels, particularly for those who’re hiring knowledgeable editor. AI instruments are serving to scale back post-production time although by automating lots of the tedious duties.
The price of enhancing a video might rack up 1000’s of {dollars} simply. AI-powered instruments like Descript and Adobe Premiere Professional can automate video enhancing duties resembling reducing, including subtitles, and even creating social media-friendly codecs.
One of many coolest enhancing options I’ve seen is text-based enhancing.
Basically, you possibly can edit phrases from a video transcript, and the editor will clip the video accordingly. Provided that I’ve extraordinarily restricted video enhancing expertise, I really like how straightforward that is. See it right here in motion.
3. Promotion: Advertisements & Viewers Concentrating on
As soon as your video is prepared, selling it to the fitting viewers is essential.
Conventional advert spend can shortly add up, particularly for those who’re counting on guide concentrating on and content material creation. AI instruments make it simpler to optimize each your promotion technique and your advert spend.
You should use machine studying to optimize advert placements, establish one of the best viewers, and regulate campaigns in actual time to cut back price per conversion.
You can even use AI-powered translation instruments to create multilingual variations of your movies. It may be useful for reaching worldwide audiences with out the expense of hiring a number of voice actors.
Inexpensive Video Advertising Strategies
1. Weigh your choices.
In line with our video advertising and marketing knowledge, 69% of video entrepreneurs surveyed personal manufacturing tools whereas 10% hire, and the remaining group does each. However which method is correct on your model? Let’s break it down:
|
In-Home |
Businesses |
|
|
Price Construction |
Decrease price per video, larger upfront funding. |
Larger per-video price, no tools funding. |
|
High quality |
Good for easy content material, restricted by workforce expertise. |
Skilled high quality, entry to skilled expertise. |
|
Time |
Fast turnaround for easy tasks. |
Longer lead instances however constant supply. |
|
Management |
Full management over course of and edits. |
Much less direct management however skilled administration. |
|
Finest For |
Common, easy content material wants (social media, product demos). |
Complicated tasks, high-production worth content material. |
The selection typically comes right down to your content material sort and frequency.
As an illustration, for those who’re a make-up model creating common tutorial content material, in-house manufacturing is perhaps excellent — you simply want good lighting and a digicam to showcase merchandise in motion.
Nonetheless, for those who’re a journey model needing cinematic vacation spot photographs with skilled expertise and a number of places, an company might truly be less expensive.
Most smaller manufacturers (these with 200 staff or much less) report higher ROI when working with exterior companies, significantly for high-production worth content material.
However for those who’re planning to create frequent, easy movies for social media, constructing an in-house workforce could possibly be a sensible long-term funding.
2. Separate need-to-haves from must-haves.
If there’s one piece of video tools you must concentrate on, it’s lighting.
Many imagine that having one of the best digicam does the trick, however the reality is that lighting is what makes or breaks the standard of a video.
Lighting units the tone and temper of a video, two components it is advisable to keep your viewers’s consideration in a video.
Sound is one other space to splurge on — particularly your mics. This can improve the standard of your video, particularly if it’s a must to accept low-end cameras.
As for the whole lot else (the digicam, the lens, the equipment), I believe these are nice add-ons, however for those who’re on a funds, you may make do with low to mid-range choices whereas nonetheless getting a high-quality consequence.
Professional tip: While you’re filming with a smartphone, I like to recommend taking pictures in panorama mode for YouTube however vertical for platforms like TikTok and Instagram Tales. This protects you from having to reshoot or crop later.
3. Deal with engagement over manufacturing worth.
Whereas 40% of entrepreneurs emphasize the significance of partaking video enhancing, you don’t want costly software program to create compelling content material.
What issues most is capturing consideration shortly (51% of entrepreneurs agree that is essential) and telling an attractive story (37% prioritize storytelling and scriptwriting).
Professional tip: “Localization and personalization of video content material will likely be a precedence in 2025 as a result of it’s simpler and extra inexpensive than ever due to AI,” says Matt Panousis, co-founder of Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies, an AI-enabled VFX studio.
So, discovering methods to personalize and humanize your content material will likely be a key side of partaking your viewers.
4. Use free enhancing software program.
When you’re a part of a small enterprise or workforce that’s attempting to create a video advertising and marketing technique with out spending a lot cash, don’t fear.
You should use the superior video instruments that include smartphones, and you could find good video enhancing software program. A few of this software program is even free.
One in all these instruments is HubSpot’s Clip Creator — which may convert textual content into partaking movies for your enterprise. You can begin from a template or generate a video with AI.
I attempted creating a number of for my very own freelance enterprise and beloved attending to experiment with totally different variations.
Get began with HubSpot’s Clip Creator.
5. Contain SMEs for academic content material.
Instructional movies are one of the crucial efficient content material sorts in 2024, and involving Topic Matter Specialists (SMEs) in your workforce might help you create high-value content material with out the excessive price. SMEs can present:
- Skilled Perception. Including worth to your content material with genuine, credible data.
- Effectivity. SMEs are sometimes faster at delivering correct and invaluable content material, which may scale back the necessity for intensive scriptwriting or analysis.
- Affordability. As a substitute of paying for exterior consultants or influencers, your individual workforce members can present the identical degree of experience.
6. Use extra video on social media platforms.
The best technique to promote movies is on social media platforms, with 69% of entrepreneurs saying it’s the best technique for reaching audiences.
One of the best half? It’s primarily free if you have already got a powerful following. We’ve additionally seen that you simply don’t want an enormous promoting funds to achieve your target market, so there’s no motive to not attempt.
My favourite hack right here is discovering methods to repurpose your content material. For instance, you possibly can take a single piece of content material and switch it right into a YouTube video, a number of TikTok clips, an Instagram reel, and so forth.
Video Advertising Is Definitely worth the Funding in 2025
Video advertising and marketing can really feel overwhelming, particularly while you’re working with a good funds. However right here’s what the information is telling us: you don’t want Hollywood manufacturing worth to create content material that resonates along with your viewers.
With 52% of entrepreneurs seeing excessive ROI from video and 41% saying it helps clients higher perceive their merchandise, it’s clear to me that video is unquestionably well worth the funding.
Deal with what issues most: capturing consideration shortly, telling partaking tales, and getting your content material in entrance of the fitting eyes by social media.
And with AI instruments making video manufacturing extra accessible than ever, I imagine there’s by no means been a greater time to start out creating movies that join along with your viewers — with out breaking the financial institution.
Editor’s Be aware: This submit was initially printed in March 2016 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
