Explainer Videos Are Expensive. How Do You Make One in 2 weeks and Save $23,000+?

Common wisdom: you can’t get professional videos without a professional budget. Or can you? Kwork shares insights.

Limassol, Cyprus, April 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mission Kwork

In 2021, our growing company realized that we needed an accessible explainer video for our online service. Our objective? To show how easy and affordable it is to order freelance services on Kwork.

Here’s our tale of saving 95% of our budget and delivering 2.5 months early by taking the road less traveled.

Do we really need a video?

Video is hot right now. We already knew that, but were finally convinced by these stats from Forbes:

• Businesses that use video get 41% more search traffic than businesses without video content

• 64% of people are more likely to purchase a product online after watching a video about it

• Video can increase a landing page’s conversion rate by 80%

The statistics speak for themselves: if your business isn’t on the video train, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

Move fast and break budgets

How much do you think a 60-second explainer video costs? And what’s the turnaround like?

Wyzowl conducted an experiment to estimate the average cost of an explainer video. They contacted 70 explainer video companies and found that:

• The lowest price for a 60-second explainer video is $700

• The highest price for a 60-second explainer video is $72,000

• The average price for a 60-second explainer video is $7,972

• The average turnaround time for a 60-second explainer video is 38.5 days (5.5 weeks

Our own inquiries in 2022 confirmed these findings. Here’s what we were quoted:

• A video without a script, voiceover, or music – $800

• A barebones video with “simple icons, on-screen text, and abstract elements” – $5,000–$10,000

• A script (only a script) for a 60-second video – $6,600 (average quote)

• End-to-end video production (script, filming, editing) meeting our requirements – $24,000 (average quote)

• Turnaround time – 3 to 6 months

With the average video running $24,000, our budget of $15,000 was looking paltry. Ideally, we wanted two videos from two different studios so that we could choose a favorite. After comparing dozens of options and jumped right into working with these studios.

We need a script

A laughing customer is a loyal customer, which is why we wanted our first video to entertain and make viewers laugh. Studio #1 quoted us $2,800–$3,700 for a final product.
We chose this company because of the comedians on its script team. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear during the scriptwriting process that the partnership wouldn’t work out. The team suggested inappropriate jokes, and their ideas were convoluted.

As they say: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. We still had studio #2 up our sleeve, but their quote ($6,600 to $14,200) was nearly our entire budget! Nonetheless, the task needed to get done. We were ready to shell out for incredible results and again set our hopes high.

Yet while discussing the script with them, we were left unheard. The script team didn’t understand our service and couldn’t convey our brand’s core values in the right way.

At this point, we had already spent two months of precious time finding, comparing, and discussing studios—time that had yet to yield any concrete results. But because both of our partnerships ended early at the scriptwriting stage, we had managed to avoid spending thousands on mediocre videos. It seemed like we were back to square one.

When one door closes, another opens

During price negotiations with studio #2, we carefully considered options to reduce filming costs. The price tag was influenced by several factors: the number of filming days, the type of camera and lighting equipment used, location costs, and much more.

Yet we could eliminate filming costs entirely if we used readily-available stock footage instead. This seemed crazy, given that we initially planned a full-fledged shoot with multiple stakeholders and shooting locations. The potential savings, however, were too good to pass up. We had to try.

In just one night, we threw together a serious draft of our future video. We made more progress in those five hours than we did in two months, and we were finally on the right track.

Outsourcing tasks (finally)

We had our rough draft, and we also had our script (we ended up writing it in-house). That left editing, motion design, and voiceover, which definitely needed to be outsourced.

Did we want to turn to production companies again? Studios are the go-to for post-production, but our experiences thus far made us think better of it.

We decided to turn to our tried and true method of completing business tasks: Kwork freelance marketplace.

Step 1: Gathering Materials

The first step was to gather the materials that would make up the final cut: stock footage, background music, and screenshots of Kwork.

This was simple but tedious work that would take weeks for one person to complete. We decided to reach out to freelancers—also known as sellers—on Kwork. Since Kwork services start at just $10, we allotted $40 to order services in the Virtual Assistant category:

• 3 sellers searched for additional stock footage & music

• 1 seller collected screenshots of our SEO categories

Spent: $289 ($40 on freelancers & $249 on rights to stock footage and music)
Turnaround: 3 days

Step 2: Motion Design and Editing

With the skeleton of our video down, we needed to add a personal touch and answer a simple question: what makes Kwork, Kwork? To do this, we needed motion graphics and upbeat editing to bring our stock footage and music to life.

For this step, we ordered services from three sellers in the Videography & Editing category to compare the quality and professionalism of their work. In the end, we chose professional editor, who assembled our video for $137.

Spent: $430 (all three sellers)
Turnaround: 12 days

Step 3: Voice Over

While looking for our editor, we simultaneously started our search for a voice talent in the Recording & Voice Over category.

If you haven’t noticed already, we love choice. The huge range of voices on Kwork allowed us to find the perfect narrator after ordering 11 different demos. For just $135, the freelancer set the perfect cadence with her voice and became the final touch to our explainer video.

Spent: $268 (all 11 demos)
Turnaround: 7 days

Final Comparison & Video

Before going any further, check out the final cut of our explainer video:

Freelance is easy! How to buy freelance services in 1 click?

Now for the juicy part. How much did we spend—both in time and money? And how much did we save using freelance services?

The results speak for themselves: we saved $23,000, and we could have saved even more if we had worked with one seller at each stage. Perhaps even more importantly, Kwork had a ready-to-go video in just two weeks instead of the three months promised by studios.

If we had chosen to go the freelance route immediately, we wouldn’t have wasted so much time and energy. We hope you don’t repeat our mistake. Get your business tasks done quickly and affordably with freelance services on Kwork.

CONTACT: support@kwork.com