People often talk to us about running an online or TV ad campaign for their product or service. And the first thing some of them want to tell us is WHO they want as a presenter for their ads. This is a bit disconcerting because it’s putting the cart way before the horse. It’s much more vital to first know who we’re talking to, rather than who’s doing the talking.
Over the last few years, the cost of producing videos, TV ads, and video ads for social media has changed massively. Now, video production is cheaper and more cost-effective than it’s ever been. For example, in 2004, the cost to shoot stabilised aerial footage with a helicopter and Cineflex camera system was $2,800 an hour. Now, we just send up a drone.
Small businesses and B2B businesses have to be strategic and grow outwards in response to customer interactions. You need a constantly evolving marketing strategy fed by information from your customers. Customer interactions are all about learning. They say – ‘I saw your ad on Facebook.’ Then that’s a learning. If they say – ‘I dunno where I saw your ad.’ That’s an opportunity.
Every brand travels through three stages to become mainstream. The first is the recruitment stage, when you are acquiring new, first-time customers. Before you can persuade people to try your product, you have to introduce it to them, and tell them why they should try it; what its benefits are, and what it can do for them.
I use a Nikon D5300 for shooting stills & video of locations, setups, rough concepts, storyboards, happy snaps, etc. It’s small and light, and it delivers the highest quality video image of any APS-C camera. But because it’s a DSLR, not a dedicated video camera, it takes a little more concentration to shoot video.
In Part One, How Much Does A TV Commercial Cost? We covered why TV commercials can seem to be expensive, gave real-life cost examples, and showed which elements drive the cost of production up. In Part Two, How Much Should You Spend On A TV Commercial? we discuss the four major budgeting methods you can use to determine how much you should spend on your TV commercial.
How much does a TV commercial cost? This is the most frequent and the most difficult question we are asked. The short answer is between $2,000 and $2 million. We’re not being flippant. Every TV commercial has to be different from every other so that it stands out on TV. This means every commercial has a different script, different ingredients, and therefore, a totally different set of costs.
