How Much Does Educational Video Production Cost?

Creating educational videos can feel intimidating, especially if you’re worried about costs. The truth is, there’s no way around it: Video production costs money. But the exact figure will depend on several factors, including the quality of the video you want, how quickly you want it, and the skills of the people you hire (if you don’t go the DIY route). Ultimately, understanding educational video production costs will help you create a realistic budget to make the best video without breaking the bank. This article will help you get started by exploring the factors that affect educational video production costs so you can make informed decisions before jumping into your next video project.

Moonb’s corporate video services can help you create your next educational video—no matter your budget. Before starting your project, we can help you navigate the costs so you understand what different options can offer you. Then, once you’re ready to roll, our talented team can produce a professional video that meets your goals and engages your audience.

How Much Does Educational Video Production Cost

Educational video production costs can be variable. The type of video you create will ultimately dictate your final price. For instance, an essential educational video without graphics or animations may cost around $1,000 per finished minute.

A complex educational video with many animations and graphics could cost upwards of $20,000 per finished minute. The above averages give you a solid idea of what you can expect to pay for educational video production.

DIY Educational Video: A Budget-Friendly Option

Creating a DIY educational video can save you money. You can create a simple educational video that does the job using a decent script and video editing software.

Of course, the final product won’t look professional unless you already have some skills in video production. You should also possess technical and creative skills for a decent DIY educational video.

Freelancers: A Balance Between Price and Quality

Hiring a freelancer to create your educational video is like taking the middle road. Freelancers are more expensive than DIY production but can deliver a more polished product. The price for hiring a freelancer can vary based on their experience and the complexity of your project. 

It helps to find a freelancer who matches your project’s needs and objectives. You can find qualified video freelancers on sites like Upwork and Fiverr.

Educational Video Companies: The Best Quality for Your Budget

Educational video companies can produce the highest quality content. Video companies have the equipment, the team, and the expertise to create an educational video. These companies handle everything from planning to production to editing and delivering on time.

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What Factors Affect Educational Video Production Costs

The length of the video is a primary factor in determining its cost. Shorter videos, like 30-second promotional or quick explainer videos, are usually less expensive. In contrast, longer videos, such as hour-long training modules or product demos—require more time and resources for:

• Scripting
• Filming
• Editing
• Post-production

Complexity of Content:  How Complicated Is It?

Videos that require heavy scripting, animation, or technical expertise will naturally incur higher production costs.

For instance, creating an explainer video for a fintech product involves breaking down intricate financial concepts, which may necessitate a specialized script and a professional voiceover artist.

Animation vs. Live Action: Which Style Will You Choose?

Animated videos often cost more than live-action videos, mainly if custom animation or 3D graphics are involved. For example, a sports video requiring custom animations to explain plays or movements could add significant costs.

Location and Talent: Who and Where?

The location of the video and the talent involved also play a significant role in the production cost. Hiring a professional actor or voiceover artist will increase costs, while shooting on-location in specific settings or requiring travel expenses will also impact the final budget.

Video Quality and Editing: What Do You Want the Final Product to Look Like?

The overall quality of the video, including the use of professional equipment, lighting, sound, and advanced editing, will contribute to the cost.

High-definition video, color grading, and advanced visual effects contribute to a more polished, professional final product but increase production expenses.

Moonb: A Smarter Alternative for Corporate Video Production

Moonb is a video marketing agency specializing in corporate video services. We offer seamless project management integration via Trello, Slack, and MS Teams, weekly strategy calls, and a contract-free, full-service production approach.

As a superior alternative to traditional video agencies, freelancers, and in-house production teams, Moonb’s flexible, subscription-based model ensures high-quality video content tailored to your needs. Our expertise in creating compelling video content makes us the ideal partner for companies looking to elevate their marketing and educational initiatives through video.

Start a 3-day free trial and take your content to the next level with our corporate video services.

How to Use Educational Videos to Enhance Customer Education

The best marketers understand that customer education is power. The more customers know how your product solves their problems, the more likely they will buy. Videos provide a format for us to inform, entertain, and build a relationships with learners in a way that’s difficult to achieve in other mediums.

It’s also incredibly powerful for showing processes, establishing locations, or conveying emotion in a way that text-based or image-based content simply struggles with due to limitations in the format.

The Power of Video in Customer Education

Using video for educational purposes, we help viewers process information through audio, visuals, and stories and establish time or place.

Customer education is particularly well-suited for this format because it’s a content type that:

• Customers engage regularly
• It can be distributed across multiple platforms and channels easily
• Provides a scalable way for organizations to deliver value, build trust, and help customers succeed

Why Video is Key to Stronger Customer Relationships

These factors often lead to improved business performance through:

• Increased revenue
• Reduced churn
• Lower cost of acquisition
• Higher NPS or CSAT scores

The effectiveness of video in building relationships, trust, and engagement is evident in its growing consumption. Year after year, online video viewership continues to rise, with smartphones being the most popular device and TVs for video-on-demand content.

The Role of Customer Education Videos in SaaS and Tech Companies

In many organizations (especially SaaS and technology), customer education video content helps bridge gaps between:

• Marketing content
• Sales enablement materials
• Onboarding materials

When viewed as the “glue” between these team efforts (instead of a siloed spend), strategic teams can optimize the total spend of media production while serving the needs of many departments and goals within the organization.

Ways to Use Videos in Customer Education

Companies of any size and type can use videos as part of their customer education strategy in the following ways:

1. Product Demos

Product demos are an excellent way to educate customers and drive engagement. These videos highlight the distinct features and benefits of the product in focus. They also help customers understand how to use or maintain it and what can be done if anything goes wrong.

2. Instructional Videos or Tutorials

Businesses can make instructional videos or tutorials describing common workflows or tasks using the product. Such videos allow customers to understand the product while avoiding confusion or frustration quickly.

Most people think that product demos and instructional videos are the same, but they are two unique kinds of end-user training videos with different objectives.

Product Demos vs. Instructional Videos: Key Differences

While product demos usually introduce a new product or features of a product to help customers understand its value proposition, instructional videos are aimed at providing customers with a stepwise guide. They are often used during customer onboarding.

Typically, instructional videos are longer and more detailed than a product demo. Instructional tutorials aid customers in getting up and running with the product. Product tutorials also assist customers in fixing common issues. Moreover, instructional videos allow customers to learn advanced techniques and use the product safely and optimally.

3. Customer Success Stories

Companies can create videos to showcase how their products have helped address customer pain. These videos can prove extremely powerful in building credibility and trust with prospects while demonstrating the product's value.

These stories highlight how the company’s extended enterprises or end-users have used the product to solve their unique problems and achieve their specific objectives.

4. Thought Leadership Videos

Any company can create thought leadership videos to position itself as an industry expert. As part of customer training, these videos can also educate customers about general industry trends and problems.

A thought leadership video can take several forms, such as:

• A panel discussion
• An interview with a subject matter expert
• A business presentation

These videos also help build customer trust by providing them with key information and insights, which may help with customer retention.

5. In-App Videos

Companies can embed microlearning tutorial videos directly into their products to guide users on particular features and workflows. These videos should be accessible on-demand within the product’s interface, giving users a contextual and seamless learning experience.

Such videos can be particularly effective for educating users who believe in “learning by doing.” This could also benefit the customer support team, as in the case of a self-service product requiring limited human support. 

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Benefits of Educational Videos for Businesses

Videos have the unique ability to capture attention more effectively than traditional text-based content. The combination of visual and auditory elements in a video stimulates sight and hearing, making it easier for viewers to stay focused and absorb the information. The dynamic nature of video content holds attention longer, as it appeals to different learning styles—visual, auditory, or kinesthetic (through interactive elements).

In customer education, this increased engagement means customers are more likely to watch the content and retain the information, leading to a better understanding of your product or service.

Simplifying Complex Concepts: Educational Videos Make Learning Easy

One of the key advantages of using video for customer education is its ability to simplify complex concepts. Videos allow you to break down intricate ideas or technical processes into easily digestible segments. You can show precisely how a product works or how to resolve a common issue through visuals, animations, and step-by-step demonstrations, making the information more straightforward than text alone.

Instead of describing a complicated process with long paragraphs, you can visually walk customers through each step, highlighting key actions and outcomes. This enhances understanding and helps customers visualize themselves using the product or service successfully.

On-Demand Learning: Educational Videos Cater to Customer Schedules

With videos, customers gain the freedom to learn on their terms. Unlike traditional formats such as live training sessions or extensive manuals, on-demand videos are available 24/7, offering the ultimate flexibility. Whether customers need to revisit a product tutorial, dive into troubleshooting, or explore a newly launched feature, they can do so at their convenience.

This flexibility ensures that learning fits seamlessly into their schedule, enhancing accessibility and satisfaction. Also, the ability to pause, rewind, or rewatch videos ensures users can absorb and apply information effectively, reinforcing their understanding whenever needed.

Consistency and Scalability: Educational Videos Provide Uniform Training

Videos stand out by delivering a uniform learning experience to every customer. Unlike live sessions, where explanations might vary, videos provide standardized, high-quality content. This guarantees consistency in messaging and eliminates potential miscommunication.

What’s more, videos shine in scalability. Once produced, they can educate thousands—or even millions—of users without additional effort. Whether integrated into your website's knowledge base, shared in an email campaign, or featured on social media, videos extend your reach effortlessly, ensuring your educational content remains consistent and widely accessible.

Better Retention: Educational Videos Improve Memory

Videos enhance memory retention by combining visual and auditory elements, making them more impactful than text alone. Research shows that people remember information better when presented through a combination of visuals and sound, simultaneously engaging multiple senses.

Key concepts, product features, or troubleshooting steps in customer education will likely stick with viewers. Animations, real-life demonstrations, and clear voiceovers reinforce learning, ensuring customers understand and retain the material for extended periods. This leads to greater confidence in using your product or service effectively.

Start a 3-day Free Trial to Take Your Content to the Next Level with Our Product Demo Video Service.

Various elements impact the cost of making educational videos. As with any production, the more complex the video, the more it will cost. Here are a few of the factors that affect educational video production costs:

Video Length

The longer the video, the more it will cost to produce. Longer videos often require more planning and organization, and they typically take more time to film and edit

Pre-Production Needs

Educational videos with a clear focus and organized structure require little pre-production. On the contrary, a more complex video that covers a broad topic will need more time spent in pre-production to ensure that the final product is cohesive and understandable. This extra pre-production time will add to the overall cost of the video.

Talent

Videos with on-screen talent or voiceover artists add professionalism and engagement to educational videos. Even so, the more talent involved in the production, the more it will cost.

Animation

Animation can make educational videos more engaging and help explain complex topics. Animation production takes considerable time and expertise, and the costs can add up quickly.

How Can I Lower Educational Video Production Costs?

There are several ways to reduce the costs of producing educational video content. Here are a few tips to help you save money while creating effective video assets:

Use Templates

Many educational video production companies offer pre-produced templates to help you get started on your video. These templates can help you organize your content and establish a structure for your video, reducing the time and costs associated with production.

Limit Revisions

Aim to create a clear and concise educational video that will require minimal revisions to finish. You can achieve this goal by developing a solid script or outline before filming your video.

Plan for Distribution

Have a plan for how you will distribute your educational video before you start creating it. This will help you focus your content on being practical and engaging for your target audience.

Why Invest in Educational Videos?

Educational videos are a great way to engage and inform your audience. Whether you are looking to improve customer or employee knowledge on a specific topic or create a training asset for a particular process or software, educational videos can help you achieve your goals.

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