How much does a promo video cost for a small business?

A short promo video can cost you nothing but an afternoon, or several thousand dollars, and the difference is almost never the camera. It is people's time: someone has to plan it, film it, edit it and fix it after you watch the first cut. Once you know which of those hours you are paying for, the quotes you get start to make sense.

What you are really paying for

Every promo video, from a phone clip to a commercial, goes through the same four stages. A quote is mostly the sum of the hours in each:

• Planning: deciding the one message, writing the few words on screen, listing the shots.
• Filming: someone with a camera at your place, often with lights and a microphone, for an hour or a full day.
• Editing: choosing the best seconds, cutting them to the beat, adding text, music and your logo, then exporting the sizes each app wants.
• Changes: the round of fixes after you see the first version. Extra rounds are where budgets quietly grow.

For a sense of what that time is worth, the Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median yearly wage of camera operators at $68,810 and of film and video editors at $70,980 in May 2024. Those are wages of employees. A freelancer or a studio charges more per hour than a wage, because the rate also has to pay for the gear, the software, the insurance and the days between jobs.

Three ways to get one made

The middle row is the one most small businesses skip, and it is often the best value. Your phone already films sharp, vertical video. What usually makes a homemade video look homemade is the editing: no clear first second, clips that run too long, text that is hard to read and music that does not fit.

How to keep the price down without it looking cheap

• Pick one message. "Grand opening on Saturday" or "Fall menu is here", not your whole story. One message means fewer shots and a shorter edit.
• Film in daylight. Stand with the window behind your phone, not behind the subject.
• Hold each shot for 5 seconds. Ten to fifteen short, steady clips give an editor far more to work with than one long take.
• Use your real place and people. Customers trust the counter, the tools and the faces they will actually meet.
• Keep it to 20 or 30 seconds, with a clear last line: book, call, come in.
• Ask about the music. It needs a license that covers social media and, if you plan to, ads.

Questions to ask before you hire anyone

1. How many sizes do I get: vertical for Reels and TikTok, square, and wide?
2. How many rounds of changes are included, and what does another round cost?
3. Can I run the video as an ad, and do I keep the files?
4. Is the music licensed for business use?
5. When do I get the first cut, and when the final one?

If a quote does not answer these, it is not a full quote yet.

When a promo video is not worth it

Be honest about the timing. A promo video works best when there is something to promote: an opening, an event, a seasonal offer. If your feed has been quiet for months, a single polished video will not fix that. Regular, simple posts will, and our simple social media plan for a small business shows how to get that rhythm first. And if a good photo with one clear sentence says it all, you do not need a video at all.

What ours costs

Our Promo Video is a one-time job: one video of 20 to 30 seconds, made from your own clips and photos, in three sizes (vertical, square and wide), with on-screen text, music and your logo, and one round of changes. It is yours to post anywhere or to run as an ad, and it costs $129. If you would rather film and edit everything yourself, the list above is all you need. If not, it is with our other one-time jobs on the pricing page.