7 Ways To Find Skilled Videographers In Your City
In the marketing world, content is king. Content is what gets customers to first visit your site and keeps them coming back.
One area that many businesses ignore and miss out on increasing the quality of their content is in utilizing videos.
The experts know—51% of marketing professionals say that video has the best ROI. You don’t want to miss out on this proven opportunity to grow your business.
You may be thinking, “I’ve never made a video” or “I don’t have time to keep updating the videos on my page” or even “Will video really help my business?”.
The addition of videos is a huge asset to your brand, as it will:
- Increase the freshness and diversity of content you put out
- Improve engagement as videos produce more likes, comments, and discussion than images or text
- Get prospects and clients to more easily understand your services and mission
- Improve lead gen opportunities for your sales team
Have no fear if you have no experience creating videos. You aren’t expected to know how to do everything and your time is better spent doing what you’re best at.
We recommend all business owners hire a videographer to create their video content for them.
If you have no idea how to find a good video person, relax because we’re providing you with seven different ways to find videographers.
There are so many options that you can afford to be picky.
1. Personal Recommendations
Try asking around your professional and personal network to kick off your search.
Whether that means asking a friend that runs their own business or a neighbor you know has gotten video work done before, people know people you don’t. And you’d be foolish to waste hours going at this alone.
The people closest to you will steer you in the right direction and you’ll give them an opportunity to look like a hero to a videographer who is dying for more opportunity.
Your network also wants you to feel their word has value so they will make sure you get someone that will produce professional work. This saves you some due diligence when the referral comes from a trusted friend (while we recommend you should still do some vetting).
And let’s be honest: you can often negotiate a discount price if the person knows their recommendation well.
Don’t stop after finding one option. If they flake out or produce shoddy work, now you’re stuck again.
So feel free to go to different people in your network to wind up with two to three options. Then evaluate the videographers and pick the best one!
If it doesn’t work out or you have multiple projects, now you went from knowing zero videographers to having a bench ready.
Especially if you’re new to the game, having someone you trust helping you out can make sure you avoid making any mistakes that can cost you.
And if you go with the videographer they recommend, keep them in the loop during the entire process. Even ask them to edit the video as it gets finalized to get a second opinion. They can catch something that you might not have when first viewing the footage.
But assuming you don’t have anyone you know who could do the job, let’s move to our second option.
2. Google Search
Another way to find a videographer is to do a simple Google search.
Just like your business, videographers need to market themselves. They utilize SEO to improve their online presence, much like your business should.
When you Google “video production company” or “good videographers” consider first looking at the top three organic results. These videographers or video companies are putting in the work to make sure their business will come up on the site.
When you look at their website, first watch their video reel. This is their version of an elevator pitch. They have a minute to show you some of their best work to get you to use their services.
Don’t stop at the videographer reel. If they provide quality services, they will have some of their full videos on their website.
Watching at least a couple of their full videos will ensure that their video skills are quality. If they don’t have any full videos on their site, ask them for a reel or consider someone else.
Also check to see what companies they have represented. If you see some similar to yours, consider reaching out to them to talk about the quality of the video and how they interacted with other businesses.
When viewing their samples, make sure they fit the brand aesthetic you’re looking for.
A videographer can be extremely talented but if all of their samples are geared toward extreme sports and you are a small boutique, they may not be the right videographer for you.
I can’t say this enough: the most important aspect of searching for a videographer is making sure they will work well with your business.
If you really aren’t finding someone that will work for your business with a Google search, there are more ways to find videographers.
Let’s move onto option number three.
3. Social Media
Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms can be killer for finding videographers.
Most businesses that provide a niche product or service will include a hashtag that relate to their business. And this is the case for videographers.
That’s why Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are all great places to search for a videographer. Searching on the latter will probably provide you with better results since they are geared toward photo and video.
Try looking up hashtags like #cincinnativideographer, or your city + videographer, to find samples of their work.
When searching this hashtag myself, I found 706 results. There’s definitely a few winners in their who can do the video work your brand needs.
If you find an individual or company that seems to fit what you are looking for, check out their page and look at some of their samples.
Their page will most likely have short 60 second videos across their feed and a link to their website for you to check out more.
Look through their reel and some of their full videos while checking for consistency of quality and an aesthetic that parallels your own business.
Make sure to check out their most recent work because that will be similar to what you will get. Really try to imagine what your brand will look like with their videos.
The next step is to send them a direct message or get on a call to evaluate their personality and the vibe they give you.
A good videographer is able to tell a story well and make the people they’re working with feel comfortable.
Also look at the feedback on their samples. Check the amount of likes they get and interaction with their posts.
If people take the time out of their day to comment on their video then you know it’s quality. You want your videos to connect with your audience. The goal is to increase the quality of your content and get people returning to your brand.
Interaction on their social media is proof that it will work for your brand.
If you don’t trust social media, there are still other ways to find videographers. Let’s take a look at a different approach in our next option.
4. Paid Ads
This option provides a slightly different approach to finding a videographer.
If you are really struggling to find someone on your own, put your own ad out.
Putting a pay-per-click ad out for a videographer allows individuals and businesses who are skilled with video to come to you.
Lay out all of your criteria for a videographer in your ad so you attract people that will work well with your brand and don’t waste time with unqualified applicants.
In your ad, include the:
- values of your company
- products or services you offer
- aesthetic you’re looking for
- budget allocated for the project
- general vision for the video
Being as specific as possible in your ad will help narrow down the search process for you.
Once people respond, you can begin interviewing applicants as soon as businesses reach out. Some people prefer the chat bot feature on Facebook, others like to get on a call, and you may prefer to meet in person. Either way, you control the hiring situation.
The interview process helps you find the right videographers, lets you see their personality, and how they interact with others.
This helps you avoid dismissing someone that may actually be perfect for your business.
This also gives you many options and contacts for future projects. If you don’t choose to work with a specific videographer for this project, you at least have their contact if you have a different project you think you would be perfect for.
P.S. One caveat here is, if you need on-site video work inside your store or office, make sure the videographer is local. Sometimes huge companies will advertise across the country for post-edit video production, not on-site shooting.
Next, we’re onto number five.
5. Marketing Agencies
If you aren’t sure how to find a good videographer, consider hiring a marketing agency to handle your video needs.
Marketing agencies, like Robben Media, focus all of their attention on your content.
These agencies often have vast experience with creating emotional content that gets your target audience to respond.
It is unlikely that they will steer you in the wrong direction when it comes to the video’s vision, execution, and final product.
Take our videos for example. This video from Robben Media is an action video that showcases a baseball organization using both drone footage and on-field shots. It fits with the overall aesthetic of King’s Sports.
This video from Robben Media is completely different. The brand is different than King’s Sports so Robben Media adapted to make sure that the video matched what the business was selling.
Marketing agencies work with diverse clients so they have experience creating content for almost every type of business possible.
If you don’t trust your own ability to pick the right videographer, leave it up to a marketing agency.
You also don’t need to just use a marketing agency for videos. You can use them for all of your marketing needs. The advantage to working with an agency is their ability to holistically understand your business.
A videographer you choose to hire yourself won’t know your brand inside and out. A marketing agency will dedicate their time to fully understanding every aspect of your brand. This helps make sure the videos match the rest of your content and are ROI-positive.
If you are working on a lower budget, we’re not done yet.
6. Media Departments at Universities
Students studying media at a university are underrated and can often be the perfect hire for all your video work.
The video may not be as high-quality as that of a professional videographer, as you get what you pay for. But you won’t have to spend $5,000.00 on your video content and you’ll still receive good video content.
Just know this is a great way for you to get acclimated to the realm of video making while they build their experience at the same time.
Consider looking at the Miami University media department. Their department is starting to grow and the students are constantly doing really interesting things.
And college students offer one rare benefit that video pros do not, a looser schedule from less client demands: Since you will likely be the only client they are working with, your video project will get a very personalized experience and the brunt of their attention.
When you’re working with a lower budget, really consider giving a college student a chance. There is nothing more valuable than actual experience for a student.
And if the video isn’t good, then show them a clear example of what you’re looking for and redo it or go your separate ways with the college kid, no bad feelings.
If none of these ways to find videographers works for you, there is one last option.
7. Freelance Websites
One final option is going on a freelance website to find a videographer. A freelance website works to connect people that aren’t looking for permanent hire with businesses requesting their short-term services.
People that work on freelance websites will upload their portfolio and wait for someone like you who needs their services to come along.
For a list, these sites have earned positive reputations:
The benefit of using these sites is the speed. They take on your project, give it their undivided attention, and then move onto the next project.
Because they’re likely only handling one project at a time, you will get your product quickly and meet your deadline.
A nice benefit is you can specify the parameters of your project and get picky to ensure the criteria for your project is met.
This option, or the college student, is often the cheapest of all.
Wrap Up
There’s more than one way to bake a cake and there’s more than one way to
find videographers in your local city.
Experimenting with these different options is really the best way to figure out what works for your business.
You can also use a combination of these method to find your videographer if you’re worried about not finding one in time.
Remember: at the end of the day, the most important part of the search process will be the compatibility with your brand.
Let yourself be picky. Don’t just go with the first person because it’s convenient at first—trust us, it won’t be convenient when your video is a miserable failure.
The video you get is reflective of the effort you put into actually finding someone.
Take these tips to heart and good luck with your hunt for a quality videographer!
