Video Planning: DIY vs. Professional Videographer

OK, so you’re doing some serious video planning. And your boss has likely broached the subject of DIY (do-it-yourself) video vs. hiring a professional videographer. 

How do you decide?

For home page explainer videos, with very high visibility, definitely engage an experienced videographer. 

For most other videos that will primarily support product marketing, thought leadership, and customer success initiatives, you really should have in-house/DIY capacity for planning, shooting, and post-production. 

Without this kind of in-house talent, you won't create enough video content assets to move the needle and learn fast enough about what's working (vs. what's not).

For DIY, the budget should no longer be a limiting factor. A smartphone, tablet, or external webcam -- plus a microphone and some external lighting -- is just about everything you need to get started.

Finding the right professional videographer can be tricky.

Who to hire really depends on how you plan to engage the videographer/vendor vs. what you plan to do yourself. 

For example, are you depending on the videographer/vendor to work with you on the content strategy? 

Or are you already showing up with personas, journey maps, CTAs, and a basic script? 

Are you hiring a videographer just for raw footage? (for example, to film a keynote speech) 

Or do you want post-production as well? 

Some videographers/vendors will even offer content marketing-related services, including custom thumbnail design, video SEO, and YouTube Ads campaign setup and management. 

However, most in-house content marketers will likely consider promotion core enough to manage in-house.