Outsourcing your video edits is an effective way to reclaim your time and brainspace.
The bad news? It can also be expensive.
While hiring a professional video editor is well-worth the increase in your content’s quality and the time you save on editing, it’s critical to use your budget as efficiently as possible.
Here’s how to reduce your video editing costs by half.
Key Takeaways
- Compare different editing offers and take the time to calculate how much you’d spend on your current video output.
- Don’t fall for “unlimited” video editing subscriptions. The devil’s in the fine print and they often restrict your output or cost you way more.
- Optimize how you communicate with your editor. Provide example videos and specify which style you expect.
- Adjust your video strategy to take advantage of bulk discounts.
Keep reading for the full scoop!
Contents
Don’t Fall for “Unlimited” Subscription Traps
To start with, take the time to compare offers and avoid major traps.
Sounds like a no-brainer?
It kind of is.
However, pricing for video editing is complex, with a growing number of video editing services offering a myriad of different packages and pricing models.
In many cases, the pricing varies depending on your required turnaround times, the length of your raw footage, the complexity of your edits, and the duration of your final video. Some video editing companies have higher prices but include services that are extra paid add-ons with other agencies.
Once you start looking at details, it’s difficult to keep an overview.
The best approach?
Take your current content output as a starting point and then simulate how much you’d end up paying with each provider based on your unique needs.
If you’re planning on scaling up your output, run a second round of calculations for that as well.
One key piece of advice?
Avoid “unlimited” video editing subscriptions. Because – spoiler alert – they come with a few vicious catches.
The worst? While you can submit an unlimited number of orders in return for a monthly flat fee, they’ll only be edited one after the other. After you factor in turnaround times and a few rounds of revisions, this places major limitations on your content output.
Optimize Communication With Your Video Editor
Another strategy to reduce your video editing costs is to optimize your communication with your editor.
When you start comparing different video editing services, solid communication is non-negotiable. Make sure that your editors are responsive and efficient at talking about their work.
On your end, the more details you provide on the type of edits you expect, the more precisely your editor will be able to calibrate their work. The upshot? Better first drafts and fewer revisions.
In the same vein, verify that your editors use reliable and versatile communication tools that match your needs. This goes for everything from file transfer services for raw footage to tools for leaving revision requests on drafts.
At Tasty Edits, for example, we use VOMA – our proprietary Video Order Management Application. It offers creators a central point of access for all video editing workflows – placing orders, sharing raw footage, communicating with their editor, reviewing drafts, and downloading deliverables. You don’t need to hop between a dozen different apps.
During the VOMA ordering process, you can specify exactly what editing styles you want to see and what the pacing of your video should be like. Plus, you can share example videos to show your vision to your editor.
Harness Batch Discounts by Adjusting Your Content Strategy
Finally, another effective path to saving big bucks on your video editing needs is to leverage batch discounts – and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
Many video editing services, such as Tasty Edits, provide discounts if you purchase multiple edits at once. This provides you with maximum flexibility when it comes to placing your orders.
No matter if you want to have one video edited one month and five the next, you can use your editing credits however you like.
That said, you can take the occasion of buying a new batch of edits as an occasion to map out your content production over the next month or quarter. Review the performance of your content in the last batch and circle back around with your editor to see what worked well and what did not.
Using this cyclical approach and working closely with your editor will help you fine-tune your strategy, use your budget with maximum efficiency, and save money in the long run.
FAQs
Carefully compare different video editing services. The most straightforward way to do so is to calculate how much you’d pay with each of their offers based on your current and future editing needs.
Video editing starts at as little as $266 per video. However, some services come with hidden costs. Video editing subscriptions in particular often end up eating into creators’ budgets without delivering the expected value.
No. Subscription video editing services often advertise themselves as “unlimited”. However, while you can submit as many orders as you like, they will only get edited one after the other. Factoring in turnaround times and revisions, this actually limits a creator’s video output per month.
