Every animator has a niche and as I developed my career I focused on making animated videos for the financial services industry. With a background in economics and accounting, paired with my creative side, it’s been rewarding to use these skills to help financial advisors execute their vision. Before co-founding HeyAdvisor, I charged on a per-video basis. The more financial advisors I met, the more I realized there wasn’t a lot of information available to them on the process or costs of producing an animated video.
My clients were often surprised at the cost and how much work goes into making videos, which is why we started HeyAdvisor (but more on that later). There are a lot of components to making animated videos, so I’ve broken down what I’ve learned over the years.
The short answer is that an average custom 2-min animated video ranges from $3,000 - $10,000 Canadian dollars. Pricing is not an exact science and a lot of factors can affect the cost of producing an animated video. You also need to consider more than just the price tag. There is the time you will have to spend hiring a studio or freelancers and coordinating the process.
The amount of money you pay will depend on a number of factors, including:
Many studios will offer a full solution for all your needs but they will charge a premium to coordinate the various roles.
There is the cost of the animation but with anything of quality, there is also a lot of work involved.
The first step would be to create a script - approximately 300 words for a 2 min video. If you're creating the script for your video, this can end up being harder than it seems and is very time-consuming. There is an art to creating a concise, informative and entertaining script and it’s a skill developed over time and experience.
Be careful when hiring someone outside of the financial industry. They may not understand the nuances and terminology which could make it difficult for them to convey accurate information in a way that's both engaging and professional. Be sure to take proper care in reviewing the script. An advisor-client relationship is based on trust, and if there is incorrect information included in the script, it could be damaging.
Now, who will record the audio? Many freelance voice actors charge between $100-$200 per recording so recording it yourself is a way to decrease the overall cost. For starters, you will need the proper recording equipment and space. Consider the background noise; how are the acoustics, what are the environmental noises? These all play a part in the quality of the audio recording. Professional clean-sounding audio can really increase the quality of the video overall and when the total cost is up in the thousands, cutting on these smaller costs may lead to an end product that doesn’t reflect the investment.
Do you have the time to be a coordinator? It can lower the cost if you coordinate and hire different freelancers and manage the process but the time involved is significant. It’s a common phrase in both the creative and the financial services industry, “you get what you pay for”. Delegating to professionals is the best way to ensure that you are spending your time where you can add the most value to your business - developing relationships, finding prospects and giving advice just to name a few.
HeyAdvisor's content library has a collection of 25+ videos on topics like investing, insurance and will planning. We are for financial advisors that understand the power of visuals and the importance of having video content but don’t want to spend the time and money creating videos on their own. Our videos are written by financial professionals, created by professional motion graphic designers and utilize experienced voice actors and licenced music.
Our users love that they have access to a collection of videos without the expensive price tag. By covering a variety of wealth planning topics, you can pick and choose which video(s) will help address the needs of your clients. For example, if one of your clients has just had a baby, you can use HeyAdvisor's content library to send them a video outlining life insurance and how it can benefit them.
With video content gaining popularity in the financial industry, it's no surprise that financial advisors want to leverage them to support the value they deliver to their clients. The real question will be if you want to create your own, will the time and resources needed really pay off in the value you get in return? Or can you leverage a source that is already created to achieve the same results?
HeyAdvisor is a digital content library that financial advisors leverage to connect with their clients. The highly engaging educational library of videos and infographics is white-labelled with advisor branding and can be integrated into email marketing campaigns, websites, client portals and social media. The intuitive library is grouped by life events making it easy to add value to the client relationship at times in their lives that matter most. Review our plans here.
