Given the variety, as well as the number of video production teams – how do you actually sift through the ever growing selection of competent artists?
You do that by writing a detailed and informative video production RFP, or simply a Request for Proposal. But what’s an RFP, anyway? We will cover this in our article, as well as tips on how to create an effective RFP.
What is an RFP for Video Production?
So, what does RFP mean in business settings? To start off short – this is a formal request to receive a proposal from a vendor or variety of vendors, on how they would approach and handle your project.
For bigger brands that are not concerned about budget, or simply don’t have time to invest into handpicking a vendor – this is a call to video production companies to share their relevant cases, approach, timelines, and case studies. You tell them what you need in an RFP, and they share a proposal back on how they can make it happen according to your requirements, and other details.
By sharing an RFP for video production services, you are simplifying the process of discovering and shortlisting the right team for the project, as you’ll be able to align on the goals, budgets and styles early, and then only connect for further steps with shortlisted teams.
Why Do You Need an RFP for Video Production?
So, why actually do an RFP? It’s simple. When you host a wedding party, without any notes on the dress code, people will judge appropriate clothing according to their own understanding of what’s convenient, stylish and fitting to wear to the wedding.
That’s where you get people in wildly different attire, ruining your wedding day photos. End of story.
In the same way, if you don’t have a good way to shortlist and filter out styles, concepts, teams and approaches – you will spend a lot of time talking with agencies that don’t even have the style and cases to support your upcoming video.
So RFP helps you to avoid confusion with vendors, and save a lot of your precious time.All teams will have your video production RFP to serve as a roadmap, and it reduces overall confusion and irrelevant information that teams might share.
What Should Your Video Production RFP Include?
That’s all well and good on the overview level – but what should you include on a more practical level?
Since you’ve got a video production proposal to write, let’s make sure you have everything you need to pick the best team and save a lot of time on unnecessary research.
1. Project Overview
Start off with a short, catchy and to the point explanation of what you are looking to achieve. What kind of video production do you need? Is it for Facebook Ads, TV, or to share across social media? The more context agencies have, the more precise the final result will be.
This way, you can even filter out companies that only work with E-learning, and don’t quite provide content that could be used for ads.
2. Goals
With this video, do you have a specific goal? Or, maybe you need a video production company to help you identify that goal, according to your current problems and needs?
Do you need a viral video for your top of the funnel stages, or maybe a more converting and down to business video, bringing in customers after they have watched a demo video?
Having a clear goal for production would help companies share their previous work that also helped to achieve a similar goal in the past, for their other clients.
3. Scope of Work
So, we are already aligned on the Goal – for example, improving reach across social media. But would just one, Explainer or Brand Awareness video be enough? What style are you looking for – live action, animation, a mix of both, or something else entirely? It’s important to specify what you will need from the future production.
Otherwise, if you are unsure – you can specify that you would like to hear what solutions the agencies or production teams will present to you. Often, agencies provide a new perspective on the problem, and help you use video and cutdown content in creative ways.
4. Timeline
Did you already need a video yesterday, in three or three months? It’s important to be transparent and realistic with your timeline, as many agencies won’t even consider working with rush deliveries, as they simply won’t have the capacity and room to accommodate a request like that. Agencies are well acquainted and dread hearing that a client would like to receive a 3D product video in 1 or 2 weeks.
5. Budget
Money talk. If you are developing an RFP – it’s important to be upfront and specify the kind of budget you are working with. You might receive a lot of proposals from high end agencies, but that might include projects that are 4-5x times higher than what you are actually willing to spend. So if you are unsure what a video production proposal would end up being – you can ask the team about their price ranges or receive a sample RFP for video production, to receive a better sense of rates.
Here at Zelios, we offer a neat calculator so you can learn about our rates upfront, even before you send out any request.
6. Inspiration and Examples
Style and references are some of the most important points when it comes to figuring pricing and timeline for the video. So send out as many examples as possible, and it would be even more convenient if you explain what specifically you like about those.
Maybe you are looking for a high end 3D Product Video, infographic video, or a cool interactive animated infographics – all of this will help pinpoint the look and feel, and send our proposals with relevant examples.
The best places to find references or examples are Pinterest, successful video campaigns from competitors, and our own previous projects.
7. Evaluation Criteria
Creating a proposal for an RFP is a meticulous, cross functional and multi day effort with a lot of head scratching about messaging, positioning, and case picking. Usually that takes around 2-4 days, depending on the assets that an agency usually provides.
Some go as far as creating small snippets or art style according to the RFP shared.
So it’s really important that in the RFP – you specify how you would identify the best and the most suitable agency for this work.
Final Thoughts: Ready to RFP?
So here’s our input for how to create a solid video production RFP. It’s an essential step, especially if you don’t have a set of preferred teams that you would like to work with on this project.
Plus, once you already have all of the details, your video will surely be as close as possible to what you are looking to produce, as the final agency will have all of the details to work with.
Given that you are reading this on our website – we would highly suggest skipping an RFP, and book a call with us to align on your goals and discuss relevant examples 🙂
Select the video type that aligns with your marketing objectives, and receive an immediate high-level estimate of the production cost.
