Explainer Videos in Chicago: Comparing Cost, Quality, and ROI Across Local Agencies

Explainer videos tell customers everything they need to know about your products or services. As well as being helpful, they serve as a form of both marketing and customer service essential for Chicago businesses. However, a lot more goes into explainer video production than meets the eye. 

Cost, production quality, and outcomes vary significantly depending on which company for video production in Chicago you choose to work with. You should look for strategic storytelling, measurable performances, and consistent creative quality, whether you're creating videos for product education, software-as-a-service (SaaS) onboarding, or brand communication. 

Explore the key elements of explainer video production to make the most informed decision possible. 

How Explainer Video Production Services Work for Chicago Businesses

Explainer video production services in Chicago vary based on your business needs, budget, and the agencies you work with. Consider your campaign's communication goals, such as brand awareness, customer education, and internal engagement, to choose your best services and types of content.

Check out the key services and video production roles explained:

• Strategy: Production companies research your target audiences, including local and online customers, to strategize your product explainer video template, messaging, and distribution accordingly. 

• Creative development: A skilled production team will develop the best visuals, questions, and other elements for your explainer to refine your message and keep viewers engaged.

• Production: Your project's production logistics can vary drastically based on your content. Live-action explainer videos may need several production days for interviews, voice-over, and B-roll footage, while animated explainer videos can take longer.

• Post-production: Experienced editors will trim and juxtapose your footage around your vision to create an engaging and concise final cut. Skilled explainer video production agencies offer specialized post-production services, including color correction, sound design, motion graphics, visual effects (VFX), and subtitles. 

Types of Content for Explainer Video Production

Every explainer video should at least have an audio track, which could be a voice-over narration or an expert interview. You'll also need to decide on the best video production services for your project's visuals. Many of the best product explainer videos combine multiple services to make the content more engaging and maximize impact. 

The main product explainer video services include:

• Live-action content: Live-action footage describes pretty much anything you can capture with a camera, including interviews, product demonstrations, B-roll, and behind-the-scenes (BTS) content. 

• Animated content: 2D and 3D animated explainer video production significantly expands your visuals' creative potential, such as by animating product illustrations. 3D and 2D animations also give you more opportunities for customization and brand consistency, whether you add your brand colors or reuse the same minimalist style. 

• Motion graphics: These specialized animations add movement, depth, and "life" to subtitles, logos, shapes, and other elements, while typically costing less than full-service animations. They emphasize the most important parts of your message, such as your call to action (CTA), and maintain synchronicity between your visual and audio elements. 

What Goes Into the Explainer Video Production Cost

Budget is a key consideration in the explainer video production process. Balancing the services and visuals to achieve maximum quality within expected costs ensures a better return on investment (ROI). 

A professional explainer video production team near you can help you fine-tune your video marketing strategy to fit your budget without sacrificing quality. Experienced producers know how to set clear objectives and align production expectations with your investment level. 

Factors that could impact the cost of your corporate explainer video production​ include:

• Video duration

• Video scriptwriting & storyboarding quality

• Animation complexity and style

• Licensed music voice-overs

• The number of revisions your project needs

• The types of production solutions you work with, such as freelancers, full-service studios, or do-it-yourself (DIY) tools

Key Factors When Comparing Chicago Video Production Agencies

The best explainer video production companies in Chicago can make your explainer videos feel local and close to home, reminding potential customers that you're right around the corner. Even if you aren't marketing to city locals, Chicago-based production companies can elevate your content with industry-level expertise and skills.

Consider the following factors when comparing the top explainer video production companies:

• Cost structure: Agencies' pricing models vary significantly, from fixed packages to custom quotes. Understanding these costs upfront will help you find the best services within your budget, whether you work with a full-service production agency or hire a freelancer for a single production stage. 

• Creative approach: Research how each production team approaches the creative process, from discovery to storyboarding. Working with a flexible and collaborative team gives you more control over your finished product, guaranteeing it meets your exact brand goals and standards.

• Production quality: Simply put, production companies with more experience and better equipment will typically charge more than other production teams. This higher price point can be worth it for the better production and visual quality, especially when creating explainer videos with potentially high ROIs.

• Delivery timelines: Creative styles, project management standards, and animated explainer video production company sizes can all impact your turnaround time. To set clear expectations, directly ask each production team how long they would need to complete your project and how they will communicate timelines and updates. Consider planning your videos as far in advance as possible to give you and your production team adequate time to produce and revise your final content. 

• ROI measurement: Define your explainer video's key performance indicators (KPIs), such as viewership and lead generation, to understand the exact goals your content needs to meet. Compare this with production companies' engagement metrics, conversions, and campaign outcomes, if available. 

When you partner with a full-service production company with expansive offerings and skills, the next time you need to make another explainer video or other content, you can work with the same team and easily maintain brand consistency and messaging. For example, Charter & Co offers full-service execution, creative consistency, and data-driven results for both corporations and small businesses.

Maximizing ROI When Choosing a Video Production Partner

You can maximize your ROI on video production by aligning your creative direction, messaging, and production quality with your business goals. This requires you to clearly define your goals early in the process, whether that's raising your brand awareness, lead generation, or production education. Many agencies provide post-launch data, engagement insights, and conversion metrics to help you make the most informed decision for your future content investment. 

Factors that can impact your video's ROI include:

• Storytelling: Audiences emotionally resonate with narratives and stories.

• Messaging: What exactly are you telling customers and asking them to do once your video is over?

• Visual identity: Your video's visual elements should connect to your brand and your other video content.

• Delivery timeline: How topical is your video when you post it, and would posting it sooner or later contribute to higher sales?

How do I calculate ROI for explainer video production?

To calculate your explainer video's ROI, identify the KPIs most relevant to your video's CTA and performance, such as link clicks and conversions. Use this data to estimate your generated revenue. Then, subtract your production costs, and then divide that number by your production costs to calculate your ROI percentage.

Why are explainer videos effective?

Explainer videos offer potential customers and clients an in-depth look at your offerings, answering common questions in easily digestible ways. Engaging explainers drive sales, build trust, and help your products stand out from the competition. 

How Charter & Co Stands Out Among Chicago Agencies

Among Chicago-based explainer video production companies, Charter & Co distinguishes itself thanks to our full-service expertise, creative consistency, transparent communication, and measurable ROI reporting. Our team combines strategic insight with high-end production quality, enabling clients to achieve both creative impact and business performance. 

Get in touch to start your explainer video production, explore our product explainer video examples, and learn more about our services.