How to Grow Your Videography Business in 2024
You’ve spent a good amount of time learning the best camera settings for videos and filmmaking, created an Instagram account dedicated to your craft, and even landed a few paid video gigs here and there. Congratulations. Starting and running a videography business can be highly rewarding and, in my opinion, really fun. But, after running your newfound business for a month, six months or even a year, you may be wondering, how do you grow your videography business and land not only more consistent gigs, but also higher paying clients as well?
After building my own videography business over the past number of years, I’ve learned a few different strategies that helped me land more projects. These strategies, thankfully, don’t involve posting endless Reels onto Instagram with the hope that one of them will go viral; these strategies are more so focused on things you can implement today that will continue to help your videography business grow for the long run. The first two strategies are more so focused on videographers who are just getting started (though they can be implemented at any time), while the rest of the strategies can be used by all videographers looking to grow their business. Here we go:
Enhance Your Videography & Storytelling Skills
I’m just going to get this one out of the way right up front. To grow your videography business, you will, of course, need to produce incredible videos. The best way to enhance those skills? Practise. Start taking videos all the time. Going on an upcoming vacation? Make a travel recap video or vlog. Going to see your friend’s band play a show on Friday night? Take a video of their set. The more time you spend familiarizing yourself with your camera, taking videos and editing them, the better and more efficient you’ll become at producing videos.
Another great way to enhance your videography skills is to become an expert on the subject. I’m not saying you need to enroll in a videography or filmmaking course and spend money (though, if you have the budget, they can be worthwhile). There are tons of blogs out there that provide tips and tricks for videography, as well as YouTube videos if you want to learn filmmaking by, well, watching films. And the best part? They’re free. So there’s no reason not to spend some time learning more about your craft. Again, the more you know about videography, the better your videos will become.
The one thing that some videographers overlook, however, is the art of storytelling. It’s not enough to simply take cool looking video clips and splice them together in a video edit. The videos you create need to capture an audiences’ attention and keep them hooked from start to finish. A good story will help do that.
No matter the videography niche you work in, storytelling will help you produce better videos for your clients. If you’re a wedding videographer, you may want to craft your videos in a way that truly captures the story of their big day so that they can remember it easily for years to come. Or, if you’re shooting videos for a product, you may want to create different scenes and stories for your videos so that your client’s potential customers can relate to the product they’re being shown, ultimately helping your client gain more sales (and you more repeat business). As a side note, storytelling can also help you grow your own videography business as well.
To learn more about storytelling, as well as storytelling in filmmaking, head online again and research the topic on blogs and YouTube videos. Also, try watching other videos in your niche (or even movies for that matter). You will quickly start to learn and understand how other videographers craft and structure their stories, which will help make you a better video storyteller too.
Invest in the Right Equipment
When you’re just starting your videography business, you don’t need a full blown video production set up. You do, however, need some key pieces of equipment to ensure you’re properly prepared for the video gigs you land. Because the last thing you need is to show up on set, film a bunch of scenes, and then run out of battery before you’ve captured all of your scenes!
Aside from a decent mirrorless camera and lens (which I’m assuming you already have), you’re going to want to ensure you have extra batteries (as forewarned above) and memory cards to handle all of those giant video files. You’ll also want to invest in a decent shotgun microphone, as a lot of corporate videos require some form of speaking throughout.
It’s also worth investing in a high quality variable ND filter right from the start. These filters are essential for maintaining the best filmmaking settings on your camera when filming in changing lighting conditions. These filters block a specific amount of light from entering your camera, allowing you to film with wider aperture settings and slower shutter speeds.
In addition, you may want something that helps you film steadier video clips. A gimbal is a solid option, however they can be pretty expensive. If you’re serious about growing your videography business, it may be worth the investment. If you don’t want to commit to any big equipment purchases when you’re first starting, however, you’ll at least want to invest in a decent quality neck strap. A neck strap, when pulled taught in front of you, can actually help you keep your camera stable while filming. In addition, it can allow you to easily create panning and tilt shots without any fancy gear. They also allow you to let go of your camera when you’re not using it, affording you some rest during a long video shoot. I’d say it’s well worth the investment!
Having the right equipment and always performing a video shoot efficiently and effectively can help build trust between you and your clients, ultimately leading to more repeat customers in the future. So make sure you’ve got the right tools for the job!
Related: 5 Essential Camera Accessories for Travel Photography and Videography
Determine Your Niche & Market Within It
While it may seem like a good idea to offer all types of videography, most people are typically looking for someone who is an expert in one particular type of video. Take wedding videography for example. Would you be more inclined to hire a wedding videographer to capture you and your partner’s big day, or someone who specializes in video marketing?
By niching down, you will be able to determine who your target audience is, build a portfolio that’s geared towards what they’re looking for, and ultimately develop a marketing plan that speaks to your potential customers’ needs.
How do you develop this kickass marketing plan around your video niche, you ask? Well, if you focus all (or most) of your energy into mastering that one type of video niche, as opposed to putting a bit of effort into a number of them, you will become a subject matter expert on that type of video work. This will then allow you to develop helpful content for a blog, Instagram Reels, YouTube videos or advertisements that address your customers’ pain points, positioning you as a thought leader in that specific niche. The more content that you create and the more visibility that you can generate from that content, the more you will become the go-to person for creating those types of videos in your area.
The algorithms on the various social media platforms will also start to learn what type of niche you’re marketing content is in as well. This means that the search engine and social media algorithms will start to show your content to people who are also interested in that content, ultimately helping you market your business to more people. Again, you don’t need to go viral online, but, if you can really define your niche on your website, blog and / or social media profiles, the algorithms will start to understand your niche as well, showing your marketing material to not necessarily more people, but more of the right people.
Build a Strong Portfolio
Once you’ve acquired some videography and storytelling knowledge, picked up some key pieces of videography gear and landed a few gigs, the first thing you should set up is a videography portfolio. Why? Because potential clients need to see what you can do!
If you don’t have a portfolio yet and want to set one up on for free, create a YouTube channel. You could also do this on Instagram, however the Reels format is only really good for showcasing vertical videos. The goal with creating a YouTube based portfolio isn’t necessarily for your channel to go viral (although that could help bring in some new clients!), it’s more so a place where you can direct potential clients to view your work in a fairly simplistic and intuitive manner. The other great thing about YouTube is that you can upload your videos in 4K, which means your clients will be able to see your work in the highest quality available.
If you have the funds, you could showcase your portfolio on your very own website. Aside from being able to further develop your brand, you will also be able to create pages that showcase your services, who you are and how to contact you. A dedicated website also adds a level of professionalism to your business, which will help you build trust with potential clients before you ever work with them.
As for how to build your portfolio, you will of course need to utilize videos from any paid gigs that you can. As you land more and more gigs, you can become selective as to which videos you showcase in your portfolio, however, at the start, you may need to fill it out with whatever paid videos you can.
In addition, if you don’t have any paid gigs or you’ve only had a few, tap into those personal projects I was talking about earlier. Travel videos and other content you make around town isn’t for a client, but it can show off your videography skills, which can still help you land more clients as you get going.
If you are targeting a specific niche, however, and you really need those types of videos in your portfolio, you could create spec pieces. This is where you take a video of a product essentially “for fun,” meaning the company didn’t pay you to do it - you just created the video for the sake of creating it. If you do make spec pieces, just be sure to note that the video was indeed a spec piece. You don’t want to mislead people into thinking you worked with specific brands when you haven’t.
Lastly, I’m not really a fan of telling people to work for free when they’re just getting started because I think any work should still warrant payment. But, if you need to get some sort of specific experience like a wedding video, you could offer to create a video for someone you know that’s getting married free of charge (or for a low fee) just so you can add that type of video to your portfolio.
Network, Network, Network
In a world where it may seem like going viral or becoming an influencer is the only way to grow your business, talking face to face with people is actually still one of the best ways to meet new clients and ultimately find new video projects. This is especially true when you’re first starting out.
To start, try telling your friends and family members about your new videography business. They may need that type of service at their work. Or they may be able to refer you to another person or company that’s looking for video production services. Either way, word of mouth marketing is still highly effective, and, to start, you just need to spread the word around to people you already know!
Next, don’t be shy to talk about your video business when you meet new people. Given the digital world that we all live in, having an online presence has never been more important, and creating videos is one of the most effective ways for people and businesses to leave their digital mark. The more people you can tell about your video business, the more potential customers you will find.
Remember when you created that kickass portfolio? Make sure you have an easy way for the people you meet to view it. This could be as simple as having a super easy to remember domain name or YouTube handle. Or you could go old school and print out business cards (or create some free digital business cards).
Either way, get out there, tell the world about your video business, and make sure it’s easy for them to check out your portfolio and follow up with you.
Market Your Business in a Way That Works for You and Your Brand
No matter which strategies you choose to grow your videography business, make sure you do it in a way that taps into your passions, helps you stay consistent, and ultimately works for you and your brand.
I think the trend these days is to set up a static website / portfolio, create an Instagram profile, and then just keep posting reels, hoping that one of your videos will take off. The thing to realize is that, even if your Instagram does take off, it may not lead to new clients for your video business. While Instagram can for sure be a part of a good marketing strategy for a videography business (Instagram allows you to post videos, after all), pouring a lot of your energy into one platform may not work for you.
Sure, some people have a knack for building large followings online, but some people are better at writing blogs and optimizing for SEO, while others are good at networking and building relationships. There is no one strategy that leads to success in videography. The key is to find the strategy that works for you.
So try different growth strategies, and stick to the one(s) that work for you and your business. If you lean into the strategies that show signs of progress, you will likely begin to see even more progress. And if it’s a strategy that you actually enjoy doing, you will also have more fun, too.