On the hierarchy of companies that create videos, the order usually starts at the top with marketing agencies, then production companies, and finally one-man-band type of operations. In the latter example, one person shoots the video, edits it, and manages all elements of creation themselves. Understandably, the more people who are involved, the more expensive the video. Nonetheless, with highly specialized talent involved from pre-production through post-production, expensive marketing agency videos often yield the best results if a client can bear the steep price of entry. Meanwhile, an average video production company offers some specialization, such as a professional cinematographer and a separate editor, along with limited creative guidance. Besides the traditional three types of video producers, I would argue for a fourth type better known as a video agency with greater creative capabilities and oversight.

Any reputable video production company can translate simple goals into a finished video, such as a company overview or product overview. Most of the time on lower budget videos, a client comes to a production company directly with specific needs in mind. The client outlines what the video should accomplish and needs to think through most of their own marketing goals. While video production companies are experts in technical details and everything having to do with producing quality videos, they don’t often understand brand goals or marketing objectives.

A video agency, by contrast, understands that the finished video is just the beginning of the marketing push any company intends to undertake. A video agency usually has a marketing expert or professional on staff whose job is not only to find business for the company, but to provide insight into the value of video production. A video agency should also have a form of creative director or creative producer who can pitch ideas for video projects, write scripts, and provide advice for videos on a higher level than just technical and logistical details. In other words, if a client asks for a funny, clever video to elicit social media shares, a video agency should be able to pitch an idea or series of ideas. A traditional video production company would want the process more automated, where the client delivers the idea or script and execution is more or less routine.

The vast majority of our videos are fairly straight-forward, from virtual tours to company overviews, but our capabilities as a video production company put us in the video agency category. We take pride in hiring only highly skilled and creative editors who bring more to the table than simple button pushing. Our VP of Business Development, Ivy Johnson, has many years of experience in marketing and keeps current on video marketing trends so we can remain at the forefront of the industry. We have a project coordinator to handle logistics on our shoots nationwide and to help provide high quality customer service. Meanwhile, my creative projects have played at or been selected by more than 40 film festivals nationwide, earning 25 nominations and 8 awards. I am a member of the Director’s Guild of America and my feature film, Amy Alyson Fans, is available on numerous digital media outlets including iTunes, Microsoft’s Xbox platform, and Amazon.

A video agency is a company specifically focused on video production, versus other marketing initiatives, but that still has all of the creative capabilities for video production of a full marketing agency. I built JLB Media Productions with a structure to support affordable marketing video creation, but also with creativity in mind so that specialized professionals could accomplish their tasks. I wanted to keep overhead low to allow us to produce lower budget, straight-forward video productions, but also put together a team of creative professionals capable of high level video production.

My background on much larger, creative endeavors allows me to provide insight for our clients about creating the best videos their budgets will allow. Because of our creative capabilities and experienced staff, the term “video agency” more accurately describes our company than mere video production company.