How to Pick a B2B Tech Video Production Partner

There are five ways to get B2B video made, and each one trades something away. Here is how the options compare, and the questions that tell you which one you actually need.

Key Takeaways

There are five ways to get B2B video made: in-house, freelancer, generalized agency, video production company, or a strategy-plus-production hybrid.
In-house teams get backed up and slowly turn into order-takers instead of strategists.
Freelancers and video production companies are fast and deep on video, but rarely do strategy.
Agencies bring strategy and a deep bench, but they cost more and often deliver more generic video.
The gap most B2B companies hit: agencies are strategic but not video-native, and video teams are video-native but not strategic.

We've run this play for B2B teams for years. If you want proof before the process, here's what it looked like for a real team.

The five ways to get B2B video made

When a B2B tech company needs video, there are about five options. Four have been around a long time. The fifth is newer.

In-house: people on your payroll, dedicated to your brand.
Freelancer: a specialist you hire per project.
Generalized agency: a marketing agency where video is one service among many.
Video production company: a team that does video all day.
The hybrid: strategy plus video-native production in one place.

Each option is strong somewhere and weak somewhere else. The trick is matching the choice to what the job actually needs.

In-house video: a known quantity that gets backed up

In-house means an employee or dedicated resource, someone you already pay for and who learns your brand over time. That familiarity makes them fast, easy, and low-risk, and the working relationship compounds.

The catch is capacity. To justify a full-time hire, you keep them busy, and then they get backed up.

Sales asks for a pitch video, but marketing has them booked for months.
One person can't shoot and edit at the same time, so they wear too many hats.
Entrenched in the brand, they lose the fresh outside perspective.

"They end up kind of being like order takers rather than strategists, in order to justify the cost." — Dane Frederiksen

A busy marketing department rarely leaves room for the research and strategy that keeps video current, and media changes constantly.

Freelancers: fast and specialized, but order-takers

A freelancer is a solid choice in a lot of cases. You hire exactly the specialist you need, only when you need them, and you don't pay when you're not using them. Because they do video for a living, they tend to be fast and good.

The downsides: they can already be booked when you need them, and few people wear all the hats. Most freelancers are strong shooters or strong editors, rarely both, and other skills like writing and graphic design are separate again. They also may not know your niche or brand, and because they bill per task, they take the order rather than question whether it's the right idea.

Generalized agencies: strategy and a deep bench, at a price

A generalized marketing agency does emails, SEO, websites, branding, and positioning, with video as one piece. The upside is a deep bench and senior strategists who help you figure out what the business needs before anyone picks up a camera. You often get white-glove account management on top.

The cost is, well, cost. Retainers and contracts carry a lot of overhead.

It can be slower, because the work runs through strategy meetings and process.
The video itself often comes out more generic, because the people planning it are marketing experts, not video experts.

Unless someone is doing video all day for years, they are not a video expert in the deeper sense.

Video production companies: deep video skill, light on strategy

If you want people deep in the weeds on video, a production company is the way to go. They are video-native, know the latest tools and techniques, and carry a core team plus a close network they can reach for the occasional drone shot or cinematography. They are usually the fastest, because volume is their business.

That speed and quality come at a price, and strategy is not their job.

"Good, fast, cheap. If you want it good and you want it fast, that's expensive." — Dane Frederiksen

They tend to be order-takers, not strategists. They don't have the time, or usually the marketing skill set, for positioning and messaging, and they are not specialists in your industry or brand, so there's some ramp-up.

The hybrid: strategy plus video excellence

Here is the gap. Agencies are strategic but generally not video-native. Video production teams are video experts but not strategic. B2B companies increasingly need video for far more than a website hero or product clip: thought leadership, recruiting, internal onboarding, and more. So who leads that journey?

That gap is what Digital Accomplice is built to fill: agency-level strategy plus video-native production, without the full-agency overhead.

"Who is going to lead the journey? What's the smart, sustainable way to have an ongoing video capability?" — Dane Frederiksen

It is not a fit for everything. It's not a full agency, so it won't run your email campaigns or build your website. And because strategy comes first, it's not as fast as a freelancer who just executes. That strategy step is the homework most people want to skip, and it's exactly the work that ensures a good outcome.

How to decide which partner you need

When you need video production support, ask yourself three questions:

Do you need wide and deep video expertise?
Do you want strategic video support tied to your business goals?
Or do you just need someone to make what you already know you need?

If you already have all the answers and just need execution, a freelancer or production company is fine. If you want strategic video tied to your goals, with the reliability and speed of an agency but less of the cost, the hybrid is built for that.

Not sure you're ready for the full engagement? Start smaller. Our free AI Visibility Snapshot shows you where AI search can't find you yet. No cost, no call required.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the options for B2B video production?

There are five: an in-house team, a freelancer, a generalized marketing agency, a dedicated video production company, or a hybrid that combines strategy with video-native production. Each is strong in some areas and weak in others, so the right choice depends on the job.

Should you hire an in-house video person or use a freelancer?

In-house works when you have steady, ongoing video needs and want someone who knows your brand, but they get backed up and can become order-takers. A freelancer is better for specific projects, since you only pay when you use them, though they may be booked up or not know your niche.

Why are video production companies not strategic?

Production companies are video-native and fast because they do video all day, but they usually don't have the time or the marketing skill set for positioning, messaging, and strategy. They tend to take the order and execute it well rather than question whether it's the right project.

How is a marketing agency different from a video production company?

A marketing agency brings strategy, a deep bench, and senior strategists, but video is just one of many services, so the video can come out generic and cost more. A video production company is deep on video craft but light on strategy. The two solve different halves of the problem.

How do I choose a B2B video production partner?

Decide whether you need deep video expertise, strategic support tied to business goals, or just execution of something you've already scoped. If you only need execution, a freelancer or production company works. If you want strategy plus production in one place, with agency reliability at lower cost, choose the hybrid model.

If you're weighing this decision, let's pressure-test it together. Grab a time and we'll figure out the right next move. No hard pitch.

Full Interview Transcript

Hey everybody, today we're going to talk about how to pick a production partner for a B2B tech company. There are about four to five choices. The fifth one is a new one, and we're going to talk about my company last. But I'm going to talk about the more traditional options you have that have been around for a while.

So let's first get into in-house. By this, I mean people at your company, in your department, either people you have now or people you could hire. The whole idea is that they're employees or some sort of dedicated resource. They're going to be tricky to hire in a lot of cases, because there are a lot of skills that go into video production. There's script writing, lighting, sound, camera, editing, graphics, a lot of different things. And so a lot of times I see a company hire someone who's a generalized video expert, a wears-all-the-hats person. But then there are going to be some limitations there.

The pros of having in-house is you're going to have someone who's already paid for and ideally available. Someone who knows your subject matter and your brand, maybe not right away, but over time they'll get more entrenched with the product, the brand, and the marketplace. They can be fast, easy, and lower-risk because they're a known entity. You can have a good working relationship over time, which helps.

The cons: I've seen this many times, they get backed up. They get a lot of projects in order to justify having them on staff. And then when someone comes along with a new request that wasn't planned for, they can't get it done. Sales will say, hey, we need a video for a pitch, and marketing says, we've already got them booked up for months on this other thing. So they have limited capability, wearing too many hats. When they're shooting, they're not editing, and when they're editing, they're not shooting. They can be slow. There can be politics. And there can be limited new ideas over time, because they lose their freshest perspective being so entrenched. They also end up being order takers rather than strategists, because to justify the cost you keep them busy. But if they're busy, they don't have time to do research and strategic work about best practices for new things. Media is changing all the time, and you've got to have someone watching that. For a busy marketing department, that's asking a lot.

The next one is a freelancer, a solid choice in a lot of cases. The pros: you're probably going to hire the exact person you need for the task. So probably a video specialist. And since they're not salaried, they're available only as you need them, and you're not paying when you're not using them. Because they specialize in video, they're probably fast, and a lot of times easy, because they're good at what they do. That's why they're freelance. A lot of times you get better outcomes that way. Not always, so buyer beware.

Some of the cons: they can be unavailable. If they're already booked on a project, they can't take yours. There's limited capability too. Not everyone can wear all the hats. Generally, people are better shooters or editors, and I rarely find people equally balanced on both. Then there are the other skills like graphic design and writing. With video freelancers, they tend to be shooters and editors mostly. Another downside is they may not know your niche or brand that well. You might find a specialist freelancer in your niche, or someone you've worked with many times who knows your brand, but maybe not. And because they're freelance, they're more like order takers. They want to know exactly what you want, give you a quote, and get it done. They're not doing a lot of strategy work about why you're doing this in the first place. They're happy to take your money, even if it's not a great idea.

Next is a generalized agency, meaning a marketing agency or something like that. It could even be your marketing department. What I mean here is people who are not necessarily doing video all day, unlike those first options. These are people doing marketing in general: emails, SEO, websites, branding, positioning, all these other things. Video is just a piece of that. The pros: in a lot of cases you get a deep bench. A fancy agency has lots of people available if you've got the money. They'll have broad and deep capabilities for all kinds of things, not just video. They probably have senior strategists who can help you figure out what you're trying to do for the business, and then what you could do with video to make that happen. These are the opposite of order takers, ideally. They help you figure out what to do in the first place. And a lot of times they'll have customer service and account reps managing the relationship, so you get a white-glove touch.

The cons: expense is the big one. It costs a lot to keep an agency on retainer, or even on a contract. You're paying for a lot of overhead. The deep bench might be slower than going direct to a video specialist, because they'll have deeper strategic meetings and a process to manage all the work. And a lot of times you get more generic video, just because the people doing the planning aren't necessarily video experts. They might be experts in marketing in general, but unless you're doing video all day for years, you're not a video expert in the deeper sense.

So that brings us to the video production company option. If you want someone deep in the weeds with video who really knows it, this is the way to go. Video-native excellence. They're doing this all the time and know the latest tools and techniques probably better than anybody. They have deep and wide capability in video production. You might have a project that requires cinematography, graphics, editing, or writing. A video production company usually has a core group on staff or that they work with all the time, plus a network in close reach for things like a drone shot or cinematography. Not every project needs that. They're usually the fastest, because they need to do as many projects as they can. That also means they're expensive: good, fast, cheap, and if you want it good and fast, that's expensive. And they're more like order takers, not strategists. They don't have the time for the deep work, and probably not the skills in marketing, positioning, and messaging that call for strategy. They're probably not specialists in your industry or brand, since they're doing shoots and edits for all kinds of companies, so there's a little ramp-up time.

So that brings us to the final option. This is my company, Digital Accomplice. We have a new way of doing things where we bridge the gap I identified between the agency world, which is strategic but generally not video editing, and the video world, video production teams that are video experts but not necessarily strategic. I see a big need for B2B to use video in a lot of different ways, not just the traditional ones like a hero video on your website or a product video. There are so many ways: thought leadership, recruiting, internal onboarding. So who is going to lead the journey? What's the smart, sustainable way to have an ongoing video capability? It's probably not coming from the agency, and it's probably not coming from the video production team. So that's the new way I'd like to propose.

The pros: you get the best of both worlds, strategy and video excellence. We figure out exactly why we're doing something, figure out the best way to do it, and then we go make it happen for you in the video production aspect. We're built to fill that gap, the strategic video needs for B2B. You get the best of the agency and the video production options.

Some of the downsides: limited capability. We're not a full agency. We're not going to do email campaigns or build websites. If that's what you need, we're not the best option. We're probably not as fast as a video production company, a freelancer, or maybe even in-house, because we focus on strategy first. That's the stuff a lot of people want to skip. It feels like homework. But that's exactly the work that ensures good outcomes, so it's important we don't skip it. And when we first start working together, we're not specialists in your brand yet. Over time, we'll find efficiencies and even help shape what video for your brand looks like if you haven't thought that through. How many companies have already decided what their logo looks like when it's animated? It comes up a lot. It's not just fonts and colors, it's also how things move. Those are decisions we can help make with you.

So when you come to need video production support, just ask yourself: do you need wide and deep video expertise? Do you want strategic video support? Or do you just need someone to go make what you already know you need? If you've already got all the answers, that's one path. But if you want strategic video support tied to your business goals, that's where we can really help. You'll get the reliability and speed of an agency, but cheaper than an agency, because we don't have all the overhead for those other things. We're focused on video, and bringing all the good things video can do for you: the lifting, the efficiencies, the speed, and building trust and visibility. We want those things for you and can help bring them to your marketing mix.

So if you want to talk about whether this is a right fit for you, just reach out. I'm Dane at Digital Accomplice, digitalaccomplice.com. Good luck, and thanks.