How to Write an Effective Video Production RFP (With Free Template!)

Choosing a video production company can sometimes feel like taking a leap in the dark. Sure, the agency may have plenty of customer testimonials and an extensive portfolio, but how do you know if it’s the one for your particular video?

A good strategy can be to base your decision on proposals rather than promotional material!

By sending a Request for Proposal (RFP) to different video companies, you can get a really accurate sense of what each of them can bring to the table for your project – Allowing you to sift through ideas and choose a provider that feels like the best fit.

But to receive suitable proposals, you first need to send vendors a comprehensive video production RFP that specifies your video’s goals and requirements effectively and clearly. And that’s what we are here for today 😉

In this piece, you’ll find a brief guide to help you send an accurate request for proposal, and we’ve even included a free template for it! Here at Yum Yum Videos, we hope it gives you a head start on your way to that awesome video you are looking for.

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Step 1: Introduce Yourself

First things first: you should start your video production RFP by introducing your company.

Don’t worry; there’s no need to go out of your way in this section: any video company worth its salt will research your business as soon as the RFP arrives. However, you should provide vendors with at least the basic information about your company, such as:

• Its mission statement.
• Its products and/or services and value proposition.
• Its target audience.
• Optional: previous video marketing campaigns that may influence the current project.

Try to explain each of these points briefly but clearly – it’s instrumental that the vendors truly understand what your company is about.

Step 2: Explain the Project

It’s time to talk about the project you have in mind! Here, you need to go into detail, as the proposals you’ll receive will depend greatly on this section of your video production RFP.

Let’s go through the points you need to cover when talking about the video project you need:

Your Video’s Goals

A video meant to boost website conversions differs from one designed to raise your brand awareness or enhance your social media presence.

That’s why your vendors should have a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve with the video. Otherwise, they might propose a great-quality piece that doesn’t serve your campaign’s purposes.

Selection criteria

Let vendors know what you are looking for in a video production company. Is it a high-quality standard? Affordable pricing? Or perhaps, extensive experience in similar projects?

Stating your selection criteria will allow video companies to know beforehand if they can be shortlisted. This way, any vendor that doesn’t meet your needs can steer clear of the request for proposal, saving you time and effort during the selection process.

Distribution Strategy & Specs

Inform the vendors where the video will appear: on social media, a live event, your homepage, and so on.

The video’s format, size, and aspect ratio will change significantly depending on each case. In fact, you can go even further and spell out these specifications to avoid any confusion.

Timeline for the Request for Proposal

You need to set a deadline for submitting the proposal. It’s also practical to specify other important dates of your selection process, such as the day you’ll announce the outcome or when the selected vendor will sign the Statement of Work (SoW).

Timeline for the Video Production Process

Here you should detail every deliverable deadline of the video production process. We are talking about estimated due dates for the script, style frames, storyboard, animation draft, and final video.

Keep in mind that producing a video is a long task that usually takes between 8 and 9 weeks. Many video companies like ourselves have a flexible production process that adapts to the client’s time needs – but that doesn’t mean they can all work miracles! So, try to maintain realistic timeframes and some flexibility at this stage of the process.

Your Budget

The price range can vary significantly from video to video, especially when it comes to live-action productions. Knowing how much you are willing to invest in this project will help vendors develop a proposal that works for your budget.

Just like with the timeline, make sure to set a reasonable budget – you’ll get what you pay for!

Type of Video

If you know already, clarify the type of corporate video you need. Most video production companies work with the following types:

• Explainer videos.
• Product Videos.
• Commercial Videos.
• Tutorial Videos.
• Testimonial Videos.
• FAQ Videos.

Video Production Style

Explainer video companies can benefit a lot from being aware of the video style you are after. At the very least, you should let them know if you are looking for live-action, animation, or a combination of both styles. This is vital when working with vendors who specialize in more than one video production technique.

If you wish to go into further details – which we’d recommend whenever possible – you can define the animation style: 2D, 3D, whiteboard animation, motion graphics animations, or any kind you like. Just make sure you send the video production RFP to a vendor who works with that precise animation style!

Your References

This goes hand in hand with the previous point.

If you have a well-defined idea of the type of video you are after, you can provide the video companies with references to get inspired by. These can be links to other videos, still frames, or images that have caught your attention.

References will help vendors have a clearer idea of what you want, so their proposals will be more likely to live up to your expectations.

Step 3: Ask for Relevant Information

It’s time to let the vendors do the talking!

In this section, you’ll ask them critical information about their video production company. Let’s take a look at the points you can’t forget to include:

Company Overview

Ask for a brief rundown of the video production company.

Capabilities & Differentiators

Why should you pick that video company? What can they bring to your project that others don’t?

You can expect vendors to blow their own horns in this part of the video production RFP. Still, this information will help you realize if they are the ideal fit for this project.

Relevant Experience

To get familiar with the type of work the video production company does, ask about their experience with similar projects. You can request links, case studies, or references to check their work with your own eyes.

If you want to go even further, you can ask for customer testimonials or former clients’ contact information.

Production Process

Ask the video company how they plan to embrace the video production process if they are selected. Moreover, find out how they would manage to comply with your time and quality needs.

You can also consult about the additional services they provide, as many companies offer an integrated video marketing strategy or take care of the video’s distribution.

Team Members

You may want to know who does what during the video production process to check their qualifications and skills, and that’s perfectly fine!

But try not to obsess too much over it.

Asking for a brief introduction of each team member and their LinkedIn or Behance profiles is fine, but some companies can go a bit over the top – as in requesting resumes for each person involved.

That sounds great in principle, but do keep in mind that that sort of thing might be a bit much to ask for in a video production RFP. Preparing and updating each CV may take up too much of the vendor’s time and will take you time and resources to sift through all of them as well!

Outsourcing

Find out which parts of the video production will be outsourced to a freelancer or another company. How does that affect you as the client? Does that involve any additional cost or risk?

Pricing

Ask the vendor about the prices they charge for this type of project and how much the animation cost to carry out their proposal will be.

Step 4: Detail Your Contact Info

Last but not least, the explainer video companies will need to contact you to submit their proposal or clear out their doubts about the project. So, provide vendors with your contact information, mentioning your name and role inside the business and any other necessary details.

Video Production RFP Free Template

VIDEO PRODUCTION REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL                   [Insert Your Logo]

[Your Company’s Name]

COMPANY OVERVIEW

[Introduce your company. Mention mission statement and value proposition]

Past Marketing Campaigns (optional)

[Include previous video marketing initiatives if they can affect the proposal development]

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Goals

[What do you want to achieve with this video?]

Target audience

[Who will be the video directed to?]

Selection Criteria

[What are you looking for in a proposal?]

Distribution Strategy

[Where will your video appear?]

Video Specifications

• Format: [e.g.: .mp4]
• Size: [e.g.: 1920 x 1080]
• Aspect Ratio: [e.g.: Widescreen, 16:9]

Timeline

• [Date] Proposal Submission Deadline.
• [Date] Proposal Selection Date.
• [Date] [Other important milestones].
• [Date] Final Video Delivery Deadline.

Project Budget

[How much are you willing to invest in video production?]

Video Guidelines

• [Type of video. E.g., explainer video]
• [Video Production Style. E.g., whiteboard animation]
• References: [include links to videos, still frames, or images you are inspired by]

RFP REQUIREMENTS

Please, provide the following information regarding your video production services.

• Company overview.
• Why the company is ideal for this particular project.
• Portfolio work in similar endeavors.
• Plan for the production process.
• Team members in charge of the video production process (specify background and capabilities).
• Outsourced tasks.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Please, submit your proposal and any question you may have to:

• [Name]
• [Job Title]
• [Email Address]
• [Phone Number]

Download Video Production RFP Free Template

You Have Sent the Video Production RFP What’s Next?

Once all participants have submitted their proposals, take 2 or 3 days to review them and select one of them. We advise you to have no mercy with those video companies that haven’t complied with your requests – filter them out of the competition straight away. Otherwise, you will be up for other unpleasant surprises during the video production.

When your selection process is over and done with, notify all participants of your decision. Both winners and also-rans should be informed – don’t let bidders hanging around for your response!

And there you have it! That’s all you need to take care of after you send a video production RFP. For now, focus on completing the Request for Proposal template and wait to hear some awesome proposals for your next corporate video!