How much does monthly content production cost?

The bands

$2,500 – $5,000 / month

One shoot day a month, edited into eight to twelve short-form assets. Client-led direction, light strategy.

$5,000 – $12,000 / month

One to two shoot days, twenty to thirty assets, a content calendar, basic art direction and platform-specific editing.

$12,000 – $25,000 / month

Multiple shoot days, talent, a full calendar, strategy, performance review and iteration on what works.

Below about $2,500 you are usually buying editing capacity rather than production. That can be the right purchase, but it is a different thing.

What should be included

• Shoot days per month, and how they are scheduled
• Number of finished assets, by format and duration
• Who writes the hooks, captions and on-screen text
• A content calendar, and who maintains it
• Revision rounds per asset
• Whether raw footage is delivered or retained
• Turnaround time from shoot to delivery

Turnaround matters more than people expect. Content shot in January and delivered in March is not really monthly content.

Cost per usable asset

Divide the monthly fee by the number of assets you would actually publish, not the number delivered. Studios differ enormously on this ratio.

Thirty assets at $6,000 is $200 each, but if only twelve are strong enough to post, the real figure is $500. Ask to see a previous month's full delivery rather than a highlight reel, and count how many you would have used.

Questions to ask

1. How many shoot days, and can unused ones roll over?
2. What happens in a month when we have nothing new to show?
3. Who decides what gets made, us or you?
4. How do you use performance data to change next month?
5. What is the notice period?

Question two separates a studio with a system from one that will simply ask you for ideas every month.