How to Compare Video Brochure Companies Before You Buy

If your company is considering video brochures, video mailers, or video boxes, you have several vendors to choose from.

Companies such as Marc Media, Red Paper Plane, Video Plus Print, Curveball Printed Media, Video Brochures Direct, theVideoCards, PrintAVizion, and MediaFast are all options. We’ve all helped raise awareness about these products and the role they play in sales, marketing, recruiting, fundraising, and other initiatives.

Competition is good for our industry. It also means you should know what to consider when choosing a vendor for your campaign.

With that in mind, the key question isn’t simply, “What companies offer video brochures?”

It’s actually: What should you compare before choosing one?

For instance, even though many companies in our industry offer similar-looking products at first glance, there are noticeable differences in product quality, customer service, design help, pricing, fulfillment services, and support levels after an order is placed.

Compare Product Quality, Not Just Appearance

A video brochure may look impressive in a photo, but that doesn’t mean it will actually feel impressive in person.

Before choosing a vendor, it’s worthwhile to compare:

• screen clarity
• print quality
• components
• button responsiveness
• audio performance
• durability
• overall presentation

Think of it this way: while a low-quality piece can hurt the impression your company is trying to make, a high-quality one can help a message feel more credible, polished, and worth paying attention to.

Compare the Experience You’d Like to Create

Not every campaign needs the same type of presentation.

Some can be carried out reasonably well with only print, and others with only digital.

However, some need a presentation piece that impressively combines both because they’re communicating with top prospects, major donors, executives, or high-value clients.

That’s why it helps to compare more than just the options for video brochures themselves.

More specifically, it helps to compare the experience each company seems equipped to deliver.

For example:

• Do their video brochures feel premium or basic?
• Are they experienced at creating the kind of presentation you want to deliver?
• Which companies seem focused mainly on just making a sale?
• Which companies are more responsive with better communication?
• Which companies will support you throughout the entire process?

Those differences are greater in our industry and matter more than you might expect.

Compare Design Help, Not Just Templates

Many prospective buyers already have a creative team or agency who can handle design for them.

Others don’t, which is why design help is important to compare.

For instance, some companies may provide a template and expect the customer to do the rest. Others may offer collaborative help to ensure the final piece looks right, functions correctly, and aligns with the campaign’s goals.

We’re not saying that every customer needs the same amount of design help.

We’re simply saying that buyers should understand what kind of help they’ll actually receive before they commit so their video brochure, video mailer, or video box will look and function the way they want.

Compare Communication and Customer Service

This is one of the easiest differences to overlook early and one of the most important later.

A company may offer a strong-looking product, but if communication is slow, unclear, or inconsistent, the overall project can become far more difficult than it should be.

Because of that, we advise buyers to compare:

• responsiveness
• clarity
• professionalism
• follow-through
• willingness to answer questions
• confidence during the process

For some projects, communication is merely helpful. But for most, it can be critical to delivering the experience and results you had in mind when you decided to move forward with the project.

Compare Pricing

Price always matters. That said, the lowest price doesn’t always create the best outcome, and the highest price doesn’t always mean the best quality.

What matters is understanding what’s actually included.

For example:

• Is file loading included?
• How many buttons are included?
• Is design help included?
• Are there additional costs for specialty finishes?
• Will there be charges that don’t appear on the initial quote?

Because buyers have sometimes discovered added costs later, this is why pricing matters so much.

Our advice is this: buyers shouldn’t only ask up front what each unit will cost. They should also ask what the quoted price actually covers and if additional costs might be added later to their final invoice.

Compare Production Reliability

A video marketing product that arrives late, inconsistent, or not functioning properly can damage a campaign before it ever has a chance to become effective.

With this in mind, it helps to ask:

• Is the vendor I’m considering experienced with reliable production?
• Do they have systems in place to reduce problems as the project progresses?
• Do they seem prepared to handle complexity well?
• Are they built for interactive involvement, or mostly for only brokering orders?

For companies using video brochures in premium campaigns, reliability isn’t a luxury. It’s central to the value that vendors provide.

Decide If You Need a Full Service Partner

This is where differences between vendors are significant.

Some buyers only need a company to produce the finished units, while others need much more than that.

For example, some projects require:

• design help
• custom video loading
• different videos loaded into each unit
• kitting
• warehousing
• staggered distribution
• verified mailing lists
• list creation
• full distribution service

That last category is a major point to compare because for companies running larger or more complex campaigns, full distribution service often has a major impact on their results.

And by full distribution service, we mean handling the moving parts after production so you don’t have to receive, store, sort, customize, label, and mail your units yourself.

For some buyers, that may not matter much. For others, it matters a great deal because they don’t have the manpower, space, or time.

Compare Who Will Give You Peace of Mind

Not every buyer needs the same type of vendor.

As alluded to earlier, a simple order for a basic campaign may not require much beyond product production.

However, a larger campaign with custom loading, kitting, storage needs, detailed shipping requirements, and distribution service may require a vendor who is more dynamic.

That’s why the primary question isn’t: Which company is best?

It’s: Which company is best for my campaign?

Final Thoughts On Comparing Video Brochure Companies

There are several companies who sell video brochures, which is good for buyers.

It provides options. It raises awareness. And it pushes companies throughout our industry to continually improve.

That said, it also means buyers should compare more than just images of products.

To make the best decision, they should compare:

• quality
• communication
• pricing
• design help
• production reliability
• customer service
• and which vendor can support the full needs of their campaign

The bottom line is this: choosing the right video brochure company isn’t just about finding someone who can make the product.

It’s about finding the one who will help you achieve the results you want to enjoy.

If you’d like to experience a video brochure in person, click this link to request a FREE SAMPLE.