What are the Five Types of Video Production Services?
- Raz Laver
- Oct 25, 2025
- 16 min read
Ever wondered why some businesses seem to effortlessly connect with their audience through video while others struggle to make an impact? The secret often lies in choosing the right type of video production service for their specific needs. It's like picking the right tool from a toolbox, you wouldn't use a hammer when you need a screwdriver, right?
In today's digital landscape, video content has become the language of business communication. Whether you're scrolling through social media, visiting a company website, or attending a virtual event, video is everywhere.
But here's what most people don't realise, not all video production services are created equal. Understanding the differences can save you thousands of dollars while dramatically improving your results.
As a Perth business owner or marketing professional, you're probably aware that investing in high quality video production isn't optional anymore; it's essential. But with so many types of videos and production services available, where do you even start?
That's exactly what we're going to explore in this comprehensive guide. We'll break down the five main types of video production services, explain what makes each unique, and help you understand which ones will serve your business objectives best.
Understanding the Video Production Industry
Before we get into the specific types of videos, let's get our bearings. The video production industry has evolved dramatically over the past decade, and understanding this landscape helps you make smarter decisions for your business.
The Evolution of Video Production
Remember when creating professional video content required massive budgets and connections to production studios? Those days are long gone.
Today's video production companies offer specialised services that cater to businesses of all sizes, from Perth startups to established corporations. However, this accessibility doesn't mean all services are interchangeable.
Why Different Services Exist
Each type of video production service exists because different communication goals require different approaches. Think of it this way, you wouldn't hire a wedding photographer to shoot your corporate headshots, would you?
Similarly, the production team that excels at creating high-energy commercials might not be your best choice for intimate testimonial videos.
The Production and Post Production Workflow
Regardless of which type you choose, all professional video services follow a similar workflow. Starting with pre production (planning, scripting, and preparation), production (actual filming), and post production (editing, colour grading, and finishing).
However, the emphasis and approach within each phase varies significantly depending on the service type.
Quality Standards Across Services
One constant across all types of video production services is the commitment to quality. Whether you're creating a quick social media clip or a comprehensive corporate video, professional standards in lighting, audio, and editing remain non-negotiable for achieving that high quality final product.
Let's start with the heavyweight champion of the business world: corporate video production. This service type forms the backbone of internal and external business communication for companies across Perth and beyond.
What Defines Corporate Videos?
Corporate videos are professionally produced content designed to communicate your business message, values, culture, or operations to specific audiences. These aren't the stiff, boring company videos of yesteryear. The modern corporate video production creates engaging content that actually holds attention while maintaining professionalism.
Common Types of Corporate Videos
Within corporate video production, you'll find several subcategories.
Company overview videos introduce your business to potential clients or investors.
Training videos educate employees on procedures, safety, or new systems.
Internal communications keep distributed teams connected and informed.
Recruitment videos attract top talent by showcasing your company culture.
The Corporate Production Process
Creating corporate videos typically involves extensive pre production planning. Including stakeholder interviews, script development, and careful consideration of brand guidelines.
The production team for corporate work often includes experienced directors who understand business communication nuances. Additionally, skilled camera operators who can work in office environments, and editors who balance professionalism with engagement.
When Your Business Needs Corporate Video Production
Consider this service when you need to communicate complex information professionally, establish credibility with stakeholders, document processes or procedures, or create content that represents your brand at the highest level. Perth businesses particularly benefit from local video production companies who understand the regional business landscape and can capture authentic local flavour.
Investment in Corporate Video
Corporate video production typically represents a significant investment because of the planning depth, production quality requirements, and stakeholder coordination involved. However, the final product often serves your business for years, making it one of the most cost-effective marketing and communication tools available.
If corporate videos are the steady foundation, commercial and advertising video production is the flashy sports car. It's designed to turn heads, create desire, and drive immediate action.
The Purpose of Commercial Videos
Commercial video production focuses on one primary goal: selling. Whether you're promoting a product, service, or brand, commercials aim to capture attention quickly, create emotional connection, and motivate viewers to take action. These videos appear on television, streaming platforms, social media, and websites.
Creative Approaches in Advertising
What sets commercial production apart is the creative freedom and storytelling emphasis. Your production team might develop concept-driven narratives, employ humour or emotion, use striking visual effects, or create memorable characters. The best commercials don't feel like advertising, they feel like entertainment that happens to feature your product.
Production Complexity and Scale
Commercial video production often involves larger production teams, more sophisticated equipment, professional actors or models, elaborate sets or locations, and extensive post production work. A 30-second commercial might require days of filming and weeks of editing to achieve that polished, high quality finish.
Target Audience Precision
Unlike broader corporate videos, commercials target very specific audience segments. Your video production company will work closely with you during pre-production to understand your ideal customer's demographics, psychographics, preferences, and pain points. This research directly informs every creative decision.
Distribution Considerations
Where your commercial will appear significantly impacts its production.
Television commercials follow strict time constraints and broadcast standards.
Social media commercials need to capture attention within the first second and work without sound.
YouTube pre-roll ads must engage immediately before viewers click "skip."
Professional commercial production accounts for these distribution requirements from the start.
Measuring Commercial Success
The effectiveness of commercial video production is measured through concrete metrics: increased sales, website traffic, brand awareness, or lead generation. Your production team should understand these goals and create content strategically designed to achieve them.
Events represent unique video production challenges and opportunities. Whether capturing a Perth conference, product launch, or company milestone, event video production preserves moments while creating promotional content for future use.
What Event Video Production Covers
Event videography encompasses conferences and seminars, trade shows and exhibitions, product launches, award ceremonies, corporate milestones, and networking events. Each event type presents different production requirements and opportunities for capturing compelling video content.
Live vs. Post-Event Focus
Event video production serves two distinct purposes. Live production involves streaming events in real-time to remote audiences, requiring different technical setups, backup systems, and production team coordination.
Post-event production focuses on creating highlight reels, promotional videos, or comprehensive documentation for later distribution across social media and other channels.
The Challenges of Event Coverage
Unlike controlled studio environments, event videography means working with unpredictable lighting. Also, managing audio in noisy environments, capturing spontaneous moments, working around crowds and obstacles, and often having just one opportunity to get crucial shots.
This is where experienced event video production companies demonstrate their value. They anticipate challenges and have backup plans ready.
Multi-Camera Production
Professional event coverage typically employs multiple cameras to capture different angles simultaneously. This approach ensures comprehensive coverage, provides editing flexibility, creates more dynamic final products, and guarantees important moments aren't missed. Your production team coordinates these cameras to work together seamlessly.
Delivering the Final Product
After the event, the production and post production team works to create various deliverables: a full-length event recording, shorter highlight reels for social media, individual session recordings, promotional teasers for future events, and speaker-specific clips for their own marketing. Each serves different purposes for maximising your event's value.
Why Perth Businesses Choose Event Video Production
For Perth companies hosting significant events, professional video production transforms a single-day occurrence into ongoing marketing assets. Attendees share clips on social media, extending your reach.
Non-attendees get FOMO, boosting next year's registration. Sponsors receive proof of value. It's an investment that keeps delivering returns.
Welcome to the fastest-growing segment of video production services. Social media video production has exploded in importance as platforms like Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Facebook prioritise video content in their algorithms.
The Social Media Revolution
Social media videos differ fundamentally from traditional video production. They're typically shorter, more casual, mobile-optimised, and designed for specific platform algorithms.
This doesn't mean they're easier to produce. Creating compelling social media content requires understanding platform nuances, current trends, and what makes people stop scrolling.
Platform-Specific Production
Each social media platform has unique requirements.
Instagram Reels and TikTok prefer vertical video, quick cuts, trending audio, and entertainment value.
LinkedIn favors professional but authentic content, thought leadership, and business insights.
Facebook supports longer content but still benefits from strong hooks.
YouTube allows deeper dives and educational content.
Professional social media video production optimises content for each platform's unique ecosystem.
The Production Process for Social Media
Social media video production often moves faster than other types of videos. The production process emphasises agility, trend awareness, authentic storytelling, quick turnaround times, and batch production efficiency.
Many Perth businesses work with video production companies to create multiple social media videos in single production days, maximising efficiency and maintaining consistent output.
Volume vs. Polish
Here's a truth that surprises many. Social media video production often prioritises volume and authenticity over perfection.
Your audience responds better to frequent, genuine content than occasional, overly-polished posts. This doesn't mean low quality, it means the production team balances professional standards with the informal, authentic feel that social media audiences expect.
Content Series and Campaigns
The most successful social media video strategies involve consistent content series rather than one-off posts. Your video production company might help develop weekly tips series, behind-the-scenes content, customer spotlights, product demonstrations, or Q&A sessions. This consistency builds audience expectations and keeps people coming back.
Measurement and Iteration
Social media provides immediate performance data: views, engagement rates, shares, comments, and click-through rates. Professional social media video production includes analysing this data and continuously refining the approach based on what's working. This iterative process ensures your video content improves over time and delivers increasing returns.
Documentary and Testimonial Video Production
Sometimes the most powerful video content comes from real stories authentically told. Documentary and testimonial video production captures genuine experiences, building trust and emotional connection with your audience.
The Power of Authentic Stories
Documentary-style videos and testimonials work because people trust real experiences over marketing messages. When potential customers see actual clients describing their positive experiences with your Perth business, it carries more weight than any scripted commercial. This is storytelling at its most powerful and persuasive.
Types of Documentary-Style Business Videos
Within this category, you'll find customer testimonials featuring satisfied clients, case study videos documenting specific success stories, brand documentaries exploring your company's history and impact, employee stories highlighting your team members, and cause-related content showcasing your community involvement or values.
The Interview-Based Production Approach
Documentary and testimonial production relies heavily on skilled interviewing. Your production team creates comfortable environments where subjects feel relaxed, and asks questions that elicit genuine responses.
Also, captures authentic emotions and reactions, and builds trust that shows on camera. The best testimonials don't feel rehearsed, they feel like honest conversations.
Balancing Control and Authenticity
Here's the challenge, you want high quality production values. But you also need authentic, unrehearsed moments. Professional documentary video production navigates this balance through careful pre production planning. Additionally, experienced interviewers who guide without scripting, technical excellence that doesn't intimidate subjects, and post production editing that preserves authenticity while maintaining engagement.
Legal and Ethical Considerations
Documentary and testimonial production involves proper release forms, honest representation of facts, sensitive handling of personal information, and ethical storytelling practices. Your video production company should handle all these considerations professionally, protecting both you and your subjects.
Long-Term Value of Testimonial Content
While trends and products change, authentic customer success stories remain valuable. A well-produced testimonial video can serve your marketing efforts for years, appearing on your website, in sales presentations, across social media, and in email campaigns. This makes documentary and testimonial video production one of the highest-ROI investments available.
How These Services Differ in the Production Process
Now that we've explored each service type, let's examine how the production process actually differs across these categories. Understanding these differences helps you set appropriate expectations and choose the right approach.
Pre Production Variations
Corporate videos require extensive stakeholder meetings and brand guideline reviews. Commercial production emphasises creative concept development and casting. Event production focuses on logistics coordination and venue reconnaissance.
Social media production prioritises trend research and content calendars. Documentary work involves subject research and interview preparation. Each demands different pre production investments.
Production Day Differences
The actual filming experience varies dramatically by service type. Corporate shoots often occur in office environments with company employees. Commercial production might involve elaborate sets, professional talent, and complex lighting setups.
Event coverage means adapting to live environments. Social media production often employs smaller crews and faster setups. Documentary work requires patience and flexibility to capture authentic moments.
Post Production Emphasis
Editing approaches differ significantly too.
Corporate videos emphasize professional polish and brand consistency.
Commercials might involve extensive visual effects and sound design.
Event videos require coordinating multiple camera angles and tight deadline turnarounds.
Social media content gets optimized for specific platform requirements.
Documentary production focuses on narrative flow and emotional impact.
Timeline Considerations
How long does each take?
Corporate video production typically runs 4-8 weeks from concept to final product.
Commercial production might extend even longer due to creative development and approvals.
Event coverage happens on specific dates with quick turnaround editing.
Social media production moves fastest, often delivering within days or weeks.
Documentary projects can span months depending on scope and complexity.
Choosing the Right Video Production Company in Perth
With five distinct types of video production services, how do you choose the right video production company for your needs? Here's what to consider when evaluating Perth-based production teams.
Service Specialization
Not every production team excels at every service type. Some companies specialise in corporate video production, others in commercial work, and some focus exclusively on social media content. Review portfolios carefully to ensure they have strong examples of the specific types of videos you need.
Production Team Capabilities
Ask about their production team composition. Do they have in-house directors, camera operators, audio technicians, and editors? Or do they freelance? Neither approach is wrong, but understanding their team structure helps set expectations about consistency and availability.
Local Perth Presence
Working with a Perth-based video production company offers advantages: they understand local business culture, have established relationships with local crew and vendors, know great filming locations around Perth, and can meet face-to-face during planning. These factors often justify choosing local over interstate or international providers.
Technical Capabilities
High quality video production requires professional equipment and technical expertise. Ask about their camera equipment, lighting gear, audio recording capabilities, drone capabilities for aerial shots, and post production software and facilities. You don't need to understand every technical detail, but they should confidently explain their capabilities.
Portfolio and References
Any reputable production company happily shares previous work and client references. Watch their showreel critically. Does the quality match your expectations? Do the types of videos align with your needs? Contact references and ask about communication, reliability, creativity, and professionalism.
Understanding Your Business
The best video production companies invest time understanding your business, audience, objectives, and challenges before proposing solutions. Be wary of companies offering cookie-cutter packages without understanding your unique situation. The production process should feel collaborative, not transactional.
The Production Team Behind Each Service Type
Ever wondered who actually creates these different types of videos? Let's pull back the curtain on the production team roles and how they shift across service types.
Core Production Team Roles
Most professional productions include several key positions:
The producer who manages the project, timeline, and budget.
The director who guides the creative vision.
Camera operators who handle filming
Lighting technicians who ensure proper illumination
Audio engineers who capture clean sound
And editors who craft the final product during post production.
Specialized Roles by Service Type
Corporate video production might add scriptwriters and corporate communications specialists. Commercial production brings in art directors, talent wranglers, and often professional actors.
Event coverage requires technical directors and live streaming specialists. Social media production might emphasize younger creatives who understand platform trends. Documentary work needs skilled interviewers and story editors.
The Value of Experienced Teams
Here's something Perth business owners should understand: the production team's experience dramatically impacts your final product quality. Experienced professionals anticipate problems, work efficiently, navigate challenges smoothly, and deliver reliably.
They might cost more hourly, but they often save money through efficiency and avoiding costly mistakes.
Communication and Collaboration
Your involvement varies by service type, but clear communication with the production team always matters. You might need to be deeply involved during corporate video pre production, provide brief creative direction for commercials, coordinate logistics for events, or simply approve social media content calendars. Clarify these expectations upfront.
Investment and ROI Considerations
Let's talk money. Different types of video production services represent different investment levels, and understanding these financial considerations helps you budget appropriately and measure success.
Investment Ranges by Service Type
While costs vary based on complexity and length, here are general Perth market ranges.
Corporate videos typically start from $3,000-$5,000 for simpler projects, scaling to $15,000+ for comprehensive productions.
Commercial production often ranges $10,000-$50,000+ depending on scale and distribution.
Event coverage might run $2,000-$10,000 based on duration and deliverables.
Social media video production can be very cost-effective, especially when batching multiple videos, ranging $500-$5,000 per video or monthly retainer arrangements.
Documentary projects vary widely based on scope, from $5,000 to $30,000+.
What Drives Production Costs
Several factors impact pricing: pre production complexity and planning time, number of filming days required, production team size and experience, equipment and technical requirements, talent or actor fees, location costs and permits, post production editing complexity, visual effects or animation, music licensing, and revision rounds included.
Calculating ROI
The return on investment differs by service type. Corporate videos might save training costs or improve recruitment. Commercials should generate measurable sales increases or brand awareness.
Event videos extend event value and promote future attendance. Social media content builds ongoing audience engagement. Testimonials improve conversion rates. Define success metrics before production begins.
Long-Term Value Considerations
The best video content provides value for years. High quality corporate videos serve as evergreen marketing assets. Testimonials remain persuasive indefinitely.
Even dated content can be refreshed through re-editing. When evaluating costs, consider the multi-year value your investment will deliver.
Working Within Budget Constraints
Every Perth business has budget limitations. Professional video production companies help you prioritize. Maybe you start with testimonial videos that deliver quick ROI, then invest in comprehensive corporate video production.
Perhaps you commit to consistent social media content before tackling expensive commercial production. The right production team helps you maximize impact within your budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can one video production company handle all five types of video production services?
While some production companies claim to do everything, the reality is more nuanced. Reputable full-service video production companies like S-Productions maintain diverse production teams with varied expertise, allowing them to handle multiple service types professionally.
However, smaller specialised companies might excel at one or two types while outsourcing others. When evaluating providers, review their portfolio across all types of videos you need.
Ask specific questions about their experience with each service type, check references for similar projects, and ensure they have the production team depth to handle your requirements. The best approach is working with a company that's transparent about their strengths and honest about their limitations.
How do I decide which type of video production service my Perth business needs first?
Start by clarifying your immediate business objectives. If you're struggling with sales conversions, testimonial videos or commercials might deliver fastest ROI.
If you need to attract talent, corporate culture videos work wonders. If brand awareness is your goal, social media video production builds ongoing visibility. Consider your budget, social media content offers lower entry costs than commercial production.
Think about longevity, corporate videos and testimonials provide multi-year value. Evaluate your resources, do you have compelling customer stories, upcoming events, or clear product advantages?
The right video production company will help you prioritise based on these factors rather than pushing the most expensive option.
What's the typical timeline from contacting a video production company to receiving the final product?
Timelines vary significantly by service type and project complexity.
For social media video production, you might receive deliverables within 1-2 weeks, especially for straightforward content.
Corporate videos typically require 4-8 weeks from initial consultation through final delivery, accounting for pre production planning, stakeholder approvals, filming, and post production.
Commercial production often extends 6-12 weeks due to creative development, talent casting, complex post production, and approval processes.
Event coverage happens on specific dates but editing might take 1-4 weeks depending on deliverable complexity.
Documentary projects can span several months.
Pro tip: contact production companies well in advance of when you need content, particularly for corporate videos or commercials with specific launch dates.
Should I work with different video production companies for different types of videos or stick with one provider?
Both approaches have merits. Working with a single full-service production company offers several advantages. They understand your brand deeply, maintain consistent quality and style, streamline communication and project management, often provide better pricing for ongoing relationships, and build institutional knowledge about your business.
However, working with specialised providers might deliver superior results for specific types of videos where niche expertise matters. Many Perth businesses find success with a hybrid approach.
Establishing a primary relationship with a versatile video production company like S-Productions for most needs while occasionally bringing in specialists for highly specific projects.
The key is ensuring whoever you work with maintains high quality standards and understands your strategic objectives.
How do I measure whether my investment in video production services is delivering results?
Measuring video ROI depends on the service type and your objectives.
For commercial and social media video production, track direct metrics like views, engagement rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and sales attribution.
For corporate videos, measure recruitment application quality and quantity, training completion rates, or stakeholder feedback.
Event videos can be assessed through attendee surveys, social shares, and future event registration increases.
Testimonial videos should improve website conversion rates and sales cycle length.
Establish baseline metrics before launching video content, then compare performance afterward. Good video production companies help define these success metrics during pre production and may even assist with tracking.
Remember that some video benefits, like brand perception and trust, are harder to quantify but equally valuable. Consider both quantitative data and qualitative feedback when evaluating your video content investment.
Which Type of Video Production Your Business Needs?
Understanding the five main types of video production services: corporate, commercial, event, social media, and documentary/testimonial. Empowers you to make informed decisions about your video content strategy.
Each service type serves distinct purposes, follows different production processes. Involves unique production teams, and delivers different types of value to your business.
The key isn't choosing just one type. It's understanding which types of videos align with your current business objectives and building a video content strategy that leverages the right services at the right times.
Maybe you start with testimonial videos to build trust, expand into social media content for ongoing engagement. Eventually invest in comprehensive corporate video production as your business grows.
What remains constant across all five types is the importance of partnering with experienced professionals who deliver high quality final products. Amateur video might save money upfront, but it often costs more in lost opportunities, poor brand perception, and eventually redoing everything properly.
Ready to explore which video production services make sense for your Perth business?
S-Productions offers expertise across all five types of video production. Bringing together talented production teams who understand both technical excellence and strategic business communication.
Whether you need compelling corporate videos that articulate your value proposition. Or engaging social media content that builds your audience. Do you need powerful testimonials that convert prospects, or professional event coverage that extends your reach? Maybe attention-grabbing commercials that drive sales? We've got you covered!
Our Perth-based team understands the local business landscape and brings fresh creative perspectives to every project. We guide you through the entire production process from initial concept through final delivery. Ensuring your video content doesn't just meet expectations, it exceeds them and delivers measurable results.
Don't let another quarter pass without leveraging professional video content.
Contact SProductions today for a consultation. Let's discuss your business objectives, explore which types of videos will serve you best, and develop a video content strategy that transforms how you connect with your audience. Your competitors are already using video, isn't it time you did it better?
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