As for cameras, it depends on how sophisticated you want your videos to be. If you are looking for Fortune 500 quality on everything then you’ll have to spend thousands of dollars on cameras, tripods, lighting, etc. But most small businesses don’t need that. Some of the most successful videos are done with a simple camcorder in the $300-$500 range. Chances are, you’ve already got everything you need. The same camera you use to make your home videos can be used for your video marketing campaigns.

A marketing video can be as simple as you sitting in front of your computer and talking into the camera as if you were talking to a friend. You can also do screen capture and record all the mouse clicks you make on your computer and voice over as you talk people through a presentation (great for webinars). Or, you can get more creative and include animation, graphic design elements, and lighting for dramatic effect, but that’s much more expensive.

The first step is to define what you want your video marketing to do. Are you trying to drive traffic to your website, brand your company, or create top-of-mind awareness? After you know what you want to do then you can more easily define what you need to do it.