With the world of social media being so fast-paced, it can feel like you’re constantly chasing your tail, trying to keep up with creating high-quality, engaging content to keep your followers entertained. But, shooting social media content isn’t as intimidating as you may think.
So, with our work with our social media clients, we’ve figured out a few ways we can “life hack” social media content creation, to make it easier, quicker, and prepped in advance so we can have a breather every now and then!
Tip One: Get the right equipment
Sounds expensive right? And it can be. The pros have thousands of pounds worth of equipment they’ve invested in over their careers, which is what makes them the pros. But if you’re like us, you don’t have the budget for that. And that’s OK. Thankfully, there are some cheap solutions to this now that can give you the quality effect without the cost!
Firstly, the key things you’ll need for shooting social media content:
- A phone with a high-quality camera. Most smartphones these days have such incredible cameras you probably won’t need more than this.
- A tripod where you can hold your phone. This stabilises the phone (increases the quality), keeps it in the same spot (which you’ll need if you’re shooting things like TikTok transitions) and leaves you hands-free to run around sorting out everything else!
- A ring light or two. This will make your content far better quality and counteract any weird-coloured lighting. Normally, these come with a tripod attached and can be found on Amazon for really cheap. They’re also super fun to use and make you feel like Molly-Mae for the day.
Tip Two: Plan, Plan Plan!
This one comes in stages, as there’s a few things you’ll need to consider:
- What are you hoping to achieve? What’s the messaging behind the content you’re creating and how does this fit with your brand?
- What are you aiming for? Do you have examples from content creators that inspire you that you can use as reference points? Put this all together and have this on hand when you’re shooting so you know what you’re hoping to achieve.
- Where do you want to shoot this content and why? Is there anything you need to order in advance to make the backdrop for your shoot exactly how you want it? If it’s a public space, are you allowed to shoot there?
There are so many things to consider, but the more detail you put into the planning stage the easier it will be. If you’ve planned properly you can get up to a couple of months of content created and ready to use within a few hours.
Tip Three: Keep It High Quality
Finally, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s not very nice looking at grainy, low-resolution imagery or video. So make sure anything you’re shooting is as high-resolution as possible (ideally 4k, but 1080p is good too). You can change the camera setting on your phone, if that’s what you’re using, to make sure you’re using the maximum resolution. Do this on iPhone by:
- Open settings
- Scroll down to Camera
- Under “Record Video” you can change the quality settings. Set this to 4k.
Plus, remember, that different platforms have different aspect ratios. For reels and TikTok, you’ll want portrait. Whereas, If you’re shooting for YouTube or Facebook, landscape is best.
Now get creative! Think outside the box, plan some weird and wonderful content ideas, and set to shooting them using the social media tips above. We can’t wait to see your marvellous creations!
