How to Plan the Perfect Shot List for Your Social Media Content
We all know the importance of marketing our brand on social media, right? But most social media platforms are image-driven and that can pose a lot of difficulties to the average small business owner. That means you need good image content to post on Instagram regularly! Which is where I come in. As a brand photographer, this is what I do. I create images for small businesses to market themselves on platforms like Instagram. (If you’re saying, “yes, Effie, that’s why I’m here!” You may want to click over to my inquiry page and schedule your photoshoot next.)
So you’re a small business and you know you need images to post to social media so that you can look professional as you promote your brand. You’ve got a photoshoot on the books but now comes the intimidating part: planning out what content you actually need to get out of the shoot. (P. S. a good brand photographer should help you with this step…but there is still some work you have to put in on your own. Keep reading…)
Today I have 5 steps for you to follow to take the stress and intimidation out of planning the perfect shot list for your brand photoshoot. Take these steps and you’ll be well on your way to having the social media content you need for months to come.
Vision Casting:
The first thing you need to do is think through the big picture. Where do you see your brand in 6 months? A year? What are the big goals that you are working towards? Write these down and keep them top of mind as it will influence what type of content you need to have.
The Plan:
The next step is to think through how you are going to get your business to that vision. How do you need to portray your brand? What launches are you preparing your audience for? What promotions will you run? You need to map it all out before you will know what images you need.
Personalize it:
Now that you’ve got the big stuff mapped out, let’s think through how you can personalize your brand. You don’t want to just push sales, you also want to show up and show your audience that your brand has real humans behind it! What images will help you tell the story of the humans behind your brand? Behind the scenes shots? Lifestyle photos? Headshots of you (and your employees if you have any)?
All the little details:
Next, think through what else you regularly talk about on social media. Do you feature blog posts a lot? Do you like to show a little bit of your personal life? Do you have a love for cocktails? This is really just a facet of personalizing your brand, but it takes it a step further from step 3. Think of this step as the extra details that will help pull everything together.
Longevity:
Lastly, think about how long you want these images to last you. Do you plan to use them for a quarter and get updated photos next season, or do you want them to last a whole year? This will change how you think about your wardrobe, props, and location. The more you can think ahead, the longer your images will feel fresh for, because you will be able to plan more unique scenes to shoot.
The basic idea here is to map out your social media content, including the big stuff like launches and promotions, and the “filler” content that builds brand personality and trust with your audience. Once you have a roadmap for your content you will easily be able to fill in the blanks of your shot list.
And like I said above, if you hire a good brand photographer, (*ahem* me?) they will walk you through this entire process to make sure you get the content you need to successfully market your brand on social media!
Helpful links to visit next:
To book a brand photoshoot click here.
To grab my FREE Content Calendar for Social Media planning click here.
