Five Habits for Better Content

When it comes to content creation, it’s all about the little details that can elevate just good into great content! Here are five habits you should practice to make sure you’re always producing the very best content you can.

1. Always Plan Ahead

An engineer doesn’t show up to a site without blueprints, and a social media manager shouldn’t show up to a content shoot without at least a rough idea of what they will be creating. Take the time to think through what you want to show in the content you’re working on, and how it will look when it’s completed. From there you should create a shot list so you can efficiently create exactly what you need. 

2. Clean Your Camera Lens!

No matter if you’re working with a professional camera, GoPro, or your cell phone, always make sure your lens is clean. Light streaking from grease or lint spots in your videos and pictures looks unprofessional. If my phone lens looks a little grimy, I’ll just use my shirt to give it a quick wipe. Even if you can’t fully get the lens clean, wiping in a circular motion instead of side-to-side will prevent light streaks from showing up in your content. 

3. Double-check your subject and background

Is the person you’re interviewing wearing super cute Christmas tree earrings, but you won’t be posting the content until January? Is there trash or other messy-looking clutter in the background? Take a moment to make sure the space you are using is tidy and will stay evergreen if it’s not seasonal content. This includes wiping down surfaces, swapping out products that have fingerprints or dings, and wiping stray sauce off a plate. You want your content to show the absolute best side of your client. 

4. Check Your Exposure Settings

Every phone or camera will be different, but increasing or decreasing the exposure settings can make a huge difference in the visual quality of your content. This is especially true for videos. The standard video setting tends to be very washed out and flat if you’re filming high-contrast lights and shadows. Try experimenting while capturing content to see if a higher or lower exposure setting yields better results.

5. Review & Rough Draft Content Before Leaving a Shoot

It really sucks to get back home from a content shoot and realize one more clip could have made a reel better, or a picture you took had some guy making a weird face in the background. Before you leave, at least scan through your captured content to make sure everything looks high-quality with no important shots ruined. If I’m working on specific posts and not just generally capturing content to use later, I also like to make a quick rough draft of a reel to make sure I got everything. Sometimes one more shot of a bartender shaking a drink or pan of a storefront can significantly improve a reel. 

Next time you’re planning a content shoot make sure to implement these habits to increase the quality of photos and videos!

To make sure your next content shoot is a productive one, check out our Brand Photoshoot Planner!