Create Original Content with The Small Social Company
We know that creating original content can be a challenge for a lot of businesses. You may have a whole list of great ideas you want to execute, but you’re short on time. Or you might not have any idea where to start. But one thing is for sure - in today’s online space, original content is key for growth and building brand recognition.
Our team LOVES creating original content for our clients. From original photos and videos, to interviews that capture the essence of your brand’s story, working with our clients to create stunning visuals and developing assets to elevate your brand is one of our favourite things to do. We travel across Canada and the USA to capture unique, competitive and stand out content for our clients to support the development of a compelling story that helps them connect with their audience.
The final edited assets from our content productions are used for organic social media, websites, advertising, and much more. We offer a variety of packages to suit the needs of each individual client, including full in-house production and partnering with professional photographers and video editors for larger scale productions.
Does this sound like something that would interest you? Keep reading to learn more about our process.
Pre-Production
When you book a photo or video production with us, it’s so much more than the content day. We have an entire pre-production process that helps not only our team get prepared, but also ensures our clients feel confident about the production.
It starts with brainstorming with our internal team. We gather ideas from our entire team about how best to execute your content day. This includes inspiration for photos, general videos, and reels that could be produced from your content, and more. All of these ideas are filtered through to create a fully developed production brief, schedule, and Pinterest board or inspiration presentation to help bring your brand to life. During this stage, we do a lot of industry and trend research to ensure your final assets are relevant and can be used to produce content that your audience will want to engage with.
After the internal work is done, we book a virtual pre-production meeting with you to share the brief and Pinterest board, gather feedback, and workshop any final ideas or requirements for the day of production.
Our goal is for you to leave this call feeling confident and ready to participate in creating original content for your brand. This is a great time to ask questions, make suggestions, and voice any concerns.
Looking for a unique location? If your storefront or office isn’t fitting the vibe you’re looking for, we’re also happy to recommend the perfect location for your content day in the pre-production phase.
On Production Day
On production day, our team makes sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. That means you show up and we take care of all of the execution and creative direction. You can usually expect 2-3 people from our production crew on-site, depending on your package and the size of your team.
If you selected a package with professional audio and video, we typically start with getting everyone mic’d up and ready to go. Sometimes people can feel awkward on camera, especially when they have to speak. By starting with the video content, we give everyone a chance to warm up, get comfortable, and get the part of the production that most people dread out of the way. It also gives us the opportunity to fine tune messaging and ensure you don’t feel rushed during your talking points.
Feeling a little uncomfortable, even with your prompts prepared? Our production team will work with you to turn your interviews into a conversation so they feel more natural. We always do our best to keep the energy light and fun - that’s how we get the best video content every time.
Once videos are complete, we move on to photography. By this point, the team is usually warmed up and feeling less stiff. We’ll start with group photos first, followed by individual headshots, before wrapping up with different team groupings, action shots, and product photography. The pre-production Pinterest board or inspo deck comes in handy here, and allows us to make the most of our time together to capture the essence of your brand and team. If you come to the production day with a few new ideas, we’re always happy to incorporate them.
When you work with us for content production, we do our best to keep everything flexible, fun, and stress-free. Because when you feel good on camera, the final results are incredible.
Next Steps
After the content production wraps up, that’s when we work our magic to deliver your final assets.
We’re usually on set with anywhere from 3 to 5 devices. That means we have a lot of files to offload and sort through at the end of a production day, especially if you and your team are really into it. We upload all photos and videos to a shared drive, and collaboratively work through the content to make the selections that are going to help you achieve your goals.
After that, it’s straight to editing. Depending on your package and the scale of delivery, photos will either be edited with light retouching in-house, or receive a full professional edit from our third party photographer. We’ll also work on cutting down nested videos, creating a few final reels, and editing interviews.
Once the edits are complete, we package up the final assets and deliver them for you to review with your team. We then incorporate your new photos and videos into organic and paid social media channels that are sure to resonate with your audience and tell your story.
Remember: the package you receive is only a small part of what we can do with the assets captured at your production. With a full library of edited assets, plus the raw images and videos, we can create content for your digital channels months.
Our Content Creation Must-Haves
Every production crew has their favourite tools. We have a full line up of products we use to capture incredible assets for our clients. Our must-haves include:
Cameras
- Sony ZV E1 Vlog Camera
- Sony ZV E10 Vlog Camera
- This is similar to the Sony ZV E1, but the kit includes the additional mountable lens
- Canon PowerShot G7 Mark 3
Microphone
- DJI Mic 2
- We love this mic set. It’s incredible for filming outdoors and reducing background noise to capture crisp, clean audio.
Accessories
- Smartphone Light + Stablizer
- DJI Gimbal
- Both of these products are amazing for keeping your videos stable on the move, without the need for bulky equipment.
Get Ready to Stand Out
With updates to social media algorithms prioritizing original content, especially on platforms like Instagram, having customized assets is essential to helping your brand stand out online. The analytics don’t lie. We’ve seen firsthand how beneficial custom content is for our clients. It tells a story, improves brand recognition, and helps people relate to your brand personality. Whether you’re in a product or service-based industry, having authentic content allows you to build trust with your audience and create meaningful relationships, not simply transactional ones.
If this sounds like something that’s missing from your online strategy, reach out to us at
hello@thesmallsocial.com to book a discovery call. Whether you’re looking for a small branding photoshoot, or a larger scale video production, we offer customizable packages that fit your unique needs and objectives.
