Content strategy / 2 min read
How to plan one shoot for your website and social media
Getting more from one shoot starts before the camera arrives. A website film and a short vertical clip ask different things of the footage. Plan both upfront instead of assuming a finished horizontal film can simply be cropped into every format.
Give each version a purpose
Start with a main message for the website: who you help, what you do, and why your approach matters. Then identify smaller questions that could stand alone on social media. For a contractor, those might be how a project begins, what clients need to prepare, or how a particular detail is handled.
Do not promise yourself a fixed number of clips before checking the subject matter and schedule. Ten useful answers require more than ten cuts from the same sentence. Prioritise distinct ideas over a large delivery count.
Build a deliverables map
List each intended asset, its audience, placement, and next step. This helps the crew plan framing and the editor understand what each piece must communicate.
- Website overview: introduce the business and invite an inquiry
- Service explanation: answer one prospective client question
- Project story: show a challenge, process, and finished work
- Short social edit: communicate one clear idea with captions
- Optional background loop: visual atmosphere without essential spoken information
Capture for the frame, not just the crop
Wide and vertical layouts leave different space around a subject. Discuss both with your production team so important action, faces, and text remain usable. Some scenes will benefit from a second composition rather than a forced crop.
For interviews, ask people to answer in complete thoughts. A reply like ‘about three weeks’ needs the original question to make sense; a self-contained explanation is easier to use in a short edit. Leave room in the schedule for pickups and alternate openings.
Plan the rollout before delivery
Decide who will upload the files, approve captions, and place the website film. Organise final versions by purpose and format. A library of labelled assets is easier to use than a folder full of nearly identical exports. Revisit what prospects ask after launch, and use those questions to shape the next shoot.
The takeaway
A multi-use shoot needs a multi-use plan—not just more exports at the end.
Put it into practice
YOUR STORY.
OUR NEXT PROJECT.
Share the channels you want to create for. We can help plan a shoot around the content you will actually use.
Discuss your project ↗