Your Creative Calendar: When to Shoot Holiday Content
It’s no surprise that content creators need seasonal video and imagery. Seasonal content has a high demand because it is essential for content marketing, blog posts, emails, websites, and social. To maximize earnings from your seasonal content, make sure your best work is shot well in advance and uploaded, tagged, and submitted for review.
Some buyers produce content quickly, churning out deliverables in a day or two. But other projects, like larger productions, are shot months in advance! Start producing with ample lead time to make sure your content is in front of purchasers’ eyes during seasonal periods, holidays, and heavy purchasing times. The fall and holiday season may seem far away, but right now is the time to start planning! Here are a few tips to ensure that your content is ready in time.
Creating seasonal and holiday content
Some contributors shoot on the go and continuously upload content. Some carefully prepare and produce shoots, then upload to stock agencies in batches. Whatever your process, it’s best to plan for what you will be shooting—both short-term to fill content gaps, and long-term to prepare for the months that generate the most earnings. This means that summer is the time to start shooting or assessing your portfolio for seasonal imagery like back-to-school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s.
Think of your portfolio as a living body of work that is constantly growing and adapting. Preparing to shoot content 3-4 months before a buyer might need it will help ensure the content is indexed in search and in front of your target audience.
Take a hard look at your portfolio. Is the content still relevant to buyers? Is it still on trend? If you have any “Happy New Year 2015” content it might be time to let it go.
Leave time for tagging and review
Editing, clipping, and tagging all take a lot of time. If you shoot content in batches and then move it into post and tagging, make sure that your seasonal assets go through the review process several months prior to the season or event. Accounting for review times will ensure that your best work is published when buyers begin to search for seasonal trends.
Review times vary depending on how many contributors are uploading content. While Storyblocks is continuously working to cut review times, it’s good to plan for your content to be reviewed within several weeks to a month.
Preparing for the highest purchasing months
We typically see an increase in download activity in the fall, beginning in September through early December. This means that you should dedicate time in the summer to tagging and submitting your work so it will be ready for the end-of-year demand. Refer to the infographic below to start preparing for the highest purchasing months.
Stay up-to-date on trends and needs
Focus on specificity and quality, not just volume. If you’re trying to decide what to shoot, start by checking out our weekly data emails with content needs and gaps. You can also search for keywords on our site to find content opportunities.
As we approach the fall and the holiday season, take a look at what sold from your portfolio in September through December of last year. It could be time to refresh your portfolio to meet current trends! We’re seeing authentic seasonal content coming out on top, as buyers look for content that reflects the diverse world we live in.
Does your seasonal content convey emotion and inspire? Start planning now to give your content the best chance of succeeding in the busy end-of-year season.
