Content Creation Equipment Guide: what does a small business really need for their social media marketing?
- Olivia Molton
- Mar 15
- 9 min read
I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how important social media is for your marketing strategy, but what exactly do you need to do it? You can spend hours doing small business content creation and feel like everything you've made is awful! Today we’ll look at the fundamental equipment needed for social media marketing in order to get you making quality content that’s as good as your products or services! This is especially helpful if you’re still in the startup stage of your business and need to plan your budget. We’ll look at how to learn content creation techniques, set and props, filming equipment and editing apps. This article won’t mention any AI tools as I personally don’t use them.
Before we start, I need to say that I’m not affiliated with, nor have been sponsored by any of the companies I mention in this article. In fact, I’m going to avoid giving specific product recommendations where possible, as I believe that it’s better for you to do your own research and take your own situation into account when investing in equipment, for social media or otherwise. Following on from that, I wouldn’t recommend splurging on a high end version of a product right away, nor do I think that just getting a cheap version is the best way to go either. I suggest that you try just filming with the bare minimum and build your kit over time. This way, it’s less of a financial burden and you can learn at your own pace! Now, let’s actually get into the list, in no particular order.
Free Learning Resources
Before you buy the first course you come across, I’d recommend taking the time to use as many free resources as possible! There are a number of channels that give a wealth of info on all parts of content creation! Youtube is still there best place for information, whether that’s it’s social media strategy or how to use equipment, you can pretty much find a tutorial for anything on there! Other than that, TikTok’s search feature is another great resource for shorter tutorials and quick tips that can really level-up the quality of your content.
Just made sure that you actually practise any new skills you learn about!
Backdrops and Sets
One of the most important things I recommend getting is some kind of background to shoot in. You’ll probably be making content that involves talking to the camera, as well as showcasing products, so you want to think about having a set that you can easily film in. This can be a corner of your house or shop, or a literal backdrop. There are pros and cons of both, which will depend on your branding and how you want to come across. For videos where you’re talking on-camera, having a real background can be more authentic because it’s more casual. However, if you want to go the backdrop route exclusively, I recommend some kind of sheet in a plain or subtle fabric.
When choosing the material for product shots, think about what colour palette your products have and make sure they contrast with them enough. If you plan on removing the background your pictures I recommend this even more your pictures, as it makes editing far easier! Trust me, there’s nothing worse than trying to remove a busy background from an item that’s already patterned! Just make sure you have an iron or steamer to hand as creases in the fabric easily cheapen any content you take.
Top tip: Sew a piece of dark and light fabric together so you always have the option to have a dark or light background.
It’s also worth thinking about the floor for the same reason as above, using some carpet or flooring offcuts. Later down the line you may choose to invest in a photo box, which essentially gives you a portable mini studio. It’s far easier but they can get pretty pricey if you want one that’s a decent size.
Lighting
Something every beginner content creation kit needs is lighting! This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, a lamp you already have will do! Especially when candid content is preferred in stories and platforms like TikTok, you can get away with having an “unprofessional” background that’s just your bedroom or warehouse. But, if the lighting is bad, no matter how beautiful your backdrop is or your products are, it instantly makes it less pleasant to watch. My personal recommendation is getting at least a clip-on ring light, but preferably a plug-in light stand too. Wired lights are better if you almost exclusively film indoors and for long periods of time as they don’t run out of battery. However, clip-on and wireless lights are better if you film on-the-go or make a lot of content that involves moving around. When buying lights, you want one that has different brightness and warmth settings at the very least, the other features are just a bonus.
When you search for lights for content creation, you’ll typically see people using two main types: a ring-light and a soft box. Ring-lights are very common with beauty creators and livestreams for their bright and even layer of light. You’ll probably want a ring light if you often film in places without a sufficient light source, film things that won’t produce glare, or you’ll be on-the-go a lot.
A soft box on the other hand is found in pretty much all content creator studios due to its versatility. It produces a much softer light that allows the natural shadows of an object or person to appear on camera. The main downside is that they’re not very portable and are better kept in dedicated filming spaces.
Gimbals vs Tripods
Ever wondered how people get such smooth shots? Tripods and gimbals are the key to getting steady videos and clear photos. Once again, the type of tripod you need depends on what you’re filming. You can get a fairly good standard one for £20 and under, with specialty models that film overhead, attach to your body etc. You can make a DIY tripod by propping up your phone against anything that’ll keep it in place, but a tripod means you can adjust the angle or height, while keeping the phone in the same spot. I especially recommend them if you shoot mostly stationary, but they’re honestly a staple in most filming kits.
Gimbals are similar; they keep your phone steady like tripods, the key difference being their ability to adjust to your movement as it’s happening. Because I do a lot of panning and videos while walking, I invested in a gimbal to help keep the camera steady. They’re vital for creating professional-looking shots that rely on getting smooth moment. A gimbal is definitely something that’s worth investing more in though, a good one will have different modes and a mini built-in tripod that just make shooting far easier.
Microphones
Having good audio is arguably the most important aspect of good content, perhaps even more than good lighting. Especially if you’re gravitating towards long-form content or doing a lot of voiceovers, having a good source of audio is vital. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a microphone, it can simply be you just sitting in a quiet room and speaking into the mic already in your phone.
Despite that, there might be times when you’re going to want to film outside, capture sounds more closely, or just want the flexibility of being able to film from far away and not rely on being close to your phone’s mic. In this case, you’ll need some kind of external microphone. For social media, the versatility of a wireless mic is your best bet, so you can film in the moment as well as after events. When looking for a mic, make sure you read (unsponsored) reviews and consider getting that has both a transmitter and a receiver. A transmitter is the thing that you see people speak into (the actual mic), while a receiver is what you plug into your phone to pick up the sound. There are plenty of mics that just require the receiver to work, but the sound is limited to the strength of the bluetooth connection. Adding in a transmitter makes the connection more stable and (generally) allows for better audio quality. Luckily, whichever type you chose, you can get a quality one for a good price nowadays, given the rise of vlogging and content creation in the past 10 years.
Content Trackers
One of the best social media marketing tools for small businesses is undeniably some kind of tracker. Whether it’s Google Sheets, Excel, Apple Numbers or Notion, you’ll find yourself getting overwhelmed early on if you don’t keep a track of your ideas and when you plan to post everything. It doesn’t have to be some elaborate system, just something that makes sense to you and allows you easily update it. If you want a simple and free option, Sheets is fantastic because if how easy it is to use and how it syncs across devises. A lot of content creators will also use Notion. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re new to it (there’s definitely a learning curve) but if you’re familiar with it already then it’s worth a shot.
Scheduling apps are another part of this, they enable you to post across multiple platforms more easily. I personally don’t use any scheduling apps, because there’s been debate in the past on whether using third-party apps can make platforms suppress your content, so I’d rather not risk it.
Editing Apps
Editing your footage together can be one of the most time-consuming yet rewarding parts of content creation. I’ll start with photo editing first and then move onto video.
Photo editing helps elevate your content in so many ways when you know how to do it. Ideally, you’ll already have a basic understanding of photography if you’ve been making the most of YouTube but even if you haven’t, there are a lot of apps out there to choose from. My personal choice is Affinity Photo because it’s professional yet doesn’t have a recurring subscription. However, you also shouldn’t underestimate what your phone and social media have built-in. You can choose from a variety of filters, effects and stickers that make your content instantly more interesting. Having said that, I feel that it’s important to mention that if you apply heavy colour filters that you make it clear to the customer what your products or service space actually look like in-person. Especially when it comes to product photos, try to use as little editing as possible to avoid unintentionally deceiving people.
Top Tip: make things as easy for yourself and think ahead of time how you’re going to edit things together and save yourself the trouble of having to re-shoot.
Following on from that, we have TikTok to thank for how easy it is to edit short-form videos now. I pretty much exclusively used TikTok’s in-app editor to make all my content for a long time because of how easy it is to use and all the effects on offer. Instagram released their own editor called Edits fairly recently, but if I’m honest I don’t find it as good as TikTok’s version. Another plus when using in-app editors is the easy access to music and original sounds that you can put over your videos. A lot of people use CapCut because they make it easy to follow trends, but a lot of it is behind a paywall. At the start of 2026 I decided to give Capcut another go, which ended in me purchasing the Pro plan for all the features.
Speaking of paywalls, when you’ve gotten used to editing on simpler apps, you might want to upgrade to DaVinci Resolve. It operates as a freemium model but even the free version gives you a massive amount to work with! Especially if you’re looking to go into long-form content, software like that is invaluable.
Graphic Design Apps
There are a lot of apps that you can use to make graphics, the most common being Canva. Canva is great for templates, you can find a wealth of free templates, elements and fonts. Just be weary of the usage, as social media marketing counts as commercial use in most cases, so using templates can still be a bit of a grey area.
Speaking of Canva, they’ve since acquired Serif, the company that created Affinity Photo (and their other programs) and now offer a standalone software for free! I personally haven’t used it as I’m okay with using the programs I already have, but I’ve heard some good things about it! If you’re anti-ai though I’m not 100% sure on the usage of that, but it’s still worth looking into.
So, that’s a rundown on equipment and apps that you need to consider when making social media content for your business! There’s so much information out there that it can be difficult to get accessible advice for beginners and people who aren’t tech-savvy. I also made a conscious effort to not recommend any specific products, so you know that it’s my unsponsored and unbiased opinion, from someone who was once in the same position as you! And if you enjoyed this article, you'll love my other social media.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment! Or, if this all sounds like too much hassle, you can check out my social media management packages and commission services:
Comments