Ep 109: Do this on IG to get your content creating connection and conversion

Stop grinding for views that don’t convert. We’re walking you through the real 2026 shift: content that stops chasing virality and starts building belonging.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Why 2026 Content Is Different
• 2:04 From Visibility To Connection
• 3:20 Algorithms Favor Relevance And Identity
• 5:00 The Bridge Question For Brands
• 7:45 Who Should Consider Ads And When
• 9:35 Create A Niche Party For Customers
• 12:05 The Aesthetic Vibe Carousel Exercise
• 16:40 Curating Slides That Spark Emotion

Transcript

Why 2026 Content Is Different

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, welcome to the Alley D show. You guys know I have been on this kick about 2026. Ooh, that kind of rhymed. I've been talking about all the things that I see happening for 2026. And you may have listened to my last episode where I talked about my three predictions, but I want to expand on one of them a little bit. And the one that I want to talk about more with you today is content. And I'm actually going to give you an actionable item that I want you to try today, tomorrow, sometime in the next few days on your Instagram to kind of get used to what this style of content can look like and really just get you in the vibe, the understanding, and like really knowing what the action means when I talk about how content is shifting from the traditional way that we used it. Because, like I said, content has always been really just a way to gain visibility for your business, which was great, right? That's that's the way a lot of us got a lot of eyeballs on our page the past, I don't know, let's say 10 years, right? I've been in the industry for 13 years. Granted, like Instagram has really only been a piece of the puzzle for probably the past eight or nine. That's crazy to say. Like I was in the industry, I think before Instagram even started, or maybe at the very early days. Um, I should scroll back and look at like some of my first posts on Instagram. That would be really funny. But we've seen a lot of shifts and trends. And as someone who is fully immersed and invested in this industry, like from the wholesale, retail, trade show, showroom, brand, brick and mortar side, I have seen multiple shifts happening with content. But this one, this one strikes me as very exciting and very fresh. Because it's not going to be about you just having to follow trends or do trendy things anymore to gain visibility. That's not gonna be the purpose of content anymore. What I believe is the purpose of content is solely going to be about connecting with your audience. And the way that the algorithms have shifted from like, here's something wild you want to see to here's something that exactly speaks to you and where you're at right now in your lifestyle. This is a huge, massive shift and swing in our favor because now we can start to create content that feels more real and aligned for not only you as the business owner, but for your target audience, for your customer as well. And what I believe is this is going to create such a strong, deeper connection between customers and the brands that they love. So much so that you've probably seen this already in 2025. Some brands have already really begun to lean into this. And it's why they're the types that have these consistent drops, these consistent hype events, these things that are just like, man, they are really crushing it. It's because they hopped on this early and they understood that content is now totally different. It's totally different. So it's not just how do I get eyeballs on my page? Like, how do I get as many people to know me as possible? It's simply one direct question, which is how can I be a bridge between my brand and my customers? How can my content be that bridge? How can it bring the two together seamlessly, effortlessly, and organically, right? I still think there's going to be a space for obviously for ads, for people paying to play. That's not going anywhere. But I don't believe that that's how you must play that game in order to be successful. Is it something you can test the waters in once you once you're already at a certain level of income per month in sales? Maybe it's like$10,000 per month,$20,000 per month in sales, and you want to learn how to scale and you want to try ads. That's one thing. But where most of you are at right now is the like zero to 10 to 15k per month in sales zone. So this is going to be a very easy way for you to put into practice what I'm talking about when I talk about content shifts and the specific content shift that we're seeing in real time right now. So here is my fun, actionable item that you want to do. And by the way, I do want to mention this one more thing. When you start creating content from this perspective, it is going to feel way easier for you. It's going to feel so much more natural. It's almost gonna feel like your page is a little party, a little like secret party for you and your customers, because you guys like you get the inside jokes, right? You all like vibe with the same things. These are what the like the brands that are blowing up right now, and the stores and the businesses online, they're creating this like special little invite-only niche of the internet. And this is what's making people feel so connected and obsessed with everything that they sell. That was probably like the most important one minute of real talk I've said in a long time. So re-listen to that because that is going to be the key to everything here moving forward. You have to create this like little niche party for your people. You gotta figure out how to do that. So here's one way that you can start to do this where you can actually like again get into the action of it, brainstorm, feel creative. Do not be serious about this. This is not the time for serious, this is not the time for data, this is not the time for logic. This is the time for emotion. Okay. You guys know I don't like talking about emotion a lot in business, but I need you to get into an emotional state so you can understand how to create connection. Okay. This is like gonna be super fun. So what I want you to do is I want you to create an Instagram carousel. And depending on when you're listening to this podcast, I want you to relate, like an easy thing to do, no matter when you're listening to this, would be just to relate it to the current month that you're in. So for right now, it's December of 2025. I'm talking about the shifts going on for 2026. So let's say if you're gonna create this like in the next couple of weeks, your caption would be something like um 2026 vibes, right? Or January 2026 vibes. Maybe the word vibes isn't right for you, but find out what's what's right for you and your audience. But the caption should just be something like current vibes for February, current vibes for March, current vibes for April, whatever you are at, whatever month it is for you, that's what I want you to do. Okay, it could even be like holiday vibes for current holiday vibes, right? If you're gonna do this like right now, it's December 2025, it's December, like two weeks before Christmas, and you want to do this post, you could just do like holiday vibes 2025, right? Something like that. Now, this carousel, I want you to have like maybe six to seven slides, okay? So six to seven different images slash videos that invoke emotion in your audience, your specific people. If you were having a party and they were all in the room, these are things that they would go, oh, or they would laugh at, or they would like talk quietly to their friend about, or they would go, oh my god, I totally get that, right? Six to seven slides that invoke some kind of reaction or emotion in your audience. So this could be the first slide, could be like, I don't know, I'm gonna kind of I'm gonna think about like what it would be for my audience because I think that would help you figure this out for you. Okay, but just remember each slide is some kind of aesthetic vibe. Okay. Maybe it's for me, maybe it would be like a girl like holding her hat like she's taking a nap, like in a field. Okay. Because my audience is like custom is the customer is cowgirls that really want that like wide open spaces. They want to feel like carefree, they want to feel free-spirited, they want to feel like freedom, they want to feel nature, the grass, the blues, the greens, the very earthy, very um just free-spirited, right? So all of these slides that I would come up with for this specific quote unquote activity for you to get into understanding how to create connecting content would invoke that kind of identity, that kind of lifestyle, what they want out of their life, where they they want to be, right? Like it could be anything that's specific to your audience. Maybe it's like, you know, a picture of like a coffee mug being held out in front of you where there's like a barn behind it. There's uh maybe there the next slide is a funny quote, right? Maybe the next slide is uh a screenshot of a song playing on the truck radio. Maybe the next slide, here's where you could throw in a little product. The next slide is one of my models in a sweatshirt that is like not posy posy, but maybe she's like, you know, driving the truck, right? She's doing something lifestyle related. It's not a product shot, okay? It's everything in this carousel is very curated to specifically speak to their lifestyle, their desires, their wants. The next slide could be maybe it's like an inspirational quote. The next slide could be maybe like a screenshot of somewhere they want to go, you know, like a vacation spot or whatever it is. But the point is for you to have these six to seven images, throw in one or two photos that are lifestyle photos that involve your products just for fun if you want. Um, just a little product awareness, but again, it cannot feel salesy or like a product photo or like a posy picture at all. Okay. Like it cannot, or you will kill the vibes of the party. Do not be the person that walks in the party trying to sell Tupperware. I don't even know if people do that anymore. You know what I'm saying? Do not come in and be like, hey girl, remember me from high school. I started my own, you know, uh hair product business, right? No. We're coming in and we're coming in with vibes. We're coming in ready to like be a part of the scene to create mood and to create vibes, not to create salesy garbage. Okay. This is not the time for selling, this is the time for connecting. And this is a very easy uh exercise for you to try to get into this mood, right? So one way you could do this is go to Pinterest. Search something that you feel like your ideal customers would vibe with, right? Maybe it's like, you know, the hustle and bustle of the city. Maybe it's like the Eiffel Tower of Paris with the glittery lights. Maybe it's a champagne glass, maybe it's a like a toast with friends, like a champagne toast with friends. Maybe it's two girls like hanging out on the beach drinking margaritas. Maybe it's like a a dolphin swimming in the sea, like whatever it is for you and your customer, right? You gotta figure this stuff out. If you don't figure this out, you will get left behind. You will. 2026, the brands that do more, put more effort, get more creative, get more into their customers' heads and lifestyle will be the ones that see success. Everyone else will fall behind. There is too much competition, there is too much noise, and if you're not standing out, you're blending in. I do not want you to blend in next year, okay? This is like your wake-up call, like sound the alarms, pew, pew, pew. This is the time you need to really, really start putting in the freaking effort. If I see you guys just posting product shots all the time in 2026, I'm gonna come over there and I'm gonna go psh give you a little wake up call. You can't do it anymore. Like now more than ever. I was actually talking about this inside my mastermind the other day. And talking about how important it is for everyone in this industry selling physical products to understand this concept. And I was trying to think, I was taking a shower and I was like, okay, what is the easiest way that I can explain this concept that someone could actually implement this and do it right now, where I don't have to be like, you know, in one of my coaching spaces teaching you this. Like I could just teach you a piece of this here on the podcast. How could I do that? And I thought, you know what? This type of like, we'll just call it like the aesthetic vibe carousel is a really good exercise for you. For you. Is your customer gonna like it? Are they gonna share it? Are they gonna feel the vibes? Yes, it always works when it hits. But it's this is more about you understanding how to do this, and then you could put in the reps, right? Like your first one might suck, your second one might get a little better, the third one might have three out of six or seven slides hit, the four one, the by the like by the fifth or sixth time you do this, every slide is going to hit for your party people so hard that they are going to become obsessed with you. And there's multiple different ways that you can do this, but this way I feel like is the easiest best way that you could literally implement. Like if you're listening to this today, when you get in bed tonight, like start scrolling on Pinterest or start Googling stuff, or like start asking yourself, like, what are some of the things? Make a list. Like if you're just if you're driving and you're listening to this, like you could open up your voice, your notes app or your voice notes and voice note into your phone. Do not text and drive, okay? But you could voice note your thoughts into this, like, oh, my ideal customer, like what would they want to be like? What would be their ideal life right now? And let me think of six or seven things. Like maybe they're doing like yoga on the beach, okay. Yeah, that's one. Maybe they're having sushi at like a fancy restaurant at night, okay. That's another one. And then your job is to kind of find images that go with those six or seven points. Do you guys get this? Are you picking up what I'm putting down? If you are, please send me a DM on Instagram and be like, Allie, thank you. I'm gonna try this. And when you try it, will you DM it to me? I would love to see you guys do this in action. And don't be scared to DM it to me. Like, I love when you guys DM me. I love it. Like, I there's nothing more than I love than talking to you guys out there in the retail industry in the trenches and like having convos on the DMs. Like it's my favorite thing. So do not get weirded out or think like, I don't want to bother her. Like, totally bother me. It's not bothering me at all. I love it. It's at Ali.d.ceo. That's my Instagram handle at Ali.d.ceo. It should be linked below the podcast if you can't figure it out or you forget. Um, but that's how you can reach me, shoot me a DM, make the carousel, and then DM it to me and go, Allie, I just did my aesthetics vibe carousel. Here it is. I'm so excited. And like I'm gonna become your biggest cheerleader. Plus, I love following you guys. Like if you're an avid podcast listener and you are a lurker and you just follow me on social media and you've never like talked to me before, said anything, like this is full invitation. Please come into my DMs and introduce yourself because I like to follow you guys. I like to see what you're doing in real life. I don't like to feel like I'm just like talking into the void, just like you guys. Like, this is a community I'm building, right? Like, I want everyone in the retail industry to have a safe space they could come and learn everything that that is cutting edge about the industry that they need to know and develop a business that is fun and fulfilling and makes them a crap ton of money, right? That's we're all doing that here in this space. That's the party that I host here. Okay. So welcome to the freaking party. I'm so glad you're here. But yeah, try out this carousel. Let me know what you think. This is really gonna help you understand again what I mean by your content creating a bridge. Because can't you see how if you post something like that that's about your customer, the people that would actually like your products, right? Because that's the whole point. We we just want to attract them. We don't want to waste so much freaking effort trying to attract everybody. That is so exhausting. We just want to attract the people that we're actually going to convert to customers because we know they're gonna like our products, because they're gonna like the vibe, they're gonna like everything we stand for as a business. So doesn't it sound so much easier to just like make a fun, like scrolling picture album of things that you guys would like? Funny quotes, memes, like places, people, dogs, I don't know, whatever it is for you. That's your job as the creative and as the business owner to figure out. But I'm giving you the outline of what to do so you can understand and be clear on how do you become the bridge. So I'm not just talking a lot of talk to you and you don't understand how to put it in action. Okay, have an incredible day. I'm so excited to see you implement this. Please DM me on Instagram, send me your aesthetic vibes, carousels. I want to see these suckers. 2026 is going to be freaking amazing. And everybody at this party, the LED show party is gonna be so far ahead of everybody else. We're gonna leave them in the dust. No, I'm just kidding. Um, we're gonna just kick butt though. Seriously, I really, really want you guys to be successful. This is my whole thing, and I just cannot wait to continue to give you guys all the wisdom, everything that I've learned over the last 13 years, everything that I'm still doing currently in my business. I still run my multi million dollar companies every single day, and I still like to give you guys the T on exactly how how all that goes down. Have a great day.