Start a Signature Series That People Keep Coming Back For

Consider this your sign to start your own signature series that keeps your audience coming back for more. In this episode, we are going all in on how to start a signature series that makes your brand instantly recognizable and keeps followers coming back again and again. I’m using real-life examples to explore how creators are leveraging this type of content to grow their follower base and convert new visitors into loyal fans.

In this episode we’ll be covering:

• Why this type of content helps grow your account with loyal fans.
• Familiar content and why we love it so much!
• Creating brand familiarity so you are instantly recognizable.
• How to create bingeable content and get more followers.
• Using different content styles to create content.

Other episodes you might have missed:

Episode 025: Why You Want to Use the New Instagram Features
Episode 018: ​​The 4 H’s Are the Only Content Pillars You Need for Reels
Episode 008: Creating Content That Starts a Conversation
Episode 007: Relatability in Everyday Content with Instagram Stories and Reels

Links + Resources: 

Starting a signature series

"My Favorite Places in Asheville” Part One

Join me in the Reels Lab!

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Transcript

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:05]:
I am your host, Shannon McKinstrie. Welcome to Good Content, the podcast where I remove the never ending content creation guesswork and overwhelm so that you can actually enjoy being on social media again and growing your business with what has always worked. Good content. You've seen them, you've saved them, you've probably hit follow on people's accounts that do them, and it's called a signature series. And the successful ones go nuts on Instagram, TikTok. And I mentioned Instagram and TikTok, especially because these series tend to be short form video. So probably YouTube shorts.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:45]:
So right now, like, what I see doing really well for TikTok and for Instagram, when it comes to short form video, especially, are series. Now, the most successful ones, as you could assume, are the ones that get people to come back, because here's what happens, right? We're also focused on going viral and getting all these views, but doesn't matter if people don't come back to our account again and again. So I was actually telling my husband my analogy for this, because he's a big Taco Bell guy. I love me some taco Bell, obviously, but he's like a big Baja Blast guy. And if, you know, Baja Blast was like a signature drink that I think you could only get at Taco Bell for a long time. So I asked him, I was like, is this gonna be a good analogy for the podcast? And he's like, you can actually get Baja Blast other places now. I'm like, you would know that. So it was just funny.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:30]:
But you had to go to Taco Bell to get a Baja Blast. So if you like Baja Blast, guess what? You're going back to Taco Bell consistently, right? So, like, Taco Bell has their Baja Blast. I know it's now other places, but let's pretend it's not. You need something on your account that is unique to you that they can only get from your account, and that is what a signature series does. So I actually just did a reel on this today. So by the time this podcast is out, you've probably seen it. If you follow me on Instagram, hopefully, you've seen it. If nothing, let's just, since it's fresh in my mind, let's just go deeper into it, and I'll find some for you.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:03]:
So, literally, the reason this is so, such a great way to grow and considered such good content is because a few things. Number one, when we open these apps, I've mentioned this in last week's podcast, we're not here to get uncomfortable or see anything unfamiliar that we're not comfortable with. Like, we want familiarity. We want something that is comforting, feels familiar to us. So years ago, it was like everyone had to keep their content fresh and not repeat themselves too much. Right? That's because we were following less people. That's because I would actually remember someone's content from the last week. Nowadays, we might.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:37]:
Like I might remember someone's content, obviously, if it made me laugh and I share it with people, but we're just consuming a lot, so you got to keep that in mind. So what's so brilliant about series? It creates that familiarity with your brand if you are on TikTok. And actually, she's on Instagram big time, too. So let's find her on Instagram. Okay. Her Instagram handle is smaller, underscore Sam dot PCOs. She's also huge on TikTok on Instagram. She's got 765,000 followers on TikTok.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:06]:
Let's take a look. Drumroll, please. She is at 1.4 million followers. She is 200 pounds down. She talks about it a lot. Her series, if you will. I don't even know if she actually calls hers a series, but it's basically to tell you that, like, before I even fill my entire screen with her reel as I'm scrolling, or her TikTok as I'm scrolling, I already know it's her. I am familiar with her style, her car, her intros.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:33]:
They all look the same. And I think so many people get stuck, like, oh, let me try a new thing. And of course, I am always going to tell you to try test, tweak. Try test, tweak. Right? My reach was starting to go down with a series that I had started doing for a while. My series was called what the heck should I post on Instagram today? And I had a part one, a part two, a part three, a part four. Right? So someone is scrolling Instagram and sees me in their reels tab, and it says part eight and they like it. Guess what they're going to do? They're going to go to my account and they're going to find all other seven videos and probably follow me.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:08]:
These led to a lot of follows every time I did this. Right? I've had several series I've done, and once they kind of either I get bored of them, or I can tell maybe just I need to tweak something, I'll stop. But even though, again, this creator, smaller Sam, doesn't necessarily call them series, when you watch her videos, they start the same, they look the same. That's typically what a series is going to do. The hook is going to grab you so that, you know, their page shares a lot of this type of content on this particular topic, and you're going to actually become familiar with their face, their voice, wherever they shoot said series. Now, not that you have to do the series in every single place, but as I'm saying this, the reason I'm explaining this is because I know you've seen these, I know you've saved them, I know you've engaged with them, I know you've follow people who do really, really good series. So just so you know what they look like. Okay.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:56]:
But why I wanted to bring up Sam was, again, because so many of her videos look very similar. And even though she has a few different styles, we all overthink it. I think we all think every single reel and carousel and everything has to look so different. It doesn't. So I just want to start there. And I think that's why a lot of people overthink their series. They're like, well, like with mine, I started it out.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:15]:
The same hook, same style, same duration, everything. Okay, so that's. That's fine. I. But there's also no one way to do this, so don't overthink it. So, when it comes to series, right, we all know the b roll with text works great. We all know talk to camera works great. We all know, especially right now, carousels, built in Instagram are doing great.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:31]:
So here's one thing, quick before we go in, I typically start my series. I have a hook that I call it something, and then I will put part one, part two, part three on every single one. Or you can say episode one, two, three. Right? So, for instance, this creator is. And of course, it's someone local to me, because that's how the algorithm loves to do things. Brooke, I'm going to mess her name up. I hate messing people's name up. VeStrand

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:54]:
It will be in our show notes. I'm going to save it. And guess what it says. So genius. She just started a series. This is her first one. It says, my favorite places in Asheville, North Carolina, part one. So now I already know she's going to share a bunch of stuff.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:09]:
So if I'm going to Asheville soon, or if I live in Asheville, I'm going to save it. And guess what I'm probably going to do? Follow her. Because I'm going to want to see more. It just, it does something to us knowing what to expect from an account. And then we're gonna get more. So we want to see. So that's one example. Now here's another.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:23]:
135,000 likes loaded burger, sweet potato. And then, so that's the name of the recipe. And underneath sheet pan series, episode one. So now I will go to Haley's Instagram and see that. Oh, yeah, she just started a new series too. So now I know if I follow Haley, I can expect to see more sheet pan meals. And as I can see, she's a busy mom and I'm like, well, relatable. She's going to share content with me that's going to help me in my life.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:47]:
So I'm going to save this so that it will be in the show notes as well. So again, what can your series be? Right? Like we already said, if you're a hyper local business, your local blogger, real estate agent, et cetera, great thing to do is your favorite places to go in blank episode one, you know, if you consider it more of like a longer form and it's more fun to call them episodes. Or you can do part one, part two, part three. I've seen accounts that have like part 47, part 106, and I'm like, dang, again, we want to know what's in it for us if we follow you. So a series like that can be really successful for converting new visitors to actual followers. Something for me as a marketer, I could do a day one, day two, day three if I want to do like ten in a row of saying, day one of sharing secret of hooks that made my clients go viral. Day three of sharing the hook that made my client go viral. I could do that for people in corporate America.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:36]:
You could do a whole series of things in our law office that just makes sense. Episode one or part one. There's so many things. But here's why I love these series so much for you. Because I know you are not just a content creator. Most of you, I believe 97% of people listening to this are not full time content creators. Meaning you're not just working to create content that gets brand deals, right? You're like, I actually have clients I support and a product. So you gotta pack and send things like that, right? Big difference.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:04]:
So with you guys, you really are like, no, Shannon, I don't have time for this. I don't have time to edit. I don't have time to think of ideas, right? This is already in your lifestyle. So, for instance, if you're again, a local blogger. You go to brunch every Sunday, then do a series on my favorite brunch spots or rating my favorite brunch spots. My favorite brunch spots in blank. You're already doing it. Why not create that content for beauty and fashion, right.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:28]:
It's obviously fall. You could even say your people, you know, are baddies on a budget. Right. You can say recreating free people outfits and, like, it shows the free people outfit with clothes from old Navy. Right. And this is the cool thing about series two. You don't have to talk through it if you want to. If you want to do a voiceover, you want to talk to the camera, by all means.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:48]:
It can also be a trending audio. So the style, the opportunities are absolutely endless. I think the best thing to do, if you're stuck on what to create, go to TikTok, maybe type in your niche, and then series. Actually, you know what? I'm going to do that right now and see what pops up. So I know that, like, that's a good thing for you guys to do. Let me do coffee shop series. Just coffee shop series. Again, I'm only using TikTok because it's easier to find things on there actively.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:12]:
Here we go. Coffee shop series, part two. This girl says, my favorite hobby. So she's finding amazing coffee shops. So she's a local blogger. Let me find some that have gotten a lot of engagement. All right, I'll just tell you because I'm having trouble finding it. But actually, here's a good one.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:27]:
Most aesthetic coffee shops in blank. Part one, part two, part three. If you own a coffee shop, a boutique, brick and mortar, what our employees order, part one, what our employees are wearing, part 65, episode whatever. What our employee Miranda, would wear to a fall wedding, or what our employees are wearing. Part one or episode one, Emily goes to a wedding. Part two, Danielle goes to the pumpkin patch. Right? There's so many things, like, I know it feels like a lot to try to be creative when you have to do all these other things. So, again, think of something in your lifestyle that you're already helping people do or that you already do in your life, that you create a series and do one a week.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:08]:
You can do more. You can also do the day one, day two, day three route. But I'm telling you, it's gonna make life so much easier. Cause you already know one piece of content that you get done every single week. And then maybe if your goal is three to four posts a week, maybe one day is a series. The next is something funny, humorous, light hearted, a trend. The next is b roll with text. Cause this is what a lot of people don't realize when you look at all the big time creators on TikTok almost all the time, because they do post a lot, like three times a day sometimes, which is crazy to me to think about.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:36]:
But they do like the first one might be a get ready with me type of thing. The second is some b roll with text. And usually the third is a funny trending sound and they shoot them all there. And what's funny, if you'll notice their longer form content if they're get ready with me, the b roll with text is a clip from that video. So they're repurposing what they're creating already in their life and then just making an easier, low lift content that takes minutes. Get ready with me. Talk to the camera series. Take a little bit longer.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:03]:
That way you've got a long form every week, a b roll every week, and then a funny trend every week. And then throw in a carousel post and you've got four pieces of content done. I know even that might sound overwhelming. So again, if you can post three to four times a week, that's what most of my clients do. And they crush it because they prioritize quality over quantity. Anyway, this is your sign to start a series. We'll also have the reel that I did in the show notes so you can watch. But remember, it's not always about bringing people to your account.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:29]:
It's getting them to come back. You don't want someone coming to your restaurant eating once and then never going in again. Right? Just like when I've sold so many courses in the past, my goal was never for people to buy the course. My goal was for people to finish the course, come back, refer their friends, and come back for the next product I launch. That's how it is for Instagram. What's your Baja blast? What's your signature thing? Do it. I can't wait to hear about it. I love you, friend.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:55]:
Talk to you next.