Embrace the Content Creator Mindset

Sometimes it’s the most simple yet powerful tweaks that can take your content from just okay to truly engaging, and in a recent Reels Lab coaching call, we did just that. You may not realize just how much of a difference one or two small changes can make, whether it’s adding a descriptive word or slightly tweaking your messaging, to make your content feel more relatable. I’m sharing examples from various industries like travel, real estate, and home decor, and showing you exactly how these creators have crafted content that instantly captures your attention and builds a sense of belonging. We’ll talk about the importance of personal branding, yes, even if you’re a business, and why treating your business account like a personal account is key to building real community online.

In this episode we’ll be covering:

• How small tweaks in your reels text or hooks can boost engagement and relatability.
• Creating content based on feelings, like nostalgia, helpfulness, or a sense of belonging.
• Using hyper specific, identifying words and personal brand storytelling in your content.
• Treat your business account like a personal account for genuine connection and community.
• Using Instagram stories and behind the scenes content to build stronger relationships.

Links to reels in this episode:

• Reel: THE Wine Stopper on Amazon
• Reel: No Passport Needed
• Reel: Probably Needed a Hug…
• Reel: DIY’s that make your home look more expensive

Other episodes you might have missed:

• Episode 007: Relatability in Everyday Content with Instagram Stories and Reels
• Episode 027: Let Your True Personality Shine
• Episode 040: Build More Connections with Everyday Moments
• Episode 049: Relatable Humor That Says “They Get Me!”
• Episode 054: Is There Enough “You” In Your Content?

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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. Alright. So I wanna talk about something that I we dove into deep into a Reels Lab live coaching call last week, which is a membership I have where I give industry specific prompts and reels plans for the week every week. And what I do with these calls is they'll submit their reel. You know, maybe one that they're like, Shannon, I wanna make sure this is the best it can be. And then live on the call, I'll audit it.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:46]:
Right? I'll be like, okay. Let's change that, this and that. And it's so funny because every time it's one or two tweaks and it's always something so easy and simple. It's either a little adjusting of the text of the actual text. Right? Or it's like, actually, let's add one more word in there, one more descriptive word, one more identifier that will make someone stop and go, this reel is for me or I'm interested. Gotta gotta know more. Right? And that's all it takes. And, so I tell everyone, I'm like, you're literally one or two tweaks away every time.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:12]:
So I just thought it'd be fun for this episode because I know a lot of us are on spring break. It's a little crazy. And, you know, when I talk about the four h's, I always say, like, when I create content, it's based on the feeling I want the viewer to get. Whether it's a feeling of relief because it's something helpful or it's a feeling of, oh my gosh, relatability, they give me because it's something humorous or it's a hurt. Right? That's what I mean. I create content based off feeling because guess what? We buy off feelings. We buy better versions of ourselves. We buy we follow people because we relate to them.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:40]:
They make us wanna do better. They align with our values, things like that. Right? So it's all based off feelings. So I know there's a lot of different ways. And let me just preface this. I always say it. One big advice here. If you're ever listening to a marketer and they talk in absolutes, meaning, like, you can't do this, you must do this.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:56]:
This is the only way. Run as far as you can away from them because there's no one way to do this. And that's why I love studying what's working because you can see, like, you're you can look at every account. You could look at a Nike versus a small brand versus whatever, and they're all doing something different and growing. So just know that. But the one thing that everyone's doing right right now who's crushing it is nailing their messaging and using were again, words that bring up feelings, whether it's nostalgia, a sense of belonging. Right? We talk a lot about belonging and marketing because if someone feels that they belong in your community, they're gonna follow and they're gonna tell everyone about you. So here's a quick easy example.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:33]:
This is actually an example I gave my Reels Lab students for this week's prompts. And it's literally the simplest reel and I it will be in the show notes. And I'll give lots of different examples from different industries to help you guys out. Okay? But this first one, it's literally just a little video showing the girl unpackaging something she bought off Amazon. And it says, I just found the in caps, the word the is in caps, wine stopper on Amazon. Okay. So again, the fact that the word the is capitalized makes us go, oh, right? I've just found the wine stopper on Amazon and then with two emojis that reflect what it is. So before you even see it, you know, it's gonna be cowboy or country related.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:09]:
So if the person aligns with that or maybe they have a country concert coming up or whatever, they're gonna go, oh, okay. Alright. So that's one example, the wine stopper. Create content that makes it feel like it's from a personal brand. I've been saying it for ten years. Personal brand. Personal brand. And I remember the first clients I ever worked with were were realtors, and they're like, I'm not a personal brand.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:27]:
I'm like, yeah, you are. Sorry. I hate to tell you, but you are. I think personal brand ten years ago signaled influencer, and no one wanted to they were like, I'm not an influencer. Now the term is content creator. And let's be real. You you need to approach your content as a content creator. That's probably gonna be the the title of this episode.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:45]:
Sorry. I kinda approached today's episode. Like, what do I wanna talk about? Let me just go in and but that's it. Your content needs to look like. And does that mean fancy edits, cap cut this, fancy fonts? No. It just means and again, these reels that I'm talking about will be in the show notes in case you missed my Instagram post about it. You want to approach your content and make it look like you're just a human on Instagram. Right? And I say this all the time.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:10]:
I I did this on a thread the other day. I said, if you want your business account to grow more and succeed more, you need to start treating it more like a personal account. On stories, talk about what you're up to. Do you know how much engagement I got over the weekend from Easter? From showing Khloe being funny, from where we are at brunch, that's where we conversate. I know my audience feels a lot more comfortable opening up in the DMs and going, hey, Shannon. Loved I love that dress. Where'd you get it? Or, hey, what's your, you know, where'd you get that lamp? Right? When I'm giving Instagram tips, people are just kinda taking notes and, like, whatever. But if I never open it up to just share my life and things I love, how am I gonna bond with my people? Okay.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:46]:
And then here's an example for travel agents. I love this. It literally says, best friends, no passport luxury resort trip. Brilliant. She could have said luxury trip for you and your girlfriends. Okay. What is the extra identifier here? No passport. So right away, this reel signifies to me easy.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:08]:
We don't have to worry about passports. We don't have to probably worry about layovers. Right? What is one more identifier you can put in your hook or just simply in the text? No passport, the Amazon. Right? Those words just make a real more interesting. And this goes beyond educational, which I like to call helpful content. Here's another one. There's a trend right now going around saying, I probably needed a hug. And then what'd you do instead? Like, went to Target instead.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:32]:
Like, people are using it to be funny. Some people are using it to be sentimental. Her says I probably needed a hug, but I bought a 200 year old New England home instead. So anyone in New England right away is gonna go, oh, or people that love that kind of character. The fact she said 200 year old, little tiny adding a few extra words to this reel is what made that go viral for her. And here's another one. And I did this on the reels the the weekly reels lab video I sent everyone the other day because I was like, this is brilliant. It says five easy DIYs that instantly make your home look more expensive.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:04]:
Let's break that down, shall we? DIY immediately makes us feel, okay, we're capable. Right? The word instantly triggers instant gratification and then the word expensive. She could have said five easy DIYs to do for your living room. Boring. She made this feel I'm like, oh, I could do this, and it's gonna make my home look expensive. Sure. And I can do it myself, and I don't have to pay anyone. I'm in saving, sharing, following, etcetera.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:30]:
Lots of takeaways from this episode. Approach it as me. You you are it is your account. You are a personal brand, even if you are a brand. Right? And I always say this, right? The boutiques, the coffee shops, like ask your employees to be a part of this. This is where we fall in love with brands online. We wanna follow humans. We wanna follow people we can relate to and talk to and feel approachable.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:50]:
So if you can couple that in Instagram stories and your reel and all, just bring it all home and make your account feel like a community. And it's so funny, y'all. I saw TikTok the other day. This is a great way to end this podcast. Saw TikTok the other day saying, nowadays, the big thing now is community. I'm like, are are people crazy? Like, that's been the point this whole time. Ten years ago, my first tagline on my loosely call it a website. It was nothing fancy.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:16]:
It was just a one page little thing. And my tagline for my brand as a social media manager was let's build an engaged community around your brand. That was ten years ago, still the same. And how do you build a community? First, you make sure you're using words in your content they identify with and relate to and see themselves in. And you use stories to show up, take them behind the scenes and you create content that makes them feel, period. How do you want them to feel? I will go more into this next week because I know there was a lot to digest, and I will give y'all actual prompts to go along with these. So over the next week, use ChatGPT to come up with those identifiers, look at past intake forms from people. If you're a business coach, look at testimonials from brands you look up to that align with you.

Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:59]:
What words pop out that they're using that you can start adding into your hooks and into your content and your all your copy and your scripts to get their attention. Because attention is currency. Right? So there you go. I hope this was helpful. Go enjoy your spring break if you're on it like we are. I love you friend and I'll talk to you next week.